Journal ·
Selling a House With Solar in Burbank: What the Sale Ends
A Burbank sale ends the old solar deal. If the permit application was filed before January 1, 2026, Burbank Water and Power keeps the account on the NEM 1.0 rate structure, and that protection follows the household rather than the roof. BWP ends grandfathering when the property changes hands to anyone outside the immediate family. The buyer starts on solar net billing instead, and the difference shows up on the buyer's bill, not on the seller's.
Does selling my Burbank house end the solar rate?
Yes, for a sale to an ordinary buyer. BWP's solar FAQ lists two things that end grandfathering eligibility: a change in property ownership "to someone outside of the immediate family," and upgrades that increase the size of the system.
That phrasing carries a carve out most sellers never hear about. A transfer inside the immediate family does not end the old rate. A transfer to a buyer found on the open market does. BWP does not define immediate family anywhere on that page, so a parent planning to deed a house to a child should get the definition from BWP in writing before assuming the rate survives.
For a normal listing, plan on the rate ending at close. It is not something the seller can assign, and it is not a term either agent can negotiate.
What does BWP grandfather, and for how long?
Existing solar customers stay on their existing NEM 1.0 rate structure. The protected period runs 20 years from January 1, 2026, the launch date of solar net billing, and BWP states that every grandfathered system loses the protection on January 1, 2046.
Read that clock twice. It does not start when the panels went up. A system energized in 2016 and a system permitted in December 2025 both run out on the same date. Grandfathering also does not freeze the price. BWP says plainly that a grandfathered customer is still subject to rate increases, which means the protection covers the rate structure and not the amount.
The cutoff itself turns on paperwork. A customer who applied for a permit before January 1, 2026 lands on NEM 1.0.
Which changes end grandfathering, and which do not?
BWP separates work that grows the system from work that keeps it running.
| What happens to the system | Grandfathering |
|---|---|
| Adding panels that increase system size | Ends |
| Replacing a panel with one of the same wattage | Continues |
| Replacing a broken part such as an inverter | Continues |
| Adding battery storage to an existing system | Continues |
| Routine maintenance and washing | Continues |
| Sale to a buyer outside the immediate family | Ends |
The battery line matters for anyone weighing a storage rebate against the risk of losing an old rate. BWP treats storage added to an existing solar system as compatible with grandfathering.
What does the buyer get instead of net metering?
Solar net billing. When the system sends more electricity to the grid than the house consumes, BWP credits the export at its avoided cost of energy at that moment, with values that shift by season and by hour and run highest during summer peak. Credits land on the next bill rather than in a separate cash out, and BWP will send excess dollars by check once a year on request.
Fixed charges survive all of this. BWP is direct about it: poles, conductors and administration are billed to every connected customer, including one whose panels cover the entire annual load.
The practical consequence for a buyer is that the seller's utility bills describe a rate the buyer will not receive. Twelve months of history is still worth reading for production, and worth ignoring for cost.
Why is a Burbank house not on NEM 3.0?
Because the California Public Utilities Commission never set the rate here. The CPUC's net billing tariff took effect for interconnection applications from April 15, 2023, and it applies in the service territories of the three large investor owned utilities. Burbank is served by its own municipal utility, so the rule came from the Burbank City Council, which approved solar net billing at its meeting on January 14, 2025. The program began January 1, 2026.
The gap is close to three years wide. A house in an investor owned territory has been selling under a net billing regime since 2023, while a Burbank house kept full net metering until this January. Anyone comparing the two is comparing different rules, not different markets. The same split shows up in water and outage response, covered in BWP versus LADWP.
A Burbank mailing address is not proof of a BWP meter. ZIP codes 91504 and 91505 both appear in LADWP's residential electric zone tables, because a postal boundary and a city boundary are drawn by different offices. The same problem shows up at the Toluca Lake city line. Read the utility off the bill rather than off the address.
How large can a system permitted after January 1, 2026 be?
This cap governs new permit applications. An existing system is not resized because the house sold. The two BWP pages that describe the cap do not fully agree, so both belong in the file.
The solar FAQ sets a ceiling. For permit applications after January 1, 2026, annual output may not exceed 150% of the previous 12 months of usage, systems of 10 kW CEC-AC and under skip sizing review, new construction may be calculated at 4 watts DC per square foot of conditioned floor area, and anything above 5,000 kW CEC-AC needs special interconnection terms.
The program page reads looser rather than opposite. Its 5 megawatt figure is the same threshold the FAQ writes as 5,000 kW CEC-AC. One real gap remains: the program page says size limits based on annual energy use are being removed, while the FAQ still caps annual output at 150%. Surplus is applied to the next bill rather than banked as energy credits, and BWP sends excess dollars by check once a year on request.
Treat the FAQ as the operational document, since it speaks in adopted terms while the program page still uses the word proposes. Get the sizing rule confirmed in writing before a buyer pays extra for a roof that was sold as expandable.
Does the solar get reassessed when the house sells?
The exclusion ends with the sale. Revenue and Taxation Code section 73 keeps an active solar energy system out of the definition of newly constructed, which is why installing panels does not raise the assessment. Subdivision (f) then limits that exclusion to the period before the next change of ownership.
So the panels ride free for the owner who installs them and are absorbed into market value for the buyer, whose new base year value is set at the sale. Section 73 also carries a sunset, and it is close. The State Board of Equalization told county assessors in Letter to Assessors No. 2024/031, dated August 26, 2024, that the exclusion reaches new construction in process or completed before January 1, 2027, and that a system already excluded stays excluded until the property changes ownership. A system finished after that date is assessable new construction. A valuation that treats owned panels as a tax free improvement for the next owner has the rule backwards.
What belongs in the file before you list
Six documents answer almost every question a buyer's agent will raise.
- The building permit number and, more importantly, the permit application date, which is what decides NEM 1.0 versus net billing.
- BWP interconnection paperwork and the account number.
- Ownership status of the equipment: owned outright, leased, or under a power purchase agreement.
- For a financed system, the fixture filing recorded against the property, which surfaces in the preliminary title report and has to be paid off or assumed before the policy issues.
- Inverter age and remaining warranty, since a replacement of the same part does not disturb grandfathering but an upgrade can.
- Twelve months of BWP statements, offered as production data.
Q: Does adding a battery end my grandfathering? No. BWP states that adding storage to an existing solar system does not end the period.
Q: The permit is dated December 2025 and the panels went up in February 2026. Which program applies? BWP ties the cutoff to the permit application date, so a pre January application lands on NEM 1.0.
Q: Is there still a federal tax credit for a residential system? BWP's FAQ says the residential credit is no longer available and that leased systems may still qualify, and BWP notes it does not give tax advice.
This is general information about a utility program and a state assessment rule, not legal, tax or engineering advice. Confirm your own system's status with Burbank Water and Power before relying on any of it. Call Alla at (818) 699-5367 or use the enquiry form.
More on buying and selling in this city in the Burbank area guide.