Otter Tail Power solar export rate
What Otter Tail Power pays for power exported from rooftop solar in Minnesota, with the source and the date it was checked.
Fixed export rate
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.
Otter Tail Power · Minnesota
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.
Source: otpco.com
Full Otter Tail Power detail →Minnesota rules that apply to Otter Tail Power
The state framework sets the default. Where Otter Tail Power pays something different, the utility tariff governs and is what the card above reports.
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Regulator | Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which approves utility rate books and distributed-energy tariffs and administers the statewide net-metering framework. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
Other Minnesota utilities
- Xcel Energy (Minnesota)Fixed rateUnder 40 kW, average-retail net excess: $0.14281/kWh Oct-May and $0.15874/kWh Jun-Sep for non-d
- Minnesota PowerFixed rateParallel Generation Rider: average-retail credit listed as 11.59¢/kWh residential, 13.10¢/kWh g