A municipal utility with its own net metering
Since April 15, 2023 customers applying for interconnection in the territories of Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric have taken service on the net billing tariff, pursuant to CPUC decision D.22-12-056.
Anaheim Public Utilities is a municipal utility and is not in that list. It is not subject to the Commission's net metering decisions and runs its own net metering programme, which is a structural difference rather than a variation.
That matters because the volume of content written about the net billing tariff since 2023 is enormous and almost none of it carries a caveat. Neighbouring cities in Southern California Edison territory are firmly under that tariff, so advice from a friend a short drive away may not survive the trip.
Get Anaheim's own current terms directly from the utility: what arrangement a new residential solar customer goes onto, how exported energy is credited, whether there is a size limit, and what the interconnection process involves. Ask for it in writing, then hold every quote against it.
Ask about the city rebate specifically
Anaheim publishes Residential Program Guidelines for an Anaheim Solar Rebate Program. Upfront residential solar rebates have become rare in California, so this is worth asking about rather than assuming does not exist.
Ask the utility directly whether the programme is currently open, what it pays, what the eligibility conditions are, and whether funding is limited or allocated in rounds. A rebate that is open when you ask and closed when you install is a real risk with programmes of this kind.
Ask what the application sequence is relative to installation. Many rebate programmes require reservation or approval before work begins, and doing the steps out of order is the usual way people become ineligible for money they would otherwise have received.
Ask your installer whether they have taken Anaheim rebate applications through before. Someone who works this city regularly will know the process and the current status without having to look it up.
Storage, outages and the incentive that still applies
A grid-tied solar array without battery storage shuts down during an outage, as a safety requirement so that crews are not working on lines a rooftop system is energising. That is true whatever your utility, so if resilience is part of your reason, storage has to be designed in rather than added later.
Ask any installer to be specific about what a proposed system does during an outage: which circuits stay live, for how long at a realistic load, and whether the battery recharges from the array while the grid is down.
California's Self-Generation Incentive Program provides incentives for battery storage that can function during a power outage, with $850 per kilowatt hour under its Equity category and $1,000 per kilowatt-hour under Equity Resiliency for qualifying customers.
Ask whether you might be eligible and confirm with the programme rather than the salesperson, since eligibility criteria and performance requirements are set out in the SGIP Handbook and applicants have a year after reserving funds to meet them.
What changed federally, and the battery incentive that remains
The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. A cash or loan purchase made now receives no federal credit, and a quote that still applies it is overstating your return substantially. Check any projection line by line rather than trusting a summary figure.
Section 48E survives at 30 percent and is available to third-party owners of residential systems under leases and power purchase agreements. The credit still exists, it simply no longer flows to a homeowner who buys the system. Expect lease providers to lead with that, and ask what they claim and what of that value actually reaches you in the rate offered, then confirm with a tax advisor.
California's Self-Generation Incentive Program continues to provide incentives for battery storage installed on the customer's side of the meter, including systems that can function during a power outage. Its Equity and Equity Resiliency categories are aimed at lower-income, medically vulnerable and at-risk for fire communities.
Depending on the category a customer qualifies for, the incentive is $850 per kilowatt hour under Equity or $1,000 per kilowatt-hour under Equity Resiliency. Applicants have one year after reserving funds to meet programme requirements, which include enrollment in a qualified Demand Response program, and further criteria are in the SGIP Handbook. Ask whether you might qualify and confirm with the programme rather than treating a sales answer as final.