SolarTogether: the solar farm on your FPL bill that you will never see

I. How the two line items work

Two offsetting entries drive SolarTogether. The subscription charge is a monthly capacity charge: you pay to reserve a slice of a solar farm, billed per kilowatt of capacity you hold. In return you get a bill credit tied to the energy that capacity generates and to the fuel FPL does not burn, since solar needs no gas. At last public report the credit has generally run a little above the subscription charge for people who have been in the program a while, while in the early years the charge can sit ahead of the credit.

That gap is the whole story. The program is built so the credit climbs over time while the subscription charge stays roughly flat, and somewhere down the line the two cross and the household starts netting savings. The FPSC-approved tariff lays out the rates, and FPL's own filings project a crossover within the first several years for a typical residential subscriber. Projections are not guarantees. If fuel prices fall, the credit shrinks, and the crossover slides further out.

II. Who the program is built for

The program splits its capacity into buckets. There is a residential allocation open to ordinary FPL customers, a larger commercial and industrial allocation aimed at big buyers like governments, universities, and national retailers chasing clean-energy goals, and a dedicated low-income share meant to pass savings to households that need them most. The business tier filled quickly, because large customers like locking in a long-run hedge against fuel costs.

For a residential subscriber the commitment is lighter than rooftop solar. There is no equipment on the property, no loan, and a subscriber can generally leave on relatively short notice without a large penalty, per the tariff terms. That flexibility is the trade: you own nothing, so you capture none of the asset value, only the bill math.

III. Why this is not community solar, and not Duke's program

Florida has no broad third-party community solar law. Bills to let independent developers build shared solar and sell subscriptions directly have repeatedly stalled in Tallahassee, which is why the shared-solar option most Floridians can actually buy is run by their own utility. SolarTogether is rate-based, meaning FPL builds and owns the solar farms and the Commission folds the cost and the credits into regulated rates.

Duke Energy Florida runs a comparable program, Clean Energy Connection, in its own service territory and under its own FPSC docket. The two are cousins, not the same thing, and the rates differ. The practical point for a reader is this: because SolarTogether is FPL's own regulated program, every rate and projection in it is filed publicly, so you can check the pitch your utility makes against the paperwork it filed to make it.

IV. Worth watching this month

1. Your own statement is the only number that matches your household, so track whether the solar credit has crossed above the subscription charge yet.

2. The FPSC docket page is the routine place where rate updates and program expansions show up before they reach your bill.

3. FPL's SolarTogether page shows whether the residential waitlist is open or closed, since that tier fills and reopens at intervals.

4. Florida's spring legislative session is worth a glance for any renewed third-party community solar bill, which has died before but keeps returning.

5. Fuel cost trends matter more than they look, because the credit rides on gas prices and a cheap-gas year quietly pushes the crossover further out.

Will I actually save money?

It depends on how long you stay an FPL customer and on fuel prices. In the early years the subscription charge can exceed the credit, with net savings arriving later, if the filed projections hold.

Do I get panels on my roof?

No. The panels sit on utility-scale solar farms elsewhere in the state. Your slice of them shows up only as a charge and a credit on your bill.

Can I cancel if the math stops working for me?

Generally yes, on relatively short notice and without a large penalty, per the tariff. Check the current terms before you count on it, since program rules can change at the Commission.

Is this the same as Duke's program?

No. Clean Energy Connection is Duke Energy Florida's separate shared solar program, approved under its own docket with its own rates. SolarTogether is FPL's.

Where can I check the real rates?

The FPSC docket holds the approved tariff and FPL's filings. FPL's program page summarizes the current subscription charge and credit for new subscribers.