How We Earned $696 from Our Electric Utility in 12 Months

Let's talk numbers. From April 2025 through March 2026 — twelve consecutive months — our electric utility owed us $696.41. Not the other way around. We didn't just reduce our bill. We eliminated it entirely and came out ahead, every single month except one.

Here's the breakdown. April 2025: $97.06 credit. May: $94.30. June: $84.58. July: $73.36. August: $60.03. September: $87.90. October: $71.63. November: $69.78. December: $30.53. January 2026: $28.48. February 2026: the one outlier — we owed $50.45 due to the worst snowstorm the area had seen in forty years. March 2026: back to a $49.21 credit.

During this period we were not living minimally. Air conditioning ran at 72 degrees from May 16 through October 17. Heat ran at 68 degrees through winter. We charged an electric vehicle. We ran appliances normally. We cooked, did laundry, watched television. Normal household life — just without a power bill.

The keys to those numbers: 33 south-facing solar panels generating up to 74 kilowatt hours on a good day, a seven-foot passive solar porch that reduces the cooling load all summer, a highly efficient heat pump, and a Tesla Powerwall managing storage and energy flow. No single element does it alone. The whole system works together.

We share these numbers not to brag but because they're real, verifiable, and repeatable. This isn't a prototype that cost $2 million. It's a 1,846 square foot home that anyone could build. If you want to see the utility statements and ask every question, come take a free tour in Waxhaw. The numbers are on the wall.