Rhode Island solar export compensation
What Rhode Island 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?
No single rate — formula based
Renewable net-metering credits are calculated from the applicable statutory retail-rate components; excess renewable net-metering credits are equal to the wholesale electricity rate, declared by statute to be the ISO-New England energy clearing price. Separately, the REG program pays eligible generation under long-term fixed-price tariffs.
Rhode Island Energy · Rhode Island
Rhode Island Energy is the dominant investor-owned electric distribution company. Net metering is not a single fixed export price; REG is a separate performance-based incentive/purchase program.
Source: webserver.rilegislature.gov · portalconnect.rienergy.com · rienergy.com
Full Rhode Island Energy detail →Rhode Island has a statutory net-metering program administered through electric-distribution-company tariffs. Renewable net-metering credits offset eligible on-site or remote-account usage; excess generation is compensated through excess renewable net-metering credits at the wholesale electricity rate, defined in the statute as the ISO-New England energy clearing price. Rhode Island Energy also administers the separate Renewable Energy Growth (REG) program, under which eligible distributed-generation projects sell output under long-term fixed-price tariffs.
Program details
| Compensation mechanism | Statutory net metering: renewable net-metering credits offset eligible consumption, and excess generation receives excess renewable net-metering credits; Rhode Island Energy also offers the separate REG performance-based/long-term fixed-price purchase program. |
|---|---|
| Export rate | There is no single statewide dollar headline rate. Renewable net-metering credits use the applicable statutory retail-rate components; excess renewable net-metering credits equal the wholesale electricity rate, declared by statute to be the ISO-New England energy clearing price, with the distribution company allowed to use an approved annual, monthly, or other time increment and applicable locational pricing. |
| Rate effective | The reviewed Rhode Island Energy tariff filing states that the proposed RIPUC No. 2279 tariff would be issued effective January 1, 2026; Rhode Island Energy's current interconnection page identifies RIPUC No. 2279 as effective May 12, 2026. |
| Credit rollover | Yes, but the administration depends on the billing arrangement: the distribution company may reconcile a twelve-month billing plan and carry credits or charges forward, and for residential systems and community remote systems 25 kW or smaller it may administer credits month to month with unused credits carried into the following billing period. |
| Credit expiration | Credits are reconciled at the end of the applicable twelve-month period when a twelve-month billing plan is used; after annual reconciliation, the customer may cash out a remaining credit balance under the statutory limits rather than facing a stated general forfeiture date. |
| Annual true-up | No calendar date is fixed statewide; when the utility elects a twelve-month billing plan, reconciliation occurs at the end of the twelve-month period. |
| Residential system cap | No separate residential nameplate cap is stated. The overall statutory maximum for an eligible net-metering system is 10 MW; systems 25 kW or smaller are not restricted based on prior consumption. |
| Commercial system cap | The overall statutory maximum allowable capacity for an eligible net-metering system is 10 MW; systems over 25 kW must be reasonably designed and sized to annual on-site usage under the three-year consumption rule, subject to statutory exceptions. |
| Aggregate program cap | The statute sets a 275 MWac aggregate cap for remote net metering by ground-mounted eligible net-metering systems, with listed exceptions; it also retains a 30 MW community-remote-net-metering amount from the earlier statutory provision until that amount is interconnected. |
| Program status | No statewide full/closed status is stated in the reviewed net-metering statute or OER overview. Rhode Island Energy's separate REG small-scale program is described as first-come, first-served until fully subscribed, while commercial-scale REG applications use open enrollment periods. |
| Regulator | Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (PUC); the statute gives the commission authority to determine the applicability of the excess-credit rate in cases of uncertainty or disagreement. |
| Docket | 25-50-EL, Rhode Island Energy's tariff-advice filing to amend the Net Metering Provision to incorporate 2025 legislative changes. |
| Governing rule | R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 39-26.4-2 and 39-26.4-3 (Net Metering). |
| Grandfathering | No general statewide grandfathering provision was identified. The statute specifically preserves a tariff or policy already on file for Block Island Power Company or Pascoag Utility District until the PUC approves a new tariff; the reviewed Rhode Island Energy filing instead describes a new tariff replacing RIPUC No. 2274. |
| Interconnection application | Applications are submitted through Rhode Island Energy's electronic interconnection process. For REG, small-scale applicants enroll via an interconnection application; projects greater than 25 kW apply during a two-week open enrollment using the RE Growth Open Enrollment Application. |
| Interconnection timeline | The Rhode Island distributed-generation interconnection standard says the utility acknowledges a complete Simplified Process application within 3 business days and notifies the applicant whether it is complete within 10 business days; the tariff's total maximum days depend on the interconnection path and studies. |
| Pending change | Docket 25-50-EL is the active/currently documented tariff-advice proceeding to amend Rhode Island Energy's Net Metering Provision for 2025 legislative changes; the PUC page lists procedural materials and a compliance filing tied to the May 12, 2026 open meeting. |
Rates by utility
State rules set the framework. Individual utilities often pay something different, and where they do the utility tariff governs.
| Rhode Island Energy | Renewable net-metering credits are calculated from the applicable statutory retail-rate components; excess renewable net-metering credits are equal to the wholesale electricity rate, declared by statute to be the ISO-New England energy clearing price. Separately, the REG program pays eligible generation under long-term fixed-price tariffs. Net-metering tariff RIPUC No. 2279: current RI Energy interconnection page identifies May 12, 2026; REG tariffs effective April 1, 2026. Rhode Island Energy is the dominant investor-owned electric distribution company. Net metering is not a single fixed export price; REG is a separate performance-based incentive/purchase program. |
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Sources read for this record
- energy.ri.gov/renewable-energy/net-metering
- energy.ri.gov/renewable-energy/wind/renewable-energy-growth-program-reg-program
- webserver.rilegislature.gov/statutes/title39/39-26.4/39-26.4-2.htm
- webserver.rilegislature.gov/statutes/title39/39-26.4/39-26.4-3.htm
- ripuc.ri.gov/Docket-25-50-EL
- ripuc.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur841/files/2025-11/25-50-EL-Net%20Metering%20Tariff
- gridforce.my.site.com/servlet/servlet.FileDownload?file=0150W00000DPLF6
- rienergy.com/site/other-parties/business-partners/rfp-and-procurement/re-growth-pro
- portalconnect.rienergy.com/RI/s/article/RI-Interconnection-Documents
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
- Arkansas — There is no single statewide export number. Non-legacy exports are cre
- 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
- Iowa — There is no single statewide dollar rate. Under the current inflow-out
- Kansas — There is no single statewide dollar rate. For systems operating under
- Kentucky — There is no single statewide export rate. Current published utility ex
- Louisiana — Avoided-cost export rates effective in 2026 are $0.0386407/kWh for Ent
- Maine — There is no single statewide export price. The kWh Credit Program prov
- 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'
- Minnesota — There is no single statewide dollar export rate. Xcel's latest posted
- 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 Hampshire — There is no single statewide dollar-per-kWh rate: for small customer-g
- New Jersey — One-for-one retail-rate credit against delivered electricity during th
- New Mexico — There is no single statewide fixed export number in the cited rule. Ex
- 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
- Oklahoma — There is no single statewide dollar export rate. Net excess is credite
- 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
- Vermont — The statewide blended residential base credit is $0.2071/kWh effective
- 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