If you're an Alberta homeowner with solar — or you're about to be one — the single financial decision that has the biggest day-to-day impact on your bill is which electricity retailer you sign up with. The Solar Club is the answer for most people, and it's not close.
This guide is the single source of truth for the program in 2026. Every number on this page comes from solarclub.ca, the participating retailer pages, the Alberta Utilities Consumer Advocate, and the Alberta Micro-Generation Regulation. We've installed 500+ systems since 2018 and walked every one of those customers through Solar Club setup — this is what we wish every Alberta solar buyer knew before signing.
The 60-second version
The Solar Club is an Alberta-only electricity rate program operated by Utility Network & Partners Inc. (UTILITYnet) and offered through 15+ retailers. As a member, you switch between two electricity rates depending on whether your home is a net exporter or net importer in any given billing cycle:
| Rate | 2026 Value | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| HI rate | 35.00¢/kWh | You produce more than you consume (typically March–October) |
| LO rate | 8.40¢/kWh | You consume more than you produce (typically November–February) |
| Pre-Solar rate | 7.25¢/kWh | Signed solar contract, system not yet running (180 days max) |
The trick is that both the buy and sell rate match within a billing cycle. So in summer at the HI rate, every kWh you export earns 35¢ and every kWh you have to import costs 35¢ — but you're a net exporter, so the math runs in your favour. In winter at the LO rate, every kWh you import costs 8.40¢ and every kWh you export earns 8.40¢ — you're a net importer, so the low buy rate is what matters. Switch at the right times and you've engineered "buy low, sell high" into your electricity bill.
On top of that, Solar Club members get 3% cashback on imported electricity plus 3% cashback on bundled natural gas where the retailer offers it, paid annually. Most retailers also charge a small $7–$10/month admin fee. There are no contracts and no exit fees.
What is the Solar Club, exactly?
The Solar Club™ is an electricity rate plan operated by Utility Network & Partners Inc. — the company most Albertans know by its trade name UTILITYnet. UTILITYnet doesn't sell electricity directly to homeowners; it operates the back-end billing and trading platform that several Alberta retailers use to deliver the program. That's why the Solar Club rates are identical no matter which participating retailer you choose — the rates are set centrally by UTILITYnet, and the retailers compete on admin fees, customer service, signup incentives, and bundled gas rates.
The program is designed exclusively for grid-connected solar micro-generators in Alberta. It is one of the reasons Alberta has the strongest economic case for residential solar in Canada despite no provincial rebate — the buy-low-sell-high mechanic delivers, by itself, more value than most jurisdictions' solar incentive programs.
The two rates: how the buy-low-sell-high math actually works
This is the part most homeowners get wrong. The Solar Club does not pay you a permanent premium for solar. It gives you a tool — the ability to switch rates — and the value depends entirely on whether you switch correctly.
Here's the rule a Solar Club member should memorize:
If your home is going to export more than it imports in the next billing cycle, be on the HI rate. If your home is going to import more than it exports, be on the LO rate.
That's because both rates are symmetric. At 35¢ HI, you'd love to export 600 kWh and import only 100 kWh — that's a $175 net credit. But at the same 35¢ HI in December, you'd hate exporting 50 kWh and importing 800 kWh — that's a $262 bill. Switch to LO (8.40¢) for that same December cycle and the bill drops to ~$63.
Most Alberta homes follow a predictable seasonal pattern: net exporters from roughly March or April through September or October (when solar production peaks and household consumption is moderate), and net importers from November through February (when production drops and heating, lighting, and Christmas lights spike consumption). This is why most Solar Club members historically switched twice a year — once up to HI in spring, once down to LO in fall — without much thought. (The program now does this automatically; we'll get to that.)
The arbitrage isn't hypothetical. On a typical 7 kW Edmonton system that produces around 8,400 kWh/year and consumes 7,500 kWh/year, summer-only exports of 2,500–3,000 kWh sold at 35¢ generate $875–$1,050 of bill credits, while winter imports of ~2,500 kWh purchased at 8.40¢ cost only ~$210. That structural asymmetry is the Solar Club's signature.
The Pre-Solar Rate: 7.25¢/kWh while you wait
From the moment you sign a solar installation contract until your bi-directional meter is live, your panels can't make you any money. But you're still buying electricity. The Pre-Solar Rate exists to bridge this gap.
It is currently 7.25¢/kWh — below even the LO rate — and it's available for up to 180 days from enrollment, as long as you have a signed contract with a solar installer on file. After 180 days, if your install isn't complete, you automatically move to the lowest available fixed rate at your retailer.
For context, between final contract signing and meter activation, the typical Alberta install timeline runs 5–7 weeks for utility approval and bi-directional meter swap after physical installation completion, plus the few weeks the install itself takes. Six to ten weeks at 7.25¢ on a household using 750 kWh/month is roughly $40–$70 of savings. Stellar Upgrades enrolls every customer in the Pre-Solar Rate the day the contract is signed — not after install — so this savings shows up immediately on the next bill.
RateSwitch™: automatic switching, live since February 2026
Until early 2026, every Solar Club member had to remember to manually toggle their rate twice a year. Most did. Some forgot, and the result was painful — staying on HI rate through January 2024 cost some homeowners hundreds of dollars in unnecessary import charges.
UTILITYnet rolled out RateSwitch™ — an automatic rate-switching feature — with the February 2026 bill runs. RateSwitch uses each retailer's existing Pre-Bill calculation, which already estimates what your import/export totals look like for the upcoming cycle, and automatically picks the rate that costs you less. If you're going to be a net exporter, you're billed at HI. If you're going to be a net importer, you're billed at LO. No action required.
You can still switch manually if you prefer. The manual rules are unchanged: up to one switch per billing cycle (12 per year maximum), 10 days' notice, no penalty. Some experienced solar owners still toggle manually because they have specific knowledge of upcoming usage — a long winter trip, a family event, a new EV plugged in — that the algorithm wouldn't predict.
For 95% of Solar Club members, RateSwitch eliminates the only real failure mode of the program. Turn it on and forget it.
The 3% cashback (and why it's not gimmicky)
Solar Club members earn 3% cashback on all imported electrical energy — that is, 3% of the dollar value of every kWh they buy from the grid. Where the retailer also offers natural gas, members earn an additional 3% cashback on bundled natural gas usage. The cashback is calculated annually and paid out, typically in February of the following calendar year.
It's a small percentage, but on a typical solar household importing 4,000–5,000 kWh/year for $250–$400 worth of electricity, the rebate works out to $8–$12 a year on power, plus another $20–$40 on gas if bundled. Modest, but it stacks on top of the rate arbitrage rather than replacing it. Park Power has publicly reported that across their Solar Club membership, more than $30,000 in cumulative cashback credits and rebates have been paid out to Alberta solar households — not life-changing per home, but real money returning to local pockets.
Two things to be honest about: the cashback applies only to energy charges, not to distribution, transmission, riders, or admin fees. And bundled-gas cashback obviously requires you to also buy natural gas through the same retailer; if you keep your gas with another provider, you forfeit that portion.
Eligibility: who can join (and who can't)
Eligibility is straightforward but the exclusions matter. To qualify for the Solar Club you need:
1. A grid-connected solar system under 150 kW. This is the dividing line under the Alberta Micro-Generation Regulation between small micro-generators (under 150 kW) and large micro-generators (150 kW to 5 MW). Almost every residential and small commercial system in Alberta sits well below this threshold — a typical home is 5–12 kW.
2. A bi-directional cumulative meter installed by your wires company. This is the meter that tracks both grid imports and grid exports as separate totals. Critically, the Solar Club requires the cumulative type, not the bi-directional interval type. Your distribution company (EPCOR, FortisAlberta, ATCO, or ENMAX) installs this meter as part of the standard solar interconnection process — the request is filed with your micro-generation application and the swap usually happens 5–7 weeks after physical install completion.
3. A small charitable donation. Most participating Solar Club retailers ask new members to make a small donation to a local food bank or charity of their choice as part of enrollment. It's a goodwill requirement, not a financial barrier.
Service-area exclusions are where most surprises live. The Solar Club is NOT available to:
| Excluded service area | Why |
|---|---|
| City of Medicine Hat | Medicine Hat operates its own city-owned utility, separate from the deregulated Alberta market |
| Peigan REA | Rural Electrification Association — separate billing arrangement |
| Ermineskin REA | Rural Electrification Association — separate billing arrangement |
| Wild Rose REA | Rural Electrification Association — separate billing arrangement |
| Lakeland REA | Rural Electrification Association — separate billing arrangement |
| North Parkland Power REA | Rural Electrification Association — separate billing arrangement |
| Blue Mountain Power Co-op (formerly Rocky REA) | Rural Electrification Association — separate billing arrangement |
If you're in Medicine Hat or one of those REA territories, the Solar Club isn't available to you — but standard Alberta net metering still is, and that alone covers most of solar's economics. We'll tell you exactly where you stand at the free assessment based on your service address.
Participating retailers (and how to choose)
As of 2026 the Solar Club is offered through fifteen-plus Alberta electricity retailers. They all sell the identical Solar Club rate set by UTILITYnet — you cannot get a "better" Solar Club rate by shopping retailers. What you can shop is admin fees, customer service quality, signup incentives, and bundled natural gas rates.
| Retailer | Notes |
|---|---|
| Park Power | $7.25/month admin fee. Donates 10% of profits from electricity bills to Alberta charities. Strong reputation for solar customer service. |
| Bow Valley Power | Independent, contract-free. Based in Canmore. Long-running Solar Club partner. |
| Encor by EPCOR | Operated under EPCOR's retail brand. Convenient if you're already an EPCOR distribution customer in Edmonton. |
| ATCOenergy | Retail arm of ATCO. Useful in ATCO Electric distribution territory. |
| Spot Power (SPOTpower) | Long-time Solar Club retailer with simple, transparent rate plans. |
| Get Energy | Edmonton-based. Solar Club rates with competitive admin fee. |
| Camrose Energy | Operates the standalone Solar Club Alberta brand at solarclubalberta.com. Personal small-town support. |
| Tassa Energy | Solar Club available alongside their standard rate offerings. |
| Glean | Maintains its own Solar Club retailer comparison page. Solid for first-time members. |
| Wholesale Power | No signup fees, no binding contracts, cancel anytime. |
| Shared Value Energy | Solar Club available with no exit fees and a community-impact mandate. |
| GreenAmp Utilities | Solar Club access alongside its broader sustainable energy offering. |
| Great Canadian Utilities | UTILITYnet-affiliated marketer offering the Solar Club. |
| Orizon Utilities | UTILITYnet-affiliated marketer offering the Solar Club. |
| Foothills Energy Coop | Cooperative model; Solar Club rate available for member-owners. |
How to actually choose between them, in three questions:
1. What's the total monthly admin fee, and is there a separate gas admin fee? The lowest electricity admin fee on the list is around $7/month; the highest is around $10. Over a year, that's a $36 spread. Not the deciding factor for most people, but worth checking.
2. Do you also want bundled natural gas with the same retailer? If yes, ask for the gas rate quote and the bundled-gas cashback details — this is where retailers genuinely differ. If no, the gas question is irrelevant.
3. Do they answer the phone in February? Solar Club cashback is paid out in February, and that's when most homeowners notice an issue or have a question. Retailers with strong phone support — Park Power, Bow Valley, and Camrose Energy come up most often in our customer feedback — tend to be worth the optionally-higher admin fee.
Stellar Upgrades does not earn a referral commission from any of the listed retailers. We walk every customer through the choice during installation based on the customer's actual bill, gas usage, and service preference, but the final retailer choice is yours.
The math: a real Edmonton household example
Numbers, not promises. Here's how the Solar Club changes the economics for a representative customer we installed for in spring 2025: a Sherwood Park home with annual electricity consumption of 7,800 kWh and a 7.5 kW system on LONGi Hi-MO 7 panels paired with APsystems DS3 microinverters — producing roughly 9,000 kWh/year (1,200 kWh per kW installed, our standard Alberta production assumption).
| Period | Production | Consumption | Net | Rate | Bill impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr–Sep (HI rate) | ~6,800 kWh | ~3,600 kWh | +3,200 kWh exported | 35.00¢/kWh | +$1,120 in credits |
| Oct–Mar (LO rate) | ~2,200 kWh | ~4,200 kWh | −2,000 kWh imported | 8.40¢/kWh | −$168 in import cost |
| Annual energy net | ~9,000 kWh | ~7,800 kWh | +1,200 kWh net export | — | +$952 net credit on energy line |
The customer pays roughly $9–$15/month in distribution, transmission, riders, and admin charges that solar can't eliminate — about $130/year — meaning their full electricity bill before solar credits is about $130 + however much they imported at 8.40¢. With $952 of summer credits banked, the credits cover the entire year's distribution and transmission charges plus the 8.40¢ winter imports, leaving most months at $0–$10 owing and a small annual settlement payout in the homeowner's favour. Add the 3% cashback on imported energy plus carbon offset credits in the $200–$400/yr range (sold separately under the Alberta Emission Offset System), and total annual benefit lands around $1,150–$1,350.
That same household on a flat 23¢/kWh fixed-rate retailer with no Solar Club option would see annual benefit of roughly $700–$850. Same panels. Same roof. Same hours of sun. The Solar Club is responsible for $400–$500 of incremental annual savings — or, said differently, about 2.5 to 3 years of payback time shaved off. The full payback math is in our companion guide on the Alberta solar payback period.
How Stellar Upgrades sizes systems for the Solar Club
Most installers in Alberta size for "100% offset" — production matching consumption. That's a fine target if you don't know about the Solar Club. Once you do, it's a small mistake.
The Alberta Micro-Generation Regulation lets you size up to your historical annual consumption. We design most residential systems to roughly 110% of annual usage — just under the regulatory cap. The reason: with rate switching, every extra kWh exported in summer at 35¢ outperforms every kWh saved at the retail rate. A 10% over-build is the cheapest "insurance" against family growth, an EV purchase, a hot tub, or another heat pump — and in the meantime it generates additional summer credits that offset winter imports and the fixed grid charges.
The other thing we do: we enroll every customer in the Pre-Solar Rate the day the contract is signed. Not at install. Not at meter swap. The day the contract is signed. Most installers leave Solar Club setup as a "later" item; we treat it as part of the install paperwork because it's $40–$70 in the customer's pocket immediately.
For Stellar customers adding a battery (we install the EP Cube battery in 9.9, 13.3, 16.6, and 19.9 kWh capacities) or a Wallbox Pulsar Plus EV charger, the Solar Club math gets even more interesting — charging the EV from solar surplus during HI rate months means you're effectively buying EV electricity at 0¢/kWh while still earning credits on the leftover surplus. Battery sizing details here; Wallbox installation details here.
Common Solar Club mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Mistake 1: Forgetting to enable RateSwitch and staying on HI rate through winter. Pre-2026 this was the single most expensive Solar Club mistake. With RateSwitch live since February 2026, just turn it on at signup. Done.
Mistake 2: Sizing the system to exactly 100% of consumption. Solar Club rewards slight over-production. 110% sizing is the regulatory-and-economic sweet spot for most homes.
Mistake 3: Choosing a retailer purely on signup bonuses. Most signup bonuses are one-time. Admin fees and customer service are a 25-year relationship. We've seen homeowners chase a $50 signup bonus into a retailer that doesn't answer the phone in February. Don't.
Mistake 4: Not enrolling in the Pre-Solar Rate at contract signing. Six to ten weeks of imports at 7.25¢ instead of 23¢ retail is real money. Ask your installer to enroll you the same day you sign.
Mistake 5: Not bundling natural gas when you're already buying gas anyway. If your gas is with a separate retailer, the 3% bundled-gas cashback is being left on the table.
Mistake 6: Joining without knowing if you're in an excluded service area. If you're a Medicine Hat customer or you're served by one of the six listed REAs, the Solar Club isn't an option. Find out before signing a solar contract, not after.
How to enroll: step-by-step
The mechanics, in order:
1. Sign your solar installation contract. Pre-Solar Rate eligibility starts the day you have a written contract on file with an installer.
2. Pick your participating retailer. Use the table above. If you're a Stellar Upgrades customer, we walk you through this during the install paperwork.
3. Enroll on the Pre-Solar Rate. Most retailers can switch you over within one billing cycle. You'll need your account number and the installer contract on file.
4. Make the small charity donation. Required by most retailers as a goodwill commitment; usually a $10–$25 donation to a food bank or local charity of your choice.
5. Activate RateSwitch™. Ask the retailer to enable automatic rate switching on your account. Available everywhere as of February 2026.
6. After your bi-directional meter is live, switch from Pre-Solar to the standard Solar Club rate. Most retailers do this automatically once the wires company confirms meter activation; some require a phone call.
7. Watch the February cashback statement. Your retailer should issue your annual cashback in February for the prior calendar year. Confirm both the electricity 3% and the bundled-gas 3% (if you bundle).
Bottom line
If you're in Alberta, on the deregulated market, with a system under 150 kW, and not in Medicine Hat or one of the listed REA areas, joining the Solar Club is essentially free money. It is the highest-leverage decision Alberta solar homeowners can make about how their bill is structured — bigger than which retailer brand is on the bill, bigger than minor system sizing differences, bigger than whether you bought your panels in March or July. Pair it with a system sized to ~110% of annual consumption, RateSwitch on, and the Pre-Solar Rate enrolled at contract signing, and a typical Edmonton home produces $1,000+ of annual benefit that wouldn't exist on a fixed-rate retailer.
Most Alberta solar companies won't be around in 5 years — solar is a 25-year relationship, panels last 30, batteries last 10+, and inverters last 25. We've been here since 2018, we'll be here in 2045, and we answer the phone. If you want a system designed and sized to maximize Solar Club value — and a Red Seal Master Electrician, in-house crew, and the Pre-Solar Rate enrolled the day you sign — book a free 15-minute assessment or call (780) 200-5265.
Sources: Solar Club official site (solarclub.ca), Camrose Energy Solar Club (camroseenergy.com/alberta-solar-club), Park Power Solar Buyback (parkpower.ca/compare-solar-electricity-rates), Bow Valley Power Solar Club (bowvalleypower.net/solarclub), Glean Recommended Retailers (goglean.ca/solarclub), Alberta Solar Advisors (alberta-solar.org/incentives/the-solar-club), EnergyRates.ca Alberta Solar Club Guide, Alberta Utilities Consumer Advocate (ucahelps.alberta.ca), Alberta Micro-Generation Regulation (Alta Reg 27/2008). All rates, terms, and exclusions verified May 2026.