PPL raised Lancaster's rates again.
Lock in a low fixed rate — no money out of pocket.

Look for a Pennsylvania-licensed installer that knows PPL's interconnection requirements and how permits differ from township to township. National or out-of-state crews often don't, and it shows in the timeline. A qualified local installer stays accountable after the job is done and stands behind the equipment with a 25-year warranty — at no cost to you.

The trend says yes. PPL has historically raised rates year after year, and its supply rate jumped nearly 20% in 2025. The July 1, 2026 distribution increase is the first since 2016, so a decade of deferred infrastructure spending is now landing on your bill.

Layer on the grid reinforcement PPL is funding for the $6 billion CoreWeave AI data center on Greenfield Road, and the direction is hard to miss.

Not directly. But a 300 MW AI load puts more demand on the same PPL infrastructure, and more demand has historically meant more capital spending, higher capacity costs, and upward pressure on rates. PPL is already reinforcing substations and adding switchyard capacity for the project, and those costs get recovered through rates over time.

Going solar in Lancaster fixes your rate now, ahead of the point in summer 2027 when that load comes fully online.

The driver is PJM Interconnection, the wholesale market that every PA utility (PPL included) buys its power through. Its capacity auction prices rose more than 800% in 2024, thanks to data center growth, power plant retirements, and transmission bottlenecks. Utilities hand those costs to customers through supply-rate increases twice a year.

This isn't a one-off. The forces behind it are structural and still building.

All of the big ones have pushed rates up sharply. PPL's supply rate rose 20% in 2025, Met-Ed's supply rate climbed 24.6% over the past year, and PECO's all-in rates are up 19.4% across 18 months. Duquesne Light now has the state's highest all-in rate at roughly 22.4¢/kWh, and it took the biggest single-reset jump of any PA utility in December 2025. Penelec, West Penn Power, Penn Power, and Citizens Electric customers have seen comparable increases.

In every one of those territories, a fixed solar rate sits below the current utility price.

Ahead of your utility's next rate reset. Pennsylvania utilities reset supply rates twice a year, and each reset that happens before your system is running is one you pay at full retail.

From signing to installation typically takes two to three months, with activation following. Starting sooner means fewer rate resets land before your system is generating.

With a Power Purchase Agreement, the solar company installs, owns, and maintains the system on your roof, and you pay per kilowatt-hour for what it produces, at a rate under what PPL charges. You pay nothing up front, buy no equipment, and cover no maintenance, since you don't own anything.

Buying outright typically runs $15,000–$25,000 up front (less or more depending on system size). In return you own the system, get the tax benefits, and may see added resale value, but you also carry repair and maintenance risk for 25+ years.

A lease is different again: you pay a flat monthly amount whether the system produces a lot or a little. A PPA bills only for actual production, so your payment follows real usage. For homeowners who don't have cash to buy, a PPA delivers the savings without the upfront cost or ownership risk.

Nothing up front — you just pay less for your electricity. Under a no-cost PPA you pay only for the electricity the panels generate, at a rate below PPL's. There are no installation fees, no equipment charges, and no maintenance bills. The free savings estimate on this page works out what that would mean for your home.

Because buying a system outright commonly costs $15,000–$25,000. That price tag is the reason PPAs exist. With one, you pay nothing at the start, nothing for equipment, installation, or upkeep, and then just a per-kWh rate that comes in under PPL's current price. The solar company owns the equipment and takes on the risk.

So for most Lancaster County homeowners, the high price is simply not part of the picture. The pros and cons of solar look quite different once the upfront bill disappears.

Paying outright typically lands between $15,000 and $25,000, depending on how large the system is. A no-cost PPA changes that: nothing is due at signing or install — you just have cheaper electric bills. What you pay afterward is a per-kWh rate, the same kind of charge you already pay PPL, only lower.

Nothing up front — you just pay less for your electricity. As for lifespan, most panels carry a 25-year warranty and keep generating well past it, typically at 90–93% of original output after 25 years.

Yes, but a much smaller one. Under a PPA you pay the solar company for what your panels produce, at a rate beneath PPL's, and pay PPL only for whatever grid power you still use. If your system is sized to cover 100% or more of your annual usage, the PPL bill can shrink to just the monthly customer charge, usually $10–15.

Pennsylvania ranks as a strong solar state. You get 4.5–5 peak sun hours a day, 1:1 net metering protected for every electric utility in the state, and rates at every major utility above the national average. For reference: PPL is at 19.2¢, Met-Ed 21.1¢, PECO 22¢, and Duquesne Light 22.4¢ per kWh.

With a no-cost PPA, the state isn't the question. Your roof is.

For most homeowners, yes. Peak sun runs 4.5–5 hours daily, state law protects net metering, and PA utilities all charge more than the national average. Solar also works dependably through the state's gray stretches, and the power you generate offsets rising utility costs rather than leaving you to pay an already-high rate that keeps climbing.

Savings depend on your utility and how much power you use, but most PA homeowners save hundreds of dollars a year and tens of thousands across 25 years.

On the environmental side, every kWh your panels make is a kWh a fossil-fuel plant doesn't have to produce. A typical home system offsets several tons of carbon emissions each year.

Net metering tracks the gap between power you draw from the grid and power your panels send back. During the day your home uses solar first, and any extra flows to PPL, which credits your account at the full retail rate. Those credits then cover you at night and through winter, when output falls.

Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act requires utilities to offer residential customers 1:1 net metering: put $1 of energy on the grid, get $1 back.

Right now it's intact. The state's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act and PUC regulations require PPL, PECO, Met-Ed, and the rest to give residential customers 1:1 credit, so $1 of energy sent to the grid returns $1.

Many states pay far less per dollar of exported energy: California $0.25, Arizona $0.50 (stepping down each September for new customers), Mon Power and Potomac Edison in West Virginia $0.70, Indiana $0.30, Utah $0.50, and Michigan $0.50 on average.

Pennsylvania isn't on that list today, though utilities and regulators here have been fighting over net metering rules in court since at least 2016.

For homeowners without upfront cash, the main option is the no-cost PPA. It isn't a state rebate. It's a financing structure that removes the cost barrier completely. Net metering, backed by the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, is the other core benefit, crediting your surplus production at the full retail rate.

Your panels turn sunlight into DC electricity, and an inverter converts it to the AC power your house uses. The home draws on that solar power first. Extra production goes back to PPL for a credit at the full retail rate (net metering), and when output dips at night or in winter, you use those banked credits before buying from PPL. The result: your bill covers only the difference between what you used and what the panels made.

They do, though at reduced output, typically 10–25% of peak. Averaged across clouds and seasons, Pennsylvania gets 4.5–5 peak sun hours a day, and systems are sized with that in mind. The surplus you bank during high-output summer months is what covers the dip on overcast days and in winter, and the local climate is well within the range where solar pays off.

Panels make nothing without sunlight. After dark, your home pulls from net metering credits earned during the day, and from the grid if those run out. A properly sized system generates enough daytime surplus to cover most or all of your night and winter usage, and net metering is what makes solar work in a state with long, dark winters.

Winter output is lower because days are shorter and the sun sits lower, but summer credits banked through net metering fill the gap. On orientation, south-facing roof sections produce the most in Pennsylvania, while east- and west-facing sections still perform well when the system is sized properly.

A standard residential panel puts out roughly 350–450 watts in peak sun, which works out to about 1.5–2 kWh per day depending on the season and which way it faces. A full array of 20–30 panels is generally enough to offset most or all of a typical Pennsylvania household's monthly electric bill.

It comes down to your usage. Most homes need 20–30 panels to cover a typical bill, with the exact count shaped by roof size, sun exposure, and monthly kWh consumption. The calculator on this page takes those factors into account when it estimates your system.

Size is set by your average monthly usage measured against your current bill. Most PA homes land in the 6–10 kW range. The estimator above uses your real bill and usage to size a system for your house rather than relying on a generic average.

No. The PPA covers the solar equipment, installation, and maintenance, but not a new roof. If yours needs replacing, that has to happen before solar goes on. Roofs in good shape with 10 or more years of life left usually qualify without trouble, and a Solar Energy Consultant will look at your roof as part of the process and tell you plainly if it's an issue.

Plan on two to three months from signing to installation, with PPL activation following. Start today and your system could be running before the next round of PPL rate increases.