NorthWestern Energy solar export rate
What NorthWestern Energy pays for power exported from rooftop solar in Montana, with the source and the date it was checked.
No single rate — formula based
No fixed dollar export rate is stated on the reviewed NorthWestern net-metering page; excess energy is used toward future bills and remaining unused kilowatt-hour credit at the annual settle-up is granted to NorthWestern Energy without compensation.
NorthWestern Energy · Montana
NorthWestern says its net-metering process is governed by Rules 16-23 of the Electric Tariff and offers January, April, July, and October annual settle-up months.
Source: northwesternenergy.com
Full NorthWestern Energy detail →Montana rules that apply to NorthWestern Energy
The state framework sets the default. Where NorthWestern Energy pays something different, the utility tariff governs and is what the card above reports.
| Compensation mechanism | Excess generation is credited in kilowatt-hours on the bill for the following billing period; it is not stated as a fixed dollar export rate in the cited statewide statute. |
|---|---|
| Export rate | No single statewide dollar-per-kWh export rate is stated in the reviewed net-metering statute. The statute provides a kilowatt-hour credit for excess kilowatt hours. |
| Credit rollover | If electricity generated by the customer-generator exceeds the electricity supplied by the electricity supplier, the customer-generator must be credited for the excess kilowatt hours generated during the billing period, with this kilowatt-hour credit appearing on the bill for the following billing period. |
| Credit expiration | Any remaining unused kilowatt-hour credit accumulated during the previous 12 months must be granted to the electricity supplier, without any compensation to the customer-generator. |
| Annual true-up | On January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1 of each year, as designated by the customer-generator as the beginning date of a 12-month billing period, any remaining unused kilowatt-hour credit accumulated during the previous 12 months must be granted to the electricity supplier, without any compensation to the customer-generator. |
| Program status | No statewide enrollment cap or open/closed program status is established in the reviewed Montana sources. In its 2019 NorthWestern Energy rate-case order the Commission declined to establish a separate net-metering customer class, so net metering continues under the utilities' existing tariffs rather than a capped statewide program. |
| Grandfathering | If the commission approves new classifications of service for customer-generators, the new classifications apply only to customer-generators interconnecting net metering systems on or after the date on which the commission adopts a final order implementing the new classifications. |
| Regulator | NorthWestern Energy provides natural gas and electricity services through tariffs filed with and approved by the Montana Public Service Commission (MPSC). |
| Governing rule | Part 6. Net Metering: 69-8-601 Legislative findings; 69-8-602 Utility net metering requirements; 69-8-603 Net energy measurement calculation; 69-8-604 Net metering system -- reliability and safety; 69-8-605 Applicability. |
Other Montana utilities
- Montana-Dakota UtilitiesFormula basedNo fixed dollar export rate: if customer generation exceeds company supply, the net kWh is cred