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.

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 life of the program at $9.03/kW per month. The subscription fee is also fixed at $8.35/kW per month. Income-qualified subscribers save on their bill from the first month of enrollment as the credit is higher than the fee and those savings continue as long as they remain subscribed.

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.

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.

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 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.

If the program is sold out, you will be placed on the waitlist based on the order in which you signed up. As additional solar plants come online through 2024 and subscriptions become available, you will be enrolled in the program. You can ask to be removed from the waitlist at any time without any penalties. The wait may be as little as the beginning of your next billing cycle.

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.

Participation in certain government programs may be used to verify eligibility in our income-qualified program. These include:

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Medicaid
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• SNAP-EBT
• Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

We will also evaluate other program participation on a case-by-case basis during the registration and enrollment of the income-qualified program.

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. View the annual report here.

During Hurricane Ian, damage occurred at one of our solar facilities in the Clean Energy Connection, (CEC) fleet thus reducing solar CEC energy generation. This will impact bill credits in future months as they are dependent on the total solar generation across the Clean Energy Connection solar fleet.

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.

We are working hard to obtain the required resources to fix the damage. We plan on bringing back the Fort Green solar plant in phases as it is repaired in real time. We estimate it may be early 2023 until this CEC solar plant is back to operating at 100% full capacity.

Currently, about 25% of the CEC generation is limited. This will not impact bill credits in future months as they are stable throughout for Income-qualified program participants.

The first six sites for the program have been selected. These sites are approximately 400-500 acres in size and are located in the following counties: Alachua, Bay, Citrus, Hardee, Levy and Suwannee. The first two plants will be in Citrus and Hardee counties and will begin operation in 2022, with the others following in 2023. We also plan to add four more sites by 2024.

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.

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.

These sites are approximately 400-500 acres in size and are located in the following counties: Alachua, Bay, Citrus, Hardee, Levy and Suwannee. The first two plants will be in Citrus and Hardee counties and will begin operation in 2022, with the others following in 2023. We also plan to add four more sites by 2024.