Tennessee solar export compensation
What Tennessee 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
Dispersed Power Production: monthly avoided cost, updated monthly
TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) · Tennessee
Qualifying renewable facilities up to 80 MW may sell all or excess generation to TVA under a required 5-year commitment.
Source: tva.com
Full TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) detail →Tennessee has no statewide retail net-metering mandate; TVA and its local power companies administer export programs through TVA's dual-meter and avoided-cost framework. TVA's Dispersed Power Production program buys all or excess generation at TVA's monthly avoided cost, while local programs add distributor-specific terms. Nashville Electric Service publishes NESolar Connect and NESolar Savings purchase prices, Memphis Light, Gas and Water directs customers to TVA DPP, and EPB's published Solar Share program is community solar rather than a rooftop-export tariff.
Program details
| Compensation mechanism | No statewide retail net-metering mandate; TVA/local-power-company programs govern exports. TVA's DPP is a dual-meter purchase program in which TVA buys eligible output, and local programs may administer credits or payments. |
|---|---|
| Export rate | NESolar Connect publishes seasonal base rates of $0.07363/kWh summer, $0.04459/kWh winter, and $0.05682/kWh transition, plus TVA TMFC; TVA DPP is paid at monthly avoided cost. |
| Rate effective | TVA DPP pricing is updated monthly and may change; NES rates are from guidelines effective October 2024 and are adjusted with TVA Standard Service wholesale rates. |
| Credit rollover | No statewide rollover rule. Under the TVA dual-meter framework, generation and retail usage are separately metered; distributor-specific agreements determine any bill-credit administration. |
| Credit expiration | No statewide credit-expiration rule identified; expiration or payment treatment is program- and distributor-specific rather than set by a Tennessee retail net-metering statute. |
| Annual true-up | No statewide net-metering true-up date identified. TVA's published framework uses separate generation and usage meters and program contracts rather than a statewide annual true-up. |
| Residential system cap | No statewide residential net-metering cap. TVA's DPP Guidelines define the qualifying-facility category by FERC qualification rather than a Tennessee residential net-metering rule; local programs can impose narrower limits. |
| Commercial system cap | No statewide commercial net-metering cap. TVA DPP states that qualifying renewable facilities up to 80 MW may sell power; distributor programs may impose narrower limits, including NESolar Savings's 250 kW customer-system maximum. |
| Aggregate program cap | No statewide aggregate net-metering cap identified. TVA and local power companies administer program-specific limits; NES publishes an initial 35 MW NESolar Connect maximum and a 10 MW NESolar Savings maximum. |
| Program status | No statewide net-metering cap to report. TVA DPP's published eligibility ceiling is renewable facilities up to 80 MW, while distributor program limits are separate and may be first-come, first-served. |
| Regulator | TVA is the primary power and program authority for approximately 99.7% of Tennessee's electricity service territory; TVA is self-regulated for fuel mix and associated power generation, and local power companies distribute TVA power. |
| Docket | No current statewide Tennessee retail-net-metering docket identified. The controlling historical TVA PURPA record is Federal Register document E7-15563 (72 FR 44910), which describes TVA's dual-meter determination. |
| Governing rule | No statewide retail net-metering rule identified; TVA's Dispersed Power Production Guidelines/program documents and each local power company's interconnection and purchase documents govern. |
| Grandfathering | No statewide net-metering grandfathering provision identified. Program-specific contracts and approved applications control; NES says guideline amendments do not apply to certain applications approved before the amendment effective date. |
| Interconnection application | Application is distributor-specific. MLGW requires an Application for Interconnection of Distributed Generation, technical documents, and approval before equipment is ordered or installed; TVA DPP participation follows the distributor interconnection process and a TVA contract. |
| Interconnection timeline | No statewide timeline identified. MLGW states most projects are reviewed within 4-5 weeks, while its construction quote is generally mailed in 4-8 weeks after the work request, depending on workload. |
| Pending change | No statewide pending net-metering change identified in the reviewed primary sources. NES reserves the right to amend its program guidelines with 30 days' written notice, subject to the guideline's stated limits. |
Rates by utility
State rules set the framework. Individual utilities often pay something different, and where they do the utility tariff governs.
| Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) | Dispersed Power Production: monthly avoided cost, updated monthly Current program page checked 2026-09-16; rate is subject to monthly change Qualifying renewable facilities up to 80 MW may sell all or excess generation to TVA under a required 5-year commitment. |
|---|---|
| Nashville Electric Service (NES) | NESolar Connect base rate: $0.07363/kWh summer, $0.04459/kWh winter, $0.05682/kWh transition, plus TVA TMFC; NESolar Savings: $0.03069/kWh summer, $0.03197/kWh winter, $0.03244/kWh transition, plus TVA TMFC Guidelines effective October 2024 Purchase programs, not statewide retail net metering; rates may be adjusted with TVA Standard Service wholesale rates. |
| Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) | TVA Dispersed Power Production avoided cost, which varies monthly 2024 Distributed Generation Process Overview checked 2026-09-16 MLGW also describes self-generation with instantaneous excess sent to the grid without financial benefit; DPP sells 100% or excess generation to TVA under a 5-year agreement. |
| EPB Chattanooga | No published rooftop-export rate identified in EPB's reviewed primary material EPB Solar Share page checked 2026-09-16 EPB's published Solar Share is a sold-out community-solar program; its bill credit is based on array generation, not a rooftop net-metering export tariff. |
Sources read for this record
- tva.com/energy/valley-renewable-energy/dispersed-power-production-program
- federalregister.gov/documents/2007/08/09/E7-15563/notice-of-determinations-on-the-purpa-st
- tn.gov/environment/program-areas/energy/state-energy-office/solar-energy.html
- nespower.com/-/media/project/nes/common/pdfs/nesolar-savings/nesolar-guidelines---1
- mlgw.com/images/content/files/pdf/DistOverview2024.pdf
- epb.com/energy/solar-share/
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'
- 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 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
- 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