Clean Energy Connection

Duke Energy’s Clean Energy Connection is a program that lets residential and business customers in Florida support renewable energy, subscribe to solar power and earn credits toward their electricity bills – all without equipment installation or maintenance. The program operates according to a “shared solar” model, which means that solar power generating sites are supported by multiple community subscribers who earn bill credits based on the renewable energy their subscription share produces. Your subscription helps support solar plants here in Florida and add more clean renewable energy to the grid.

Small and Medium Businesses of any type, as long as their aggregated 12-month energy usage does not exceed $250,000 in value can participate in Clean Energy Connection. There is also available capacity for residential and income qualified customers. Large business and governmental customers have reached capacity for subscriptions in Clean Energy Connection. Please reach out to your Account Executive for any questions.

The energy generated by the Clean Energy Connection solar centers is allocated into four segments as follows: 486.85 MW to large commercial and industrial customers, 74.9 MW to local government customers, 161.25 MW to residential and small business customers and 26 MW to low-income customers. Each MW represents electrical power equal to 1 million watts, referring to the output capacity of the solar facility.

No, solar panels will not be installed on your roof or on your property. Instead, you – along with other subscribers – will be helping to support solar power generating sites in Florida. Your subscription charges and credits represent your portion of the energy generated by these solar power sites.

No, the power generated by the solar sites will be delivered to Duke Energy’s grid, where it is combined with power generated from all other energy sources. But even though the solar power is not coming directly to your home, you are helping to increase the amount of clean, renewable energy available on the grid.

This credit represents your share of the solar energy produced by the solar sites in a given month, multiplied by the subscription credit rate. The subscription credit rate will be fixed for the first 36 months of enrollment. Starting with the 37th month of continuous enrollment, the rate will increase 1.5% annually. The longer you remain in the program, the more you are projected to save on your bill.

Subscribers will begin to see the Clean Energy Connection Credit and Clean Energy Subscription Fee listed in the Billing Details section on their next bill. The credit will appear as a negative number, signifying the savings generated by your participation in Clean Energy Connection.

Your subscription credit is based on the actual monthly energy generation from the solar power plants dedicated to this program. This actual generation can vary month to month based on inconsistencies with the weather that affect the amount of sunlight the solar panels are exposed to, both in the number of hours of sunlight and the intensity of the sun.

Many customers have told us that they would like to use more renewable energy but don’t have the space and/or the funds to add solar panels to their home or business. This program allows customers to achieve their sustainability goals even if they can’t or don’t want to put solar facilities on their property.

No. This is a monthly commitment for as long as you want to subscribe and there are no cancellation fees. If you decide to cancel, the account will be unable to participate in the program for 12 months. After that, you will be able to re-enroll if capacity is available.

No. This program adds solar energy to Duke Energy’s overall Florida grid. Your subscription funds are used to build and maintain the program’s solar plants.

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis. Customers submit an enrollment with their intent to subscribe. If there is capacity, they will be waitlisted, then automatically subscribed and notified in their next billing cycle.

If there is not capacity, customers will be placed on the waitlist, based on the order of their intent to subscribe. Customers can ask to be removed from the waitlist at any time without any penalties. As additional solar plants come online through 2024 and subscriptions become available, customers will be automatically subscribed and notified.

If you are applying for the income-qualified rate and your waitlist time exceeds 12 months, we will need to secure updated documentation to confirm your eligibility.

You will be notified to the email address provided as part of your Duke Energy My Account profile once your account has been enrolled in the program.

Initial subscribers will see the Clean Energy subscription fee and associated credit in one or two billing cycles.

In 2022, Clean Energy Connection generated 129,990 MWh of clean energy and retired 115,000 RECs on behalf of CEC participants. In 2023, Clean Energy Connection generated 695,320 MWh of clean energy. View the 2023 annual report here.

The CEC bill credit is based on the energy generation of our CEC solar facilities the month prior, just as your energy usage on your bill is that of the month prior. Depending on when the generation data is entered, you may not see a CEC credit for that month. Not to worry: The credit will appear the following month, likely in addition to the next month’s credit.

Your CEC subscription includes a fee and a credit. The subscription fee rate is fixed at $8.35 per kW, regardless of how many kW you subscribe to. The subscription credit rate is also fixed for the first 36 months of enrollment, however, starting with the 37th month of continuous enrollment, the rate will increase 1.5% annually.

When you choose to increase your participation level, your initial subscription credit amount will remain on the timeline that began on your first enrollment date, with annual increases beginning 37 months from that date. However, the new additional subscription amount, and the resulting credit, will start from its own “year one” earning the base credit rate for 36 months before it too begins earning 1.5% annual growth.

For example, let’s say you are currently at an 11kW participation level. After 5 years, due to an increase in your usage, you decide to increase your subscription to your max participation level of 12kw. You will be charged an additional $8.35 in fees for that additional 1kW, and the credits for that additional 1kW will be at the initial “year one” credit rate. 36 months from the date of the increase, your additional 1kW credit rate will also begin to increase annually. Your initial subscription amount will continue earning at the higher credit rate based on your time in the program and will continue to grow annually by 1.5%.

These differing credit rates will be demonstrated on your bill by displaying two pairs of subscription fee and credit lines, Clean Energy Connection 1 Credit and Clean Energy Connection 2 Credit. You can increase your participation amount once every 12 months up to the maximum allowable kW, assuming capacity is available.

This program will bring new solar generation to the larger grid, which lowers the emissions profile of Duke Energy’s electric service in your community. By subscribing to the Clean Energy Connection program, you are part of a community that is helping drive Florida to a cleaner energy future.

Your subscription in this program increases – in a measurable way – the amount of solar energy attributed to serving your electricity needs. The renewable energy certificates (RECs) generated by your subscription are retired on your behalf, ensuring you are able to claim the "renewable attribute" of the electricity provided by your subscription. Without the RECs retired by the program on your behalf, you will be unable to claim renewable attributes from Clean Energy Connection’s generation.

In total, Clean Energy Connection is comprised of 10 solar centers, each approximately 400-500 acres in size. All ten sites are currently operational.

No, subscriptions are associated with all solar plants in the program. This program supports Duke Energy’s goal to be net-zero by 2050, which impacts society at large. Your subscription allows you to contribute while saving money with clean energy.