Clay Electric Cooperative Solar & Net Metering Guide
Last updated: 2026-05-17 by Goldin Solar permitting team
Clay Electric Cooperative is one of Florida’s largest electric cooperatives by membership. Despite the name (referencing Clay County, where it was founded), Clay Electric serves portions of 15 North Florida counties: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Lake, Levy, Marion, Putnam, Suwannee, Union, and Volusia.
Who Clay Electric serves
Clay Electric’s service territory spans much of north-central Florida — typically rural and suburban areas outside the major municipal/IOU service areas. As a member-owned cooperative, Clay Electric’s net metering tariff is governed by the Clay Electric board of trustees, not the Florida Public Service Commission.
If you’re a Clay Electric member, your meter swap and net metering tariff run through Clay Electric directly — not Duke, FPL, or any IOU.
Clay Electric net metering: the basics
- Eligibility: Customer-sited residential PV at member’s premises; Clay Electric membership
- System size cap: Up to 1 MW, and no larger than 90% of the member’s service-entrance rating or the cooperative’s transformer kVA (whichever is less); systems 50 kW and larger require Clay Electric engineering pre-approval
- Bill credit structure: Per current Clay Electric tariff
- Compensation for exports: For systems interconnected on/after May 1, 2022, Clay Electric uses avoided-cost net billing — excess kWh do not bank; they are bought back as generated at the current QF-1 wholesale (avoided-cost) rate and shown as a credit on the next bill. Systems interconnected before May 1, 2022 are grandfathered into the old banked net-metering program through 2037
- Interconnection application: Required before installation
- PTO process: Clay Electric-managed meter swap and PTO grant after final inspection
What makes Clay Electric different from Duke / FPL
- Cooperative governance. Clay Electric is owned by its members; the board sets policy.
- Rural service profile. Many Clay Electric members have larger lots (rural and suburban-rural). This makes ground-mount solar a more viable option than in IOU-dominant urban Florida.
- Multi-county footprint requires per-county permit-AHJ coordination. Clay Electric interconnection is one process, but the building permit lives with the county/city where the address sits.
- Cooperative cycles differ from PSC dockets. Board decisions don’t track FL PSC rate cases.
Permit + utility coordination for Clay Electric members
1. Building permit with the relevant county/city building department 2. Clay Electric interconnection application — submitted in parallel 3. HOA / ARC approval if applicable 4. Installation after permit issuance 5. Final inspection by the building department 6. Clay Electric meter swap after final inspection 7. PTO grant
Typical Clay Electric timeline
| Stage | Typical days | |——-|————–| | Building permit + Clay Electric application | 14-30 (parallel) | | Installation execution | 1-2 days | | Final inspection | 3-10 | | Meter swap + PTO | 28-49 (typical observed range) |
What we’ve learned working with Clay Electric
- Ground-mount feasibility is higher than typical Florida. Larger lot sizes on the rural Clay Electric footprint make ground-mount worth the assessment in many cases.
- Submit interconnection in parallel with the permit. Sequential adds weeks.
- Battery + solar is supported. Additional documentation for the ESS portion.
- County-AHJ coordination matters. Clay Electric’s footprint touches 14 counties — we coordinate the AHJ-specific permit packet for each.
Frequently asked questions
Is Clay Electric net metering as good as Duke / FPL? Different structure. We model your specific case against current Clay Electric tariff.
What system size can I install on Clay Electric? Up to 1 MW, and no larger than 90% of your service-entrance (or transformer) rating; 50 kW+ needs engineering pre-approval. Most residential systems are sized to annual usage.
Does Clay Electric charge a monthly fee for net metering customers? Clay Electric bills a fixed monthly customer/availability charge that solar credits do not offset. The bigger economic factor is that post-May-2022 systems are credited for exports at avoided cost (QF-1 wholesale), not retail — so self-consumption (and batteries) drive most of the savings.
Can I install batteries with my Clay Electric solar system? Yes. Additional documentation for the ESS portion.
Ground-mount solar — supported? Site-dependent. Larger rural lots may qualify; we assess.
Does Goldin Solar handle Clay Electric interconnection paperwork? Yes — included on every Clay Electric contract at no additional charge.
Talk to a Clay Electric solar specialist
Goldin Solar, LLC · 1105 US Highway 1, Vero Beach, FL 32960 · (855) 765-2730 · CVC 57300
Get a free Clay Electric solar quote
Related guides: Solar permits in Clay County · Solar permits in Alachua County · Solar permits in Marion County