Minnesota solar export compensation
What Minnesota pays for exported rooftop solar power, with the source and the date each figure was checked.
Record verified 2026-09-16 · 17 of 17 fields sourced
What does your utility pay?
Fixed export rate
Under 40 kW, average-retail net excess: $0.14281/kWh Oct-May and $0.15874/kWh Jun-Sep for non-demand service; for under 1,000 kW purchase-after-self-use, A51 energy: $0.03205/$0.03408 per kWh Oct-May/Jun-Sep, with separate firm-capacity payments; annual kWh banking A55: $0.03280/kWh for non-time-of-day service.
Xcel Energy (Minnesota) · Minnesota
Xcel's tariff offers distinct average-retail, monthly purchase, and annual banking options; the source is the utility's filed Section 9 rate book.
Source: xcelenergy.com
Full Xcel Energy (Minnesota) detail →Minnesota has a statewide net-metering framework, but it does not have one statewide export price: compensation depends on facility size, customer class, utility tariff, and the selected billing option. The principal rate-regulated utilities use filed tariffs: Xcel Energy publishes average-retail and separate purchase/annual-banking schedules, Minnesota Power publishes average-retail and purchase options in its Parallel Generation Rider, and Otter Tail Power's current 2026 rider publishes average-retail credits for facilities up to 40 kW and avoided-cost credits for larger facilities. The Minnesota PUC says the voluntary statutory Value of Solar rate has not been adopted by an electric utility for ordinary customer net metering; the utilities are using their filed tariff schedules instead.
Program details
| Compensation mechanism | Statewide net metering under Minn. Stat. § 216B.164 and Minn. R. ch. 7835, implemented through utility cogeneration/small-power-producer tariffs. Minnesota has a statutory Value of Solar option, but the PUC states that no electric utility has voluntarily adopted that rate; ordinary customer compensation is therefore governed by the utility's filed tariff and selected billing option. |
|---|---|
| Export rate | There is no single statewide dollar export rate. Xcel's latest posted Section 9 tariff pays $0.14281-$0.15874/kWh for under-40-kW non-demand net excess and publishes separate purchase/annual-banking rates; Minnesota Power's filed Parallel Generation Rider publishes customer-class average-retail credits and separate purchase rates; Otter Tail's current rider pays $0.09264/kWh residential average-retail for facilities up to 40 kW and $0.04571/kWh base avoided cost for its Option 2. |
| Rate effective | Rates are tariff-effective and can change through the utilities' annual tariff filings. The latest accessible Xcel Section 9 rate sheet reviewed is effective April 1, 2024; Minnesota Power's publicly posted Parallel Generation Rider is effective May 1, 2023; Otter Tail's current Small Power Producer Rider is effective with bills rendered on and after April 1, 2026. |
| Credit rollover | Yes, where the customer selects a net-metering credit or banking option. Minnesota law carries kilowatt-hour credits forward for eligible 40-kW-or-more public-utility net-metered facilities, and the utility tariffs describe monthly credits or annual kWh banking; small-facility purchase options instead pay monetary credits for net excess. |
| Credit expiration | For annual kWh banking, the bank is settled at the annual billing cycle rather than carried indefinitely: Xcel posts payment for the bank balance on the bill following the cycle that includes December 31. Minnesota's statute also requires compensation for net input exceeding utility supply during the calendar year. Exact treatment depends on the utility tariff and selected option. |
| Annual true-up | December 31 annual true-up for the annual kWh-banking option, administered on the bill following the billing cycle that includes December 31; monthly-credit and purchase options settle under their own tariff terms. |
| Residential system cap | No separate statewide residential nameplate-kW ceiling is stated in the statute. For facilities 40 kW or more participating in net metering/net billing, a public utility may require solar and other distributed generation to limit annual AC production to 120% of the customer's on-site annual electricity consumption; facilities under 40 kW use the statutory threshold and tariff eligibility rules. |
| Commercial system cap | No separate statewide commercial nameplate-kW ceiling is stated. The public-utility net-metering framework covers qualifying facilities below 1,000 kW, while the 40-kW-or-more individual-system limit may be based on 120% of on-site annual consumption for solar and other distributed generation. |
| Aggregate program cap | Minnesota law allows the Commission to limit cumulative net-metered generation after a public utility shows it has reached 4% of annual retail electricity sales, but the statute does not itself declare that the statewide threshold has been reached or impose a current statewide enrollment cap. |
| Program status | Open under the statewide statute and utility tariffs, subject to interconnection approval, tariff eligibility, and utility-specific individual-system limits. The statute authorizes a possible cumulative limit at 4% of a public utility's annual retail sales but does not state that a statewide cap is currently in force. |
| Regulator | Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which approves utility rate books and distributed-energy tariffs and administers the statewide net-metering framework. |
| Docket | The statewide framework is in Minn. Stat. § 216B.164 and Minn. R. ch. 7835 rather than one single utility tariff docket. Current tariff examples include Xcel E999/PR-24-9, Minnesota Power E999/PR-23-09, and Otter Tail E999/PR-26-09; the docket printed on each tariff is the controlling approval reference for that tariff. |
| Governing rule | Minnesota Statutes § 216B.164, together with Minnesota Rules chapter 7835 on cogeneration and small power production, the PUC Uniform Statewide Contract, and each utility's Commission-approved tariff. |
| Grandfathering | The statewide statute preserves existing uniform-contract interconnections until terminated by mutual agreement, but it does not promise a permanent statewide export price. A customer is paid under the applicable rate schedule in effect under the selected tariff; legacy program contracts can have their own terms. |
| Interconnection application | Apply to the serving utility under the Minnesota Distributed Energy Resources Interconnection Process. Certified inverter-based systems no larger than 20 kW use the Simplified Process under the 2025 MN DIP; qualifying systems may use the Uniform Statewide Contract, while other projects proceed through Fast Track or Study Process review and execute the applicable interconnection agreement and power-purchase/net-metering tariff. |
| Interconnection timeline | The 2025 MN DIP gives the Area EPS Operator 10 business days to acknowledge and assess a Simplified Process application, 20 business days to complete the safety/reliability review after a complete application, up to five days to provide an executable agreement when approved, 10 business days for any witness test after the certificate of completion, and three business days after inspection or waiver to grant permission to operate. |
| Pending change | A PUC proceeding is examining the definition of capacity and related net-metering eligibility for rate-regulated utilities in Docket E-002, E-111, E-017, E-015/CI-24-200. The sources reviewed do not show a final statewide replacement of tariffed net metering with a mandatory Value of Solar or single avoided-cost rate; the currently effective utility tariffs remain the operative compensation sources. |
Rates by utility
State rules set the framework. Individual utilities often pay something different, and where they do the utility tariff governs.
| Xcel Energy | Under 40 kW, average-retail net excess: $0.14281/kWh Oct-May and $0.15874/kWh Jun-Sep for non-demand service; for under 1,000 kW purchase-after-self-use, A51 energy: $0.03205/$0.03408 per kWh Oct-May/Jun-Sep, with separate firm-capacity payments; annual kWh banking A55: $0.03280/kWh for non-time-of-day service. Section 9 sheet reviewed: April 1, 2024 Xcel's tariff offers distinct average-retail, monthly purchase, and annual banking options; the source is the utility's filed Section 9 rate book. |
|---|---|
| Minnesota Power | Parallel Generation Rider: average-retail credit listed as 11.59¢/kWh residential, 13.10¢/kWh general service, and 10.00¢/kWh large light & power; separate purchase option lists 3.30¢/kWh energy and 4.40¢/kWh energy plus firm-power capacity. Publicly posted rider reviewed: May 1, 2023 Minnesota Power's public rate book identifies the Rider for Parallel Generation as applying to cogenerators/small power producers under 1,000 kW AC and provides distinct billing choices. |
| Otter Tail Power | Current 2026 Net Energy Billing Rider: facilities up to 40 kW receive average-retail credits of $0.09264/kWh residential, $0.08569 farm, $0.08069 general service, or $0.05040 large general service; Option 2 base avoided cost is $0.04571/kWh, with a $0.02022/kWh firm capacity credit when eligible. Bills rendered on and after April 1, 2026 Otter Tail's rider also publishes separate time-of-day rates and REC credits; the cited rate is the current Section 12.01 net-energy-billing schedule. |
Sources read for this record
- mn.gov/puc/activities/economic-analysis/special-rates/
- mn.gov/puc/activities/economic-analysis/distributed-energy/
- mn.gov/puc/assets/MN%20DIP%202025%20Clean%20April%2024%202025_tcm14-623149.pd
- revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/216b.164
- xcelenergy.com/staticfiles/xe-responsive/Company/Rates%20&%20Regulations/Regulatory%2
- mnpower.com/Content/Documents/CustomerService/mp-ratebook.pdf
- mnpower.com/Content/Documents/CustomerService/DistributedGeneration/uniform-statew
- otpco.com/media/uvplwynh/mn_1201.pdf
- content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MNPUBUC/bulletins/3d517a8
Keep reading
- Every state we track
- How these figures are sourced and dated
- Alabama — Rate PAE 2026 payment options are time-of-day: 5.17¢/kWh weekday 10 a.
- Arizona — Set per utility, not statewide. APS: $0.05554/kWh. TEP: $0.0513/kWh, w
- California — No single statewide export rate. Compensation is set by the CPUC Avoid
- Colorado — No single statewide dollar export rate. Under ordinary net metering, m
- Connecticut — Netting export rate is a formula, not a single statewide dollar figure
- Florida — No single statewide dollar-per-kWh export rate. Monthly net exports ar
- Georgia — 3.2188¢/kWh solar avoided cost for 2026, plus 4¢/kWh adder for RNR-Ins
- Hawaii — Hawaiian Electric Smart Renewable Energy Export rates for 2024-2026, i
- Illinois — No single statewide dollar-per-kWh rate. For new residential and small
- Indiana — Utility-specific EDG rates, not one statewide rate; the verified utili
- Louisiana — Avoided-cost export rates effective in 2026 are $0.0386407/kWh for Ent
- Maryland — No single statewide export price: for the annual-accrual option, net e
- Massachusetts — No single statewide dollar-per-kWh rate. For ordinary qualifying solar
- Michigan — Utility- and rate-schedule-specific, not one statewide flat rate. DTE'
- Missouri — Utility-specific avoided-fuel-cost/cogeneration rate, not a single sta
- Nevada — Tier 4 exports are credited at 75% of the applicable retail rate; Nort
- New Jersey — One-for-one retail-rate credit against delivered electricity during th
- New York — No single statewide $/kWh rate. The Value Stack is calculated from uti
- North Carolina — No single statewide export rate exists. For the current DEC NMB and RS
- Ohio — No single statewide dollar rate. Under the standard utility tariff, ex
- Oregon — Full retail rate for each rate component on the bill that uses kWh as
- Pennsylvania — No single statewide dollar rate: full retail kWh rate for monthly offs
- South Carolina — No single statewide export rate exists. Santee Cooper's DG-25 rider li
- Tennessee — NESolar Connect publishes seasonal base rates of $0.07363/kWh summer,
- Texas — No statewide rate. Published municipal examples include Austin Energy
- Utah — Schedule 137: 4.855 cents/kWh for exports in June through September; 4
- Virginia — No single statewide rate exists. APCo Rider N.M.S. II lists total avoi
- Washington — Applicable retail energy rate / kWh credit under the customer's utilit
- Wisconsin — Utility-specific. 2026 examples are WEPCO CGS-NM residential/secondary