Tariffs and grants / Tariff comparison and flexibility / SEG rates across UK suppliers

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SEG rates across UK suppliers

How UK suppliers set SEG export rates, the range across the market, customer-only and installer-linked tiers, tariff types and why rates change.

The SEG is the scheme that requires certain licensed electricity suppliers to pay small-scale generators for the low-carbon electricity they export to the grid. Each supplier sets its own export rate. In the market snapshot checked on 22 July 2026, mainstream export tariffs covered here ran from about 3p to 25p/kWh, with lower rates elsewhere in the wider market. The 25p top was an export tariff outside the SEG scheme, while the highest flat SEG offer in this group was 20p. These figures are a dated snapshot, not permanent tariff rates. Most of the spread comes from whether you also buy import electricity from the supplier, whether it fitted the system, and whether a headline rate applies all day or only in a peak window.

How SEG rates are set

The SEG is governed by the SEG Order 2019 and Conditions 57 and 58 of the standard electricity supply licence. The obligation came into force on 1 January 2020, after the export element of the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) closed on 31 March 2019. Within that framework the supplier, not Ofgem (the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, the energy regulator), decides the rate, the contract type and the contract length.

The single hard rule on the rate is that it must stay above zero pence per kWh at all times. There is no floor beyond zero and no ceiling. Any claim of a guaranteed minimum, such as an effective 7.5p floor, is not part of the scheme: open-market rates of 1p to 6p are on offer today, which a 7.5p floor would rule out.

A generator can apply for a SEG tariff from any SEG licensee, not only the supplier that provides their import electricity, and Ofgem encourages generators to shop around and review their tariff regularly.

Eligibility: technology, capacity and metering

A SEG tariff is open to installations in Great Britain that use one of five low-carbon technologies: solar PV, wind, hydro, anaerobic digestion or micro combined heat and power (micro-CHP). Total installed capacity must be no more than 5 MW, or 50 kW for micro-CHP. The generator also needs suitable certification, such as the MCS or an equivalent, an export meter and an export MPAN. In practice that means a half-hourly-capable smart meter, which covers SMETS2 (Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specifications version 2) meters and some SMETS1 meters.

Which suppliers must offer SEG

A supplier is a mandatory SEG licensee if it has at least 150,000 domestic electricity customers as at 31 December of the previous year. Mandatory licensees must offer a SEG tariff and cannot opt out. A supplier below that threshold can choose to opt in as a voluntary licensee, or stay out as a non-SEG licensee. Every licensed supplier notifies Ofgem of its status by 14 February each year, and the status then applies for the SEG year that runs from 1 April to 31 March.

For the SEG year running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, Ofgem’s list names 12 mandatory licensees: British Gas Trading, E (Gas and Electricity), E.ON Next Energy, EDF Energy Customers, Electricity Plus Supply (trading as Utility Warehouse), Foxglove Energy Supply, Fuse Energy Supply, Octopus Energy, OVO Electricity, ScottishPower Energy Retail, So Energy Trading and Utilita Energy. Fuse Energy and Foxglove Energy are new to the mandatory list this year. Four suppliers are listed as voluntary licensees: Pozitive Energy, Ruby Electricity, Smart Pay Energy and Voltx Power.

One name that appears in most “best SEG rate” tables is missing from that list: Good Energy. It has fewer than 150,000 domestic customers and has not opted in voluntarily, so its export products are export tariffs but not, strictly, SEG tariffs. That distinction changes how you read a comparison table, because most tables list SEG and non-SEG export tariffs together.

Why export rates vary from 1p to 25p

Live supplier pages checked on 22 July 2026 span roughly 3p to 25p per kWh across the mainstream products covered here. Lower rates exist elsewhere in the wider market. The first condition is an import-customer tie: better rates are often reserved for households that also buy their import electricity from the same supplier. The best widely available untied rates in this group are 6p per kWh from ScottishPower SmartGen and E.ON Next Flex Export. The second condition is an installer tie: the very top rates additionally require that the supplier, or its named partner, fitted the solar panels or battery.

Access condition Current examples checked 22 July 2026
Open to anyone, no import tie, no installer tie ScottishPower SmartGen 6p, E.ON Next Flex Export 6p, So Export Flex 4.5p, OVO SEG 4p and EDF SEG Export Variable 3p
Supplier’s own import customers EDF Export 12m 15p, E.ON Next Export Exclusive 13p, Octopus Outgoing 12p, British Gas Export Premium 12p and ScottishPower SmartGen Premium 12p
System installed by the supplier; other conditions vary Good Energy Solar Savings Exclusive 25p, OVO SEG Install Exclusive up to 20p, So Bright Export 20p, EDF Export Exclusive 18p, E.ON Next Export Premium 17.5p and ScottishPower SmartGen Premium Plus 15p

Good Energy’s Solar Savings Exclusive tops many tables at 25p, but it is an export tariff rather than a SEG tariff, needs solar and a battery installed by Good Energy as well as Good Energy import supply, and rolls onto Solar Savings after 12 months. The standard Solar Savings rate was 12p per kWh when checked on 22 July 2026. ScottishPower shows the whole ladder in one product family: SmartGen at 6p is open to anyone, SmartGen Premium at 12p needs a ScottishPower import tariff, and SmartGen Premium Plus at 15p needs a ScottishPower import tariff and a qualifying ScottishPower install.

SEG payments in practice

Ofgem’s report for 2024-25 records £56.97 million paid for 443.1 GWh of low-carbon export. Dividing those totals gives an overall realised payment of about 12.9p per kWh, although that is not the same thing as a tariff available to every household. There were 270,395 installations registered at the end of March 2025, up 63% year on year, and total payments rose 86%. Payment timing varies by supplier and tariff, so it belongs in the contract comparison as well as the rate.

Flat, fixed-term, agile and time-of-use export tariffs

Export tariffs come in a few shapes, and the shape affects both the headline number and how comparable that number is. A flat variable tariff pays a single rate at any time of day, and the supplier can change it with notice. Octopus Outgoing Octopus pays a flat 12p per kWh on this basis, and British Gas Export Premium at 12p is likewise variable with no fixed end date. A fixed-term tariff locks the rate, or the formula behind it, for a set term that is commonly 12 months, and many of the installer-linked exclusives are 12-month fixed contracts.

An agile or half-hourly tariff tracks the day-ahead wholesale market, with a new rate every 30 minutes and no cap. Agile Outgoing Octopus is a 12-month fixed-term contract whose rate formula follows day-ahead wholesale prices, published for the following day between 4pm and 8pm. It averaged around 9p per kWh over the prior year, so on a flat comparison it sits below the 12p flat rate; its value depends on being able to export when prices are high.

Time-of-use export tariffs pay their headline rate only in a narrow evening window and generally need a battery to shift meaningful export into it. Octopus Prime Outgoing pays 16p per kWh in a 4pm to 7pm window and 9p at other times. Octopus Flux prices vary by region and tariff version, while Intelligent Octopus Flux was temporarily closed to new sign-ups when checked. Any peak figure must therefore be taken from a current quote, and is not like-for-like with a flat all-day rate.

Why SEG rates change

SEG tariffs are commercial products, not index-linked like the old Feed-in Tariff, so suppliers review and amend them as wholesale prices and their own strategy shift. Because the rate only has to stay above zero, the moves can be large. ScottishPower SmartGen halved from 12p to 6p in July 2025. From 6 July 2026 British Gas replaced its previous 15.1p top rate with 12p for import customers whose systems are no more than 15kW, 8p above 15kW and 3p for non-import customers. Comparison tables that still show 15.1p are stale.

The main protection against a cut is the ability to switch. The new supplier’s eligibility rules, notice period and any exit fee still apply, so these need checking in the individual terms. The rate you signed up to can fall, and a better open offer may appear elsewhere, so the practical safeguard is to review the whole import-and-export deal rather than rely on a regulatory floor.

Applies to

Solar, Battery

Last reviewed

22 Jul 2026