North Carolina Ratepayer Savings from Solar

Synapse analyzed historical ratepayer bill impacts from solar energy resource additions driven by Senate Bill 3 (SB3) and the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) in North Carolina between 2007 and 2025 and forecasted future savings through 2035. To understand the economic impact of these policies on ratepayer bills in North Carolina, Synapse conducted a historical analysis of ratepayer impacts from renewable resource additions, specifically solar, driven by these policies from 2007–2025. Synapse also conducted a forward-looking analysis estimating the potential impacts through 2035, assuming additional solar to make progress towards North Carolina’s 2050 carbon neutrality target. In both analyses, we quantified the relevant solar capacity and modeled its lifecycle costs and benefits, comparing them to counterfactual in which loads were met with coal and natural gas generation instead. We then calculated net ratepayer bill impacts.

We found that solar became cost-effective over time. Solar deployed in North Carolina has had net costs of $401 million to date for ratepayers across all customer classes. Since 2022, solar has saved ratepayers $339 million compared to gas and coal. Our analysis also indicates that solar is likely to become even more cost-effective over the next 10 years. We estimate that solar will produce $2.4 billion in net savings over the next 10 years.

You can find the report here.