Utilities · Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Oncor in 2026: the delivery stack under every Dallas bill

Written by the Solar Learning Lab research deskUpdated August 18, 20267 min read

Oncor is the largest electric utility in Texas and it has never sold anyone a kilowatt-hour. It owns the wires across Dallas-Fort Worth and west Texas, delivers power to more than 4 million homes, and bills its charges through whichever retail provider you picked. Solar changes two separate lines of that arrangement, and most quotes in DFW only model one of them. This page itemizes the delivery charges nobody can shop away, then shows how the retail side prices your exports.

$4.06

Fixed monthly Oncor delivery charges (customer charge plus metering) on every residential bill

~6.0¢

Per-kWh delivery riders on grid consumption, our sum of Oncor's published components

4M+

Homes and businesses served across Dallas-Fort Worth and west Texas

In Oncor territory, solar economics split in two: every self-consumed kWh avoids both your retail energy price and about 6 cents of Oncor delivery riders, while exports earn only what your chosen retail buyback plan pays, since Texas has no net metering law. The fixed $4.06 monthly delivery charge survives any system size, and buyback plan quality varies wildly between providers.

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The delivery stack, rider by rider

Oncor publishes its residential delivery components, which is more than can be said for most of the numbers in a Texas electricity bill. Here is the stack as of the August 1, 2026 tariff update, which every retail provider passes through at cost:

Component	Charge
Customer charge	$1.48 / month
Metering charge	$2.58 / month
Distribution system charge	$0.036043 / kWh
Transmission cost recovery factor	$0.019046 / kWh
Energy efficiency cost recovery factor	$0.001487 / kWh
Transition charge and other riders	$0.0086 / kWh (approx.)
Interim distribution surcharge (through Dec 2026)	$0.003633 / kWh

Source: Oncor tariff and charges FAQ. The ~6.0¢ total above is our arithmetic on these published components, not an Oncor-published sum.

A 2026 base rate settlement approved by the PUCT trimmed the average residential delivery bill by about $4.64 a month, roughly 3 percent. The interim surcharge expires at the end of 2026, so the stack should thin slightly in January 2027. None of it is optional, and none of it is shoppable. Which is exactly why it matters for solar: the only way to reduce a delivery rider is to not pull the kilowatt-hour through the meter in the first place.

Shopping your exports in DFW

With no net metering law, export value in Oncor territory is a competitive product. Retail providers offer buyback plans that range from genuinely useful to decorative, and the structures change enough that we will describe one real, verifiable example rather than a survey that goes stale in a quarter.

Rhythm Energy's PowerShift Solar Buyback plan pays exports on a time-window schedule: 4.1 cents per kWh most hours, 18.2 cents during evening shoulder windows, and 35.7 cents during the summer super-peak, against a $14.95 monthly base charge. Read that again as a solar owner: your panels produce the most at midday, when the plan pays 4.1 cents. The premium windows land after sunset, when only a battery has anything to sell. Time-windowed buyback plans in ERCOT are, functionally, battery plans wearing a solar costume.

The shopping rules we would give a family member in Dallas: compare the buyback rate against the same plan's import rate, check whether credits roll over or expire monthly, check the base charge against a non-solar plan from the same provider, and rerun the comparison at every contract renewal. The plan that wins with a south-facing 10 kW array loses with a west-facing 6 kW array and a battery. There is no permanently right answer, only a right answer per system per year.

Sources: Rhythm Energy on Texas net metering and Rhythm PowerShift Solar Buyback. Plan prices move; verify current terms before signing.

The disconnect switch rule

Oncor's interconnection process contains a hardware requirement that surprises people comparing quotes across state lines: distributed generation systems need a utility-accessible, lockable AC disconnect switch located adjacent to the meter, so Oncor crews can isolate the system while working on the lines. Some inverter setups integrate this cleanly; on others it is a separate box and a separate line item. It is not expensive, but it is a permit-and-inspection item, and a missing or mislocated switch is one of the more common reasons a DFW interconnection fails its first inspection.

The sequence itself runs installer-first: your contractor submits the interconnection application through Oncor's portal with the one-line diagram and equipment specs, Oncor reviews and inspects, and the smart meter is provisioned to measure exports separately. Only then does a buyback plan have data to bill against. If you energize before approval, exports spin through unmeasured and uncredited.

Source: Oncor generate your own power.

What this means for a solar roof

Dallas households are volume consumers. Texas homes averaged 1,096 kWh a month in 2024, per EIA data, and summer air conditioning drives afternoon peaks that line up reasonably well with solar production. At a 15 cent all-in retail price, of which about 6 cents is Oncor delivery, a self-consumed solar kWh is worth the full 15 cents while an exported one might earn 4. That four-to-one spread is the entire strategy: size for self-consumption, let exports be gravy, and let a battery capture the premium windows if the plan pays them.

We cover the statewide picture, including the ERCOT retail market mechanics and what happened to the federal credit, on the Texas page. For the Houston version of the wires-and-energy split, where CenterPoint plays Oncor's role with different numbers, see the CenterPoint Energy guide.

Sources: EIA 2024 residential sales data and the Oncor tariff FAQ.

Oncor solar questions, answered

Does Oncor pay me for solar exports?

No. Oncor is a regulated wires company. It moves power, maintains lines, and reads meters, but your export compensation comes entirely from whichever retail electric provider you choose. Texas has no statewide net metering mandate, so buyback terms are competitive contract terms, not law. Sources: Oncor FAQs and Rhythm Energy on Texas net metering.

What are Oncor's delivery charges in 2026?

Residential customers pay $4.06 a month in fixed charges ($1.48 customer charge plus $2.58 metering) and a stack of per-kWh riders totaling roughly 6 cents, led by the $0.036043 distribution charge and the $0.019046 transmission cost recovery factor that took effect August 1, 2026. These apply to every kWh you pull from the grid regardless of provider. Source: Oncor tariff and charges FAQ.

Do solar exports reduce my Oncor delivery charges?

The volumetric riders apply to metered consumption from the grid, so power you generate and use on-site never incurs them. That is the quiet second benefit of self-consumption in Texas: each solar kWh consumed behind the meter avoids both the energy price and roughly 6 cents of delivery. Exports do not earn delivery credits; they earn whatever your retail plan pays. Source: Oncor tariff FAQ.

Is there an Oncor solar rebate in 2026?

Oncor runs a Residential Solar Program that pays incentives to registered service providers, not homeowners directly, for qualifying solar-plus-storage installations, with program funds typically committed between February and November. Ask any DFW installer whether they are enrolled and whether the incentive is reflected in your price. Source: Oncor Residential Solar Program.

Why did my delivery charge drop a few dollars in 2026?

A rate settlement approved by the PUCT in 2026 trimmed the average residential delivery bill by about $4.64 a month, roughly 3 percent, largely by shifting some transmission cost recovery. An interim distribution surcharge of $0.003633 per kWh still runs through December 2026. Sources: Oncor settlement announcement and the tariff FAQ.

What we could not verify

As of August 18, 2026: the exact composition of the smaller transition and rate-case riders inside our "other riders" line, because the PUCT interchange filing system blocked retrieval; TXU's current buyback plan terms, whose page also blocked us; and Oncor's residential interconnection fee, if any, which we could not find published. We also did not attempt to rank DFW retail buyback plans, because plan terms change monthly and a stale ranking is worse than none. Corrections run through our editorial policy.

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