Net Metering in Mexico: Net Metering, Net Billing and Total Sale CFE Contracts

In short

Net metering (medición neta) is the normal arrangement. The rule grants it as a right to anyone who signs the interconnection contract, and presents the other two as alternatives for those who want them. There's no official figure on which is used most, or at least we didn't find one, but it's the one that usually pays off for a home or business that uses what it generates.

There are three arrangements: net metering (medición neta), net billing (facturación neta) and total sale (venta total). They all use the same interconnection contract. What changes is a second contract, the compensation contract (contraprestación), which says what the energy you send to the grid is worth.

The rules in this guide date from 2016 and 2017 and refer to plants under 0.5 MW. The 2025 law raised the limit to 0.7 MW and its regulations say new provisions are coming, but we found no sign they've been published. As of this guide's date, CFE still shows the same requirements and contracts. Before you start, confirm them at your CFE service center (Centro de Atención a Clientes) or by calling 071.

Quick comparison

This table sums up the differences.

Net metering (medición neta)

This is the simplest. The grid works like an accounting battery: what you send is offset against what you take in the same period, on the same supply contract. You only pay the difference, at your normal tariff.

If you sent more than you used, that balance stays as an energy credit and is applied automatically to your next bills, for up to 12 months.

If the credit isn't used within 12 months, CFE pays you by transfer. It doesn't pay you at your tariff, but at the average Local Marginal Price for when it was generated, which can be much lower. That's why it doesn't pay to install much more than you use.

It works at low and medium voltage. On medium-voltage time-of-use tariffs, credits are kept separately by time period (peak, mid-peak and base) and by month, and they are used from oldest to newest. The calculation is technical, so ask your installer for a simulation by period.

An example with made-up numbers

Imagine a home on net metering with these two billing periods of two months each.

Even if you cover everything, you still pay something

Net metering offsets energy, not all charges. Depending on your tariff, you'll still pay the monthly minimum, which for homes equals 25 kWh a month, the fixed charge if your tariff has one, and your municipality's street lighting fee. On demand tariffs, also the per-kW charges that panels don't reduce.

Net billing (facturación neta)

Here, what you buy and what you sell are separate: they aren't subtracted. All the energy you take from the grid is paid at your tariff, and all the energy you send is paid to you at the Local Marginal Price of your node, hour by hour. It must be tied to an active supply contract.

You choose whether you want two bills or one with the balance. At the end of each period CFE works out your balance, and you have to issue an invoice for the energy you sell, with all the tax requirements. Once it's received, CFE has 10 business days to pay.

Since your tariff is usually higher than the selling price, for someone who uses what they generate it normally does worse than net metering. It can make sense if you generate far more than you use and prefer to get paid each period, rather than waiting for your credits to expire. Ask for it to be calculated with your numbers.

How much CFE pays you per kWh

You're paid the Local Marginal Price (Precio Marginal Local): the price of electricity on the wholesale market, at each point on the grid and each hour. It changes all the time and it isn't your tariff. CFE doesn't set it for you and you don't know it in advance.

As a reference, in most of the country it has averaged between 60 centavos and $1 peso per kWh, although it varies a lot by zone. Compare that with what you pay when buying: in October 2026, $1.14 to $4.05 per kWh on tariff 1 and more than $6 on DAC, before IVA.

These averages are from 2025 and include all hours, day and night. We didn't find a current average for sun hours alone, which are the ones that would apply to you, so your payment may be higher or lower. If someone promises you a guaranteed payment for selling energy, ask them to show you the calculation.

A net billing example

Let's use the same two periods from the net metering example, on tariff 1 with October 2026 prices. Suppose you're paid $0.90 per kWh: a made-up price, similar to the national average. It doesn't include IVA, street lighting or minimum charges, and amounts are rounded.

Why it comes out so differently

With net metering, each kWh you send saves you what it would cost to buy. With net billing, that same kWh is paid to you at $0.90, while the last kWh you buy cost $4.05.

In this example, the same home with the same energy pays about $1,263 pesos more over two periods on net billing. It changes with your zone, your tariff and how you use power, so ask for the two arrangements to be compared using your bills.

Total sale (venta total)

You send the grid all the energy you generate and CFE pays you the Local Marginal Price. There's no supply contract attached, so it doesn't lower your bill: if you also use power at that location, that's a separate matter.

Since there's no supply contract, the contract template says the meter costs are on you. You also have to issue invoices for what you sell. This arrangement is for those who want to produce and sell, not for saving at home.

For example, if you generate 1,000 kWh and they're paid at the same made-up $0.90, you'd receive $900 pesos for that energy, before subtracting what you have to cover, such as the meter.

Which to choose

This works as a starting point. Your installer should back it up with your bills.

• A home or business that uses what it generates: normally net metering.
• You use a lot during the day: net metering, with a system sized to your usage.
• You generate far more than you use all year: compare net metering with net billing. Expired credits are paid at the wholesale price.
• You want to produce to sell, without using power there: total sale, with advice.
• Time-of-use or demand tariff: ask for a simulation by time period. Capacity and demand charges aren't offset the way energy is.

Changing arrangements later

You can change, but only one year after signing the compensation contract. You have to sign a new contract and pay the costs of the change. If you're coming from an old small- or medium-scale contract and migrate to one of these arrangements, you can't go back.

Other arrangements and what doesn't exist yet

At 0.7 MW or more, it's no longer distributed generation. You enter other categories, such as self-supply (autoconsumo), with a permit and different procedures. You need specialized advice.

Collective net metering, meaning sharing a plant's energy among several services, as in a building or among neighbors, isn't available under these rules: it's still waiting for the authority to issue the standards. Ask CFE whether that has changed. If a seller offers it to you, ask for the legal basis in writing. This matters if you live in a condo or HOA.