Top Tier — Florida Battery Sales Reference

Duke Energy Florida · Tampa Bay Region, Central & North Florida

Sales reference for reps working Duke Energy Florida territory. This is the deep reference — how to sell it up top, full utility detail below. Duke Energy Florida serves roughly 1.9 million customers around Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, and up through central and north Florida. The Duke FL story has three angles no other Florida utility gives us: a genuinely enrollable battery program (EnergyWise Home Battery Control — up to ~$141/yr in bill credits, open enrollment, the only one in our Florida book); the Duke precedent hedge (Duke's own North Carolina playbook — the documented move of existing solar customers onto a bridge and then a new rider — is the strongest honest here's-why-you-hedge story in the state, because it's what this same company already did next door); and hurricane exposure with four documented anchors (Irma 1.3M, Ian 680K+, Helene 800K, Milton 1M+). Net metering is intact and protected — with the $30 minimum-bill asterisk (effective January 2025, and note: Duke's income-qualified bill relief explicitly excludes net-metering customers). One honesty flag: bills actually DECREASE ~$44 in March 2026 as the ~$1.1B storm surcharge rolls off — that's the volatility story, and we tell it straight. The battery here is a rate hedge, a hurricane backup, a small program income, and a takeover.

What kind of market this is

Duke FL is a protected 1:1 net-metering market with the Duke precedent hedge, an enrollable battery program, a $30 minimum-bill asterisk, and heavy hurricane exposure — the battery is a hedge, a hurricane backup, a modest program credit, and a takeover. Five defining facts:

1. Net metering is intact, protected, and PSC-guaranteed. Florida's Rule 25-6.065 gives Duke FL residential solar customers full retail 1:1 monthly netting, excess rolling forward, annual true-up read in December (leftover kWh cashed at avoided cost, ~2–4¢ — not retail). Residential ≤10 kW is Tier 1: no interconnection insurance requirement. Nothing has been filed at the PSC (2024–2026) to change residential net metering at Duke FL.
2. The $30 minimum bill — the honest asterisk, with a Duke-specific sting. Duke's minimum bill took effect January 1, 2025 (Docket 20240025-EI: ~$12.45 customer charge plus up to ~$17.55 adder). A solar customer netting to zero still pays $30. And note: Duke's income-qualified bill relief (2025–27) explicitly excludes net-metering customers — solar households are carved out of the help. Modeling discipline: never show a projected bill below $30.
3. The rate story is a multi-year plan plus honest volatility. Duke's plan (Order PSC-2024-0472-AS-EI) runs 2025–27: +$593M, +$98M, +$129M. And here's the part we tell straight: a typical 1,000-kWh bill DECREASES about $44 starting March 2026, as the ~$1.1B Debby/Helene/Milton storm surcharge rolls off. That decrease is the proof of the real story — storms land on Duke bills as surcharges, in nine figures, and the next season loads the next one. The pitch is volatility, not a one-way ramp.
4. The Duke precedent — the strongest honest hedge story in Florida. This same company, next door in North Carolina, moved its existing solar customers off legacy net metering onto a bridge and then a new rider — documented, tariff-verbatim, still in motion. Nothing like it is filed in Florida. But when a customer asks "could my net metering ever change?", the honest answer is: the company you're attached to has a playbook, and a battery is the hedge that works no matter what any tariff ever does.
5. Duke FL has the only enrollable battery program in our Florida book. EnergyWise Home — Battery Control: free to enroll, up to ~$141/yr in bill credits, Duke dispatches the battery ~30–36 times a year (never below 20% state of charge; 4 opt-outs a year), open online enrollment. Honest framing: it's a demand-response bill credit, not VPP riches — but it's real, it's enrollable today, and owning the battery is the qualification. (The BYOB pilot and Hunters Creek pilot are closed — never pitch those; PowerPair is North Carolina only, never represent it as a Florida offering.)

Your lead is hurricane resilience + the volatility story, with the Duke precedent as the hedge close and EnergyWise as the sweetener. Every Duke FL customer has lived Irma, Ian, Helene, or Milton. The storm-surcharge cycle is documented in nine figures. Net metering is reassurance; the $30 floor is the honest asterisk you volunteer; the NC precedent is why hedging is rational even in a protected market; and ~$141/yr enrollable credits close the loop.

Default configuration: backup-capable is the strong default — this is hurricane country.

• Backup-capable: $18,500 cash / $23,942 financed / ~$228/mo
• Self-consumption-only: $17,000 cash / $22,068 financed / ~$210/mo

Confirm pricing and configuration in the tool before quoting.

PART A — The Pitch (Problem → Solution → Urgency → Close)

The spine is multiple beats per section: customer headline + statement + rep layer (+ objection where noted). Beats marked (BACKUP ONLY) render only for backup config; beats with Self-consumption:/Backup: branches swap the customer line by config.

The Problem

Your bill rides the storm cycle — nine figures at a time. Duke's multi-year plan added $593 million in 2025 with steps behind it. And here's the part most companies wouldn't tell you: your bill actually drops about $44 in March, as a $1.1 billion storm surcharge — Debby, Helene, and Milton — rolls off. That's the honest picture: every bad season lands on your bill as a nine-figure surcharge, and the next season loads the next one. Your solar offsets your usage, but every kilowatt-hour you still buy rides that cycle.

Rep layer: The Duke FL opener — volatility, told straight: multi-year plan (Order PSC-2024-0472-AS-EI) +$593M/2025, +$98M/2026, +$129M/2027; the March 2026 ~$44 DECREASE (≈$33 storm-charge removal + ≈$11 seasonal step) is CONFIRMED and we say it proactively — it proves the surcharge mechanism better than any threat could. Rates: customer charge $13.83/mo; non-fuel energy 7.412¢ (Mar–Nov) / 8.442¢ (Dec–Feb) first 1,000 kWh; all-in with fuel runs materially higher (~18–19¢ indicative — confirm the current fuel factor in the tool, don't quote all-in from memory). Objection — "My solar covers my bill." It offsets usage down to the $30 floor; it doesn't shield the surcharge cycle, and it's worth nothing in a hurricane outage.

Your system is orphaned. Whoever installed your solar is likely gone, merged, or unreachable — especially after so many installers folded when the federal tax credit expired at the end of 2025. If something goes wrong, there's no one accountable. You own the system and the risk.

Rep layer: Standard orphaned-system beat. Ask who installed it and whether they'd answer a service call. Objection — "My installer's still around." Would they answer within a week, and cover it?

Your inverter is on the clock. Your inverter is several years old. When it fails out of warranty, that's about $3,500 to $5,000 out of pocket — and your system produces nothing until it's replaced, typically 4 to 8 weeks.

Rep layer: Standard inverter beat. SolarEdge ~12-yr warranty, real failure 8–15 yrs; Enphase 25-yr, real issues 10–20. Objection — "Still under warranty." Good — until it isn't, and then it's $3,500–5,000.

(BACKUP ONLY) When the hurricane comes, your solar shuts off with the grid. Anti-islanding is a safety cutoff: in an outage, your panels produce nothing — even under a clear post-storm sky. Irma blacked out 1.3 million Duke Florida customers. Ian took out more than 680,000. Helene hit 800,000; Milton, over a million. A battery keeps your critical systems running, and with sun, it recharges through a multi-day restoration.

Rep layer: Renders ONLY for backup config. Duke FL anchors (all documented): Irma 2017 ~1.3M out; Ian 2022 >680K (of 1.9M), wrapped ~3 days after exit; Helene 2024 ~800K, 95% within 72 hrs; Milton 2024 >1M peak, 95% within 96 hrs. Honest note: Duke's restoration is genuinely fast (say so — credibility) — the battery covers the days you're dark anyway, and your street can be the last one on. Objection — "Duke restores fast." True — and four storms in eight years still meant days dark for hundreds of thousands each time.

The Solution

A battery hedges the settled climb and keeps the lights on when the grid can't. Stores your daytime solar and uses it at night instead of buying at Duke's rate — so as the plan steps and the next surcharge land, more of your power comes from your panels at a locked cost.

• Self-consumption: "As the plan steps and the next surcharge land, your battery leans on your own stored solar instead of buying at the new rate."
• Backup: "Hedges the climb the same way — and it's the difference between a hurricane outage and a hurricane inconvenience."

Monthly Cost Chart and Net Bill Breakdown render here.

Rep layer: First cure beat. Duke FL residential is full 1:1, so the mechanism is "maximize self-supply against a rising rate," NOT a spread play (exports earn retail within the year; December excess at ~2–4¢). The documented engine: the multi-year plan + the storm-surcharge cycle. MODELING DISCIPLINE: the $30 minimum bill is a hard floor — never project below it; near-floor customers get the resilience + takeover + EnergyWise pitch. EnergyWise Battery Control adds up to ~$141/yr — quote it as a demand-response bill credit with its real terms (Duke dispatches ~30–36×/yr, 20% SOC floor, 4 opt-outs), never as VPP riches, and confirm enrollment is open at close.

(BACKUP ONLY) It keeps your home running when the grid goes down. Powers your essentials — refrigerator, A/C circulation, well pump, medical devices, connectivity — through an outage, and with Florida sun, recharges to carry you through a multi-day restoration.

Rep layer: The resilience cure beat. Size expectations honestly (essentials, not necessarily whole-home indefinite; A/C load management matters in Florida heat — set expectations on cooling honestly).

We take it over. Top Tier becomes the single point of contact for your entire system — a new 10-year workmanship warranty, the 5-year Align Solar Protection contract ($0 deductible, non-transferable), and manufacturer warranty coordination.

Rep layer: Answers the orphaned-system problem. Transfers: workmanship with written consent; Align non-transferable; manufacturer per OEM terms.

Thousands you don't pay. The $11K+ Hidden Costs Avoided bundle — built into the takeover, not sold as extras.

Rep layer: Reframes total cost. "Your payment buys the battery plus warranty plus service plus inverter-replacement coverage — over $11K of value."

And your net metering stays exactly what it is — protected, with one honest number and one honest precedent. Your 1:1 net metering is PSC rule and nothing is filed to change it in Florida. The minimum bill — $30 — we build into your numbers instead of hiding. And the precedent worth knowing: this same company changed the rules for its existing solar customers in North Carolina. Nothing like it is filed here — but a battery is the hedge that works no matter what any tariff ever does, and when the company next door to itself has a playbook, hedging isn't paranoia.

Rate Justification + Own vs Rent render here.

Rep layer: Ties to the grandfathering section. Duke FL residential = full retail 1:1 (Rule 25-6.065), PROTECTED — no FL filing exists. The honest-asterisk move: volunteer the $30 floor (and the income-relief carve-out if relevant) before the customer finds it. THE NC PRECEDENT (the Duke-specific hedge close): Duke NC's documented move — existing solar customers required to transfer to a bridge by Jan 1, 2027, then Rider RSC — is tariff-verbatim and real; use it as PRECEDENT for why hedging is rational, never as a Florida prediction ('nothing like it is filed here' must always ride with it). HB 741: vetoed 4/27/2022 — history only. 25-yr scenarios: conservative 4%, moderate 6%, aggressive 8% (anchor near-term to the plan + the volatility story). Objection — "Rates might not climb." The plan is approved through 2027, the surcharge cycle is documented at $1.1B a season, and the March decrease itself proves the mechanism.

What you actually own. The savings hero — combined value: the rate hedge + hurricane resilience + protected net metering + the takeover bundle.

• Self-consumption: "Hedges Duke's plan and the surcharge cycle, earns the EnergyWise credit, and maximizes your net metering. Does not provide backup — ask about the upgrade."
• Backup: "Does all of that, plus keeps your critical loads running through a hurricane restoration."

Rep layer: Duke FL combined value = hurricane resilience (the lead) + plan/volatility hedge + the NC-precedent rationale + EnergyWise credit (~$141/yr, real terms) + protected net metering + takeover. No-backup disclosure fires ONLY for self-consumption config.

Urgency

The honest clocks — settled increases and hurricane season, not manufactured deadlines.

The rate clock. The plan steps land on a schedule through 2027 — and the next hurricane season's surcharge starts loading the moment the season starts. Every month you wait is a month riding the cycle with no hedge.

Rep layer: The honest Duke FL urgency — the plan is approved and dated, and the surcharge cycle is documented. Don't manufacture a net-metering deadline (nothing is filed in Florida; the NC precedent is a rationale for hedging, not a Florida clock).

The hurricane clock. Season runs June through November, every year. A battery installed before the next storm is protection; one ordered after landfall is a backorder. Installation isn't instant — the right time is before the season, not during the cone of uncertainty.

Rep layer: The strongest FL urgency and it's fully honest — Irma/Ian/Milton are lived memory in this territory. Factual, not fear-mongering: the pitch is preparedness.

System aging. Your inverter is aging toward its failure window. The longer you wait, the closer you get to an out-of-warranty replacement at $3,500–5,000 with no service relationship to handle it.

Rep layer: Universal urgency beat.

The Close

1. Verify credit + confirm configuration. Run the credit check and confirm the backup/self-consumption configuration.
2. Customer reads and signs the service agreement. Walk through the disclosures honestly — including the $30 minimum bill, that their net metering is protected (no cliff, nothing filed), and that there's no federal tax credit anymore.
3. Complete the Welcome Call. Finalizes the sale and sets expectations for installation.

Standing Rules (Do NOT Violate)

• ❌ NEVER coach reps to disqualify based on home tenure. Resale story is real — not "walk away."
• ❌ NEVER claim "all warranties transfer." Workmanship: with written consent. Align: non-transferable. Manufacturer: per OEM terms.
• ❌ NEVER fabricate inspection findings.
• ❌ NEVER quote a bill-reduction factor as a guarantee.
• ❌ NEVER quote a REP buyback rate as fixed/guaranteed — plan-dependent, confirm the customer's actual plan.
• ❌ 85+ confirmation call required. Customer confirms own finances, no POA, sound mind.
• ❌ Financing ends before age 91. 75 → 15-year max. 80 → 10-year max.
• ❌ Honest cancellation window. Overselling = free customer exit + $1K–$1.5K clawback.
• ❌ Certified before selling.

Go get the sale. A battery is a strong product — clean energy, independence, backup, long-term savings, and in Texas real VPP income. A customer who wants one for any honest reason is a good sale. We never walk away over price or low savings — that's the customer's call. Do right by the customer, protect the company, be honest.

PART B — The Deep Reference

1. Orientation

• Utility: Duke Energy Florida (DEF) — Duke Energy. Regulated by the Florida PSC.
• Territory: The Tampa Bay region (St. Petersburg, Pinellas, Pasco), central Florida, and a swath of north Florida — roughly 1.9 million customers.
• Market type: Protected 1:1 net metering (Rule 25-6.065) + $30 minimum-bill asterisk (income relief excludes NEM customers) + multi-year plan with documented storm-surcharge volatility + the NC-precedent hedge + the only enrollable battery program in our Florida book (EnergyWise Battery Control).
• Default config: backup-capable ($18,500 / $23,942 / ~$228); self-consumption ($17,000 / $22,068 / ~$210).

2. How the Duke FL Bill Works

1. Energy: non-fuel energy 7.412¢ (March–November) / 8.442¢ (December–February) first 1,000 kWh, plus the fuel factor and riders — customer charge $13.83/mo. All-in runs materially higher than the non-fuel rate (~18–19¢ indicative) — confirm the current fuel factor in the tool before quoting all-in. And the honest calendar note: a typical 1,000-kWh bill decreases ~$44 beginning March 2026 as the ~$1.1B storm surcharge rolls off.
2. Net metering: full retail 1:1 monthly netting under Rule 25-6.065 — exports offset usage at retail, excess kWh roll forward month to month, and the annual true-up is read in December, with leftover kWh cashed at avoided cost (~2–4¢), not retail.
3. The $30 minimum bill: effective January 1, 2025 (Docket 20240025-EI — ~$12.45 customer charge + up to ~$17.55 adder). A customer netting to zero still pays $30 — and Duke's income-qualified bill relief (2025–27) explicitly excludes net-metering customers.

Why this matters for the pitch: the December true-up at avoided cost means banked excess beyond the year is nearly worthless — the battery's job is self-supply against the plan and the surcharge cycle, not export banking. The $30 floor is a hard bound on every projection: never show a bill below $30. And the March 2026 decrease is a feature of the honest pitch, not a problem — it proves the surcharge mechanism.

3. Net Energy Metering — Protected, With One Honest Number and One Honest Precedent

Duke FL residential net metering is intact, PSC-guaranteed, and nothing is filed to change it in Florida. The $30 minimum bill is the documented adverse fact — volunteer it. The NC precedent is the documented hedge rationale — use it honestly.

• What customers have: full retail 1:1 (Rule 25-6.065), monthly rollover, December true-up at avoided cost. Tier 1 (≤10 kW): no interconnection insurance requirement.
• The minimum bill: $30/month floor effective January 1, 2025 (Docket 20240025-EI). A netting-to-zero customer pays it — and Duke's income-qualified relief program explicitly excludes net-metering customers, which is worth saying plainly when it applies.
• The NC precedent (the Duke-specific honesty): in North Carolina, this same company's documented, tariff-verbatim change requires existing solar customers to transfer off legacy net metering (by January 1, 2027, onto a bridge, then Rider RSC). Nothing like it is filed in Florida — say that every time. The honest use: when a customer asks whether their net metering could ever change, the answer is "nothing is filed here, and Florida's PSC rule protects you today — but the company you're attached to has run this play next door, which is exactly why a battery is the hedge that works no matter what any tariff ever does."
• The 2022 history (if raised): HB 741 was vetoed April 27, 2022 — dead, nothing filed since. History, never a live threat.
• See the "Net Metering & Grandfathering Status" section for the cited detail; the flag for Duke FL is PROTECTED (minimum-bill-only).

4. Rate Reality + Why Rates Climb

What's driving Duke FL rates (named forward drivers):

1. The approved plan. +$593M (2025), +$98M (2026), +$129M (2027) — Order PSC-2024-0472-AS-EI.
2. The storm-surcharge cycle — the honest centerpiece. Debby + Helene + Milton cost ~$1.1B, billed as a surcharge that rolls off in March 2026 (hence the ~$44 decrease). The mechanism is the story: every bad season becomes a nine-figure surcharge, and Duke FL's territory catches storms from both coasts.
3. Growth + hardening capital flowing into base rates each cycle.

Documented vs. speculation (say this right):

• ✅ "Your plan is approved through 2027, and your bill drops $44 in March as the $1.1B storm charge rolls off — that's the cycle" (documented; volunteer the decrease)
• ✅ "A net-zero solar bill is still $30, and Duke's bill-relief program excludes solar customers" (documented)
• ✅ "This company moved its existing solar customers off net metering in North Carolina — nothing like it is filed here, and that's exactly why the hedge is rational" (documented precedent, honest framing)
• ✅ "EnergyWise pays up to about $141 a year — Duke dispatches your battery about 30-some times a year, never below 20%" (documented, with terms)
• ❌ "Your bill will be $X by 2035" (speculation)
• ❌ "Duke is about to do here what it did in NC" (nothing is filed — precedent is a rationale, not a prediction)
• ❌ Showing any projected bill below $30 (violates the floor)

5. Incentives & Programs

• EnergyWise Home — Battery Control (OPEN, enrollable): free program, bill credits up to ~$141/yr; Duke dispatches the battery ~30–36 events/yr, never below 20% state of charge, 4 opt-outs/yr; online enrollment active. Pitch as a demand-response bill credit with its real terms — owning the battery is the qualification. Confirm enrollment is open at close. Closed/never: the BYOB battery pilot (closed 2022 study) and Hunters Creek pilot (utility-selected ~75 homes) are NOT enrollable — never pitch them; PowerPair is a North Carolina program — never represent it as available in Florida.
• Federal ITC: expired 12/31/2025. Never quote 30%.
• Florida tax treatment: solar property-tax exclusion and sales-tax exemption are long-standing Florida law for residential solar; the battery rides in as part of the system where installed with solar — confirm current treatment at close rather than promising battery-specific exemptions.
• No state credit, no state rebate in Duke FL territory. The value is the hedge + resilience + takeover — not program income.

6. System Rescue Value — The System Takeover

This applies to any customer with existing solar — and it's identical across every Top Tier market. These are takeover facts, not TX-specific.

The Orphaned Solar Customer Problem. Many Texas solar customers installed during the 2019–2024 growth years and now face:

• An original installer that's gone out of business, been acquired, or stopped servicing residential (especially common after the federal tax credit expired Dec 2025)
• A 10-year workmanship warranty that's unenforceable (installer is gone)
• An inverter approaching or past typical failure windows
• No service relationship, and most companies refuse to service systems they didn't install

The Inverter Failure Reality. Inverters are the weakest link. Panels last 25–30 years; the inverter fails much sooner.

• SolarEdge string inverters: 8–15 years (12-yr standard warranty)
• Enphase microinverters: 10–20 years (25-yr warranty)
• Industry-wide: 70–90% of systems experience inverter failure within the panel lifespan
• When it fails on an orphaned system: production stops, bills jump to full retail, most providers won't quote it, out-of-pocket replacement is $3,500–5,000, and the customer is down 4–8 weeks.

What Top Tier's takeover provides (formalized through a Service Warranty Agreement with a brand-new 10-year Limited Workmanship and Roof Penetration Warranty):

• A new 10-year Top Tier workmanship warranty (regardless of system age)
• Manufacturer warranty claim handling (Top Tier chases the claim + labor, not the customer)
• Inverter replacement coverage when it fails within manufacturer warranty (customer pays nothing for the work)
• Single point of contact; monitoring setup help; performance verification at inspection

The $11K System Takeover Bundle (the exact 5-tile bundle on the proposal):

How to use it: "On top of the bill math, you're picking up over $11K of bundled services that aren't sold separately. If your inverter fails in year 12, the warranty handling alone is worth a few hundred; the replacement coordination saves $3–5K; the Align contract is $1,500 you'd otherwise pay. It adds up."

Align Solar Protection — the terms (get these right):

• 5-year term, $0 deductible, insurance-backed by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, non-transferable to subsequent owners.
• Covers: mechanical breakdown of existing PV (panels, inverters/optimizers, racking) — parts, labor, service calls.
• Does NOT cover: the new battery (own warranty), wear-and-tear, weather/hail, pre-existing conditions, roof issues.
• Age limits: panels/microinverters under 15 years; string/central inverters under 7 years. Not every system fully qualifies — disclose at inspection.
• It's ONE of three layers: (1) equipment manufacturer warranties, (2) Top Tier's 10-yr workmanship, (3) the 5-yr Align contract. Never call it "full coverage."
• NEVER say: "Everything's covered" / "never worry again" / "Align is your full coverage" / "you can extend beyond 5 years" / "Align transfers when you sell."

Quantifying the rescue value:

This is independent of bill savings — the rescue alone can be worth $4,000–7,500.

7. Outage Reality — Hurricane Resilience in Duke FL Territory

Why outages happen here. Duke FL's territory catches storms from both coasts, and the record shows it:

• Irma (September 2017): roughly 1.3 million Duke Florida customers out.
• Ian (September 2022): more than 680,000 out (of ~1.9 million) — restoration wrapped ~3 days after exit.
• Helene (September 2024): ~800,000 out — 95% within 72 hours. Milton (October 2024): more than 1 million at peak — 95% within 96 hours.
• Four major storms in eight years, two in one 2024 season — and the ~$1.1B surcharge for that season is the same story on the bill side. Duke's restoration is genuinely fast; fast is still days, and your street can be the last one on.

What a battery does — and the honest mechanism. Grid-tied solar shuts off automatically in an outage (anti-islanding), so a solar-only customer has no power even under a clear post-storm sky. A battery with backup keeps essential loads running — refrigerator, medical devices, connectivity, fans and circulation in the heat — and recharges from solar through a multi-day restoration.

How to pitch it honestly: don't promise whole-home A/C for a week. "A battery keeps your essentials running through the restoration — and this territory took Irma, Ian, Helene, AND Milton inside eight years, two of them in one season."

8. Hidden Costs Avoided / What You Own vs What You Rent

• What you rent: grid power riding a nine-figure storm-surcharge cycle with a $30 floor under every bill — and nothing when the hurricane takes the grid down.
• What you own (with the battery): your production, stored and used against the settled climb; backup for the storm; and full-retail value on everything you net under protected 1:1 rules.
• Hidden costs avoided: the $11K takeover bundle + exposure to the settled climb + the cost of every hurricane restoration (spoiled food, hotel nights, generator fuel).

9. Battery Products

• Backup config (default — hurricane country): Tesla Powerwall 3 (13.5 kWh; Redline: $20,500), FranklinWH aPower 2 (15 kWh; Redline: $20,500). Not compatible with HDM.

• Self-consumption config: Enphase IQ 5P (10 kWh; Redline: $15,500 SC / $17,600 BU), SolarEdge Home Battery (9.7 kWh usable; Redline: $14,500 SC / $16,000 BU), SolarEdge Nexis (self-consumption only pending crew backup training; Redline: $15,500 SC).

• Duke FL takeaway: backup is the natural default — four storms in eight years makes the case. Any catalog battery qualifies for EnergyWise enrollment consideration — confirm program hardware terms at close. Confirm config in the tool.

• Financing terms vary by lender — price deals through the proposal tool.

10. Objection Handling

Universal objections (swap in Duke FL figures) + Florida-specific objections.

"Didn't Florida already try to kill net metering?" (FL-specific — the history answer)

"They did — in 2022, and the governor vetoed it. That bill is dead, and nothing has been filed since. Your net metering is a Public Service Commission rule and it's unchanged. What I will tell you honestly, because you're a Duke customer: this same company did change the rules for its existing solar customers in North Carolina. Nothing like it is filed in Florida — but that's exactly why owning a battery is the hedge that works no matter what any tariff ever does."

"My solar covers my bill — why add a battery?" (FL-specific — the floor-and-storm reframe)

"It offsets your usage — down to the thirty-dollar floor, which nobody's solar beats, and which Duke's bill-relief program won't help you with, because solar customers are excluded from it. What it can't do is shield the surcharge cycle — the last season alone put a billion-dollar charge on Duke bills — and it produces exactly nothing during a hurricane outage. This territory took four major storms in eight years. A battery does both."

"Duke restores power fast — do I really need backup?" (Duke-specific — the honest-credit answer)

"They genuinely do — Helene was 95% restored inside 72 hours, and I'll credit that plainly. But this territory took Irma, Ian, Helene, and Milton inside eight years — two in one season — and fast still means days, and someone's street is always last. A battery isn't betting Duke fails — it's covering the days between landfall and your street's turn."

"Does the battery earn me money through a program?" (Duke-specific — the honest yes-with-terms)

"Yes — modestly, and I'll give you the real terms. Duke's EnergyWise Battery Control pays up to about $141 a year in bill credits. In exchange, Duke gets to dispatch your battery thirty-some times a year — never below twenty percent charge, and you can opt out four times a year. It's not a windfall; it's a real credit for hardware you'll own anyway, and it's the only enrollable battery program at any utility we serve in Florida. We confirm enrollment is open when we close."

"Why is the loan more than the system price?"

"The cash price is $17,000–18,500 depending on config. Service Finance adds dealer fees bringing the financed amount to about $22,068–23,942. Cash or a HELOC is cheaper if that's an option. Florida has no state credit and the federal credit expired — the value is the hedge, the hurricane backup, and the takeover, not a discount."

"What if I sell the house?"

"Resale asset — your closing equity pays off the loan, and the new owner inherits a fully-owned system with hurricane backup, which in this state is a listing feature. Top Tier's 10-year workmanship warranty transfers with written consent; the Align contract is non-transferable."

11. DO SAY / NEVER SAY

12. Required Disclosures

1. ☐ Savings are estimates; Duke FL rates change through PSC proceedings (multi-year plan through 2027; ~$44 decrease March 2026 as the storm surcharge rolls off) — verify against current rates including the fuel factor.
2. ☐ Residential net metering is full retail 1:1 under Rule 25-6.065 and unchanged; no proceeding to change it is pending in Florida. Duke's North Carolina net-metering transition is a different jurisdiction and is presented as precedent only. Annual true-up is read in December with excess credited at avoided cost, not retail.
3. ☐ Every Duke FL residential bill carries a $30 monthly minimum (effective Jan 1, 2025); projections never show a bill below $30. Duke's income-qualified bill relief excludes net-metering customers.
4. ☐ EnergyWise Battery Control credits (up to ~$141/yr) are quoted with their dispatch terms (~30–36 events/yr, 20% SOC floor, 4 opt-outs) and enrollment is confirmed open at close; credits are not guaranteed income and are excluded from savings projections unless enrollment is confirmed.
5. ☐ No federal ITC after 12/31/2025; no Florida state credit or rebate.
6. ☐ Align Solar Protection is non-transferable; workmanship warranty transfer requires written consent; manufacturer warranties transfer per OEM terms. Align coverage is contingent on inspection + age limits (panels <15 yr, inverters <7 yr).
7. ☐ Backup duration depends on system sizing and load; whole-home air conditioning through a multi-day outage is not implied.
8. ☐ Pricing confirmed in the tool before commitment.

13. Quick-Reference Numbers (dated — confirm before quoting)

• Net metering: full retail 1:1, protected (Rule 25-6.065); true-up December, excess at ~2–4¢ avoided cost
• Minimum bill: $30/mo floor, eff. Jan 1, 2025 (never project below it; income relief EXCLUDES NEM customers) (Docket 20240025-EI)
• Rate plan: +$593M (2025) / +$98M (2026) / +$129M (2027) (Order PSC-2024-0472-AS-EI); bill −~$44 March 2026 as the ~$1.1B Debby/Helene/Milton surcharge rolls off — volunteer it
• Customer charge $13.83/mo; non-fuel 7.412¢ (Mar–Nov) / 8.442¢ (Dec–Feb) first 1,000 kWh; all-in ~18–19¢ indicative — confirm fuel factor in the tool
• NC precedent: existing-customer transfer by 1/1/2027 → bridge → Rider RSC (NORTH CAROLINA — nothing filed in FL) — rationale, never prediction
• EnergyWise Battery Control: OPEN — up to ~$141/yr; ~30–36 dispatches/yr; 20% SOC floor; 4 opt-outs (BYOB + Hunters Creek CLOSED; PowerPair = NC-only) | Federal ITC: expired 12/31/2025
• HB 741: vetoed 4/27/2022 — history
• Inverter replacement out-of-pocket: $3,500–5,000 | Takeover bundle: ~$11,800
• Default config: backup $18,500 / self-consumption $17,000
• Customers: ~1.9M | Storm anchors: Irma 2017 — ~1.3M; Ian 2022 — 680K+ (~3 days); Helene 2024 — ~800K (95% in 72 hrs); Milton 2024 — 1M+ (95% in 96 hrs)

14. Sell Hard, Sell Honest — the standing rules

• Volunteer the $30 floor AND the March decrease — the floor is the adverse fact; the decrease is the proof of the surcharge cycle. Telling both straight buys credibility for everything else. Never project a bill below $30.
• The NC precedent is a rationale, never a prediction — "nothing like it is filed in Florida" rides with it every single time.
• Quote EnergyWise with its real terms — ~$141/yr, ~30–36 dispatches, 20% floor, 4 opt-outs; confirm enrollment open at close. Never pitch the closed pilots or NC-only PowerPair.
• HB 741 is history — vetoed, dead, nothing filed since.
• Credit Duke's restoration speed, then make the honest case — four storms in eight years; fast is still days.
• Never quote the federal ITC (expired).