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Net Metering Program
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Avista net metering in Idaho

Northern Idaho, including Coeur d’Alene, Moscow and Sandpoint. Also serves eastern Washington, under a statewide Washington rule that does not apply here.

Type
Investor owned
Accounts
140K

What they credit you

Net metering, with credits reset every 31 March

Published terms

Avista offers net metering for systems of 100 kW or less: excess kilowatt hours are banked for later use, and the bank resets each year on 31 March.

Month to month
Excess kilowatt hours are banked and carried forward until the annual reset.
Once a year
The credit bank resets each year on 31 March. Unused credit is not paid out.

Published terms · checked 2026-09-11 · source

Installers serving Avista customers

Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.

Not sure which to choose?

These are real companies operating in Avista territory, ordered by reviews, years trading and BBB grade. None of them pays us for placement. Pick the one you want and we will call you to arrange it.

Ordering combines three things we read from primary sources: Google review count and rating, years trading taken from the company’s Better Business Bureau profile rather than its own marketing, and its BBB letter grade. BBB accreditation is shown but never scored, because it is a paid membership rather than a mark of quality.

Check any contractor license yourself at the state register. Do that before you sign anything, with any company, including ours.

What this looks like on a Avista bill

An average Idaho household, against a system sized to cover its year. The energy charge is the part that goes to zero. The fixed monthly charge underneath it is the part that never does, and it is the number that decides whether a system pays for itself.

Meter readingkWh
Energy charge$135.65
$135.65
We have read this provider’s own tariff. What it still bills you at zero is set out below, with the sheet it came from. The energy line above uses the statewide average. See what they still bill
DirectionReading…

Meter reading falling from 41926 to 41663 kilowatt hours. A 944 kilowatt hour month against 1,207 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 263 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $135.65 to $0.00 at 14.37 cents per kilowatt hour.

Idaho average household use, 944 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 14.37¢ per kWh. Your utility still bills a fixed monthly customer charge that no system offsets, so this is the energy part of the bill, which is the part that goes away.

What your installer should be telling you

Size the system to what the house uses in a year, because anything still banked on 31 March is lost.

What Avista bills you anyway

In a month when your production covers everything you use, the energy charge can reach zero. This does not. It is the floor under every bill, and it is the number that decides whether a system pays for itself.

The charge
$20.00 a month, which is also the minimum
How it is set
Schedule 1 sets a $20.00 Basic Charge and a “Monthly Minimum Charge: $20.00” (Twentieth Revision Sheet 1, effective 1 September 2026), twice what the same company charges across the line in Washington. Energy is 10.392 cents a kilowatt hour for the first 600 and 11.680 cents beyond, before riders, and a franchise fee is added where a city levies one. A customer who closes a seasonal account still pays $20.00 for any month with no use. Under Schedule 63 a net metering customer “Shall be billed for the appropriate customer charges” even in a month of surplus. Excess kilowatt hours carry to later bills and anything left on 31 March is granted to Avista without compensation. The program is first come, first served up to a cumulative 1.52 MW, a tenth of a percent of Avista’s 1996 peak demand, so ask whether there is still room before you sign.

Avista Utilities, I.P.U.C. No. 28: Schedule 1, Residential Service, Twentieth Revision Sheet 1, effective 1 September 2026; Schedule 63, Net Metering Option, Substitute First Revision Sheet 63 and First Revision Sheet 63A · checked 2026-10-01 · source

Applying to Avista

What Avista itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.

There is no statewide net metering policy
The Commission has required investor owned utilities to offer net metering through separate docket proceedings rather than under a single state rule, and has since moved Rocky Mountain Power and Idaho Power onto net billing.
The credit bank resets every 31 March
Avista banks excess kilowatt hours for later use, but the bank resets each year on 31 March. A system sized well past a year of usage produces credit that simply disappears.
Meter aggregation is not allowed in Idaho
Avista states that meter aggregation is not currently permitted in Idaho, so one system cannot credit several accounts.
Ask which docket governs your utility
Because Idaho legislated nothing, the rules are in a Commission order specific to your company. There is no state statute to fall back on if you disagree with a quote.

From Avista’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-11 · source

Avista net metering questions

Does Avista offer one for one net metering?
Yes. Avista offers net metering for systems of 100 kW or less: excess kilowatt hours are banked for later use, and the bank resets each year on 31 March. Excess kilowatt hours are banked and carried forward until the annual reset.
What does Avista pay for power sent back to the grid?
Net metering, with credits reset every 31 March. The credit bank resets each year on 31 March. Unused credit is not paid out.
Do I need a battery with Avista?
Not for the economics. Avista credits exports at the retail rate, so power you send out during the day comes back at the same value after dark without storage. A battery is still worth considering for outages during hurricane season, but it is an upgrade here rather than a requirement.
How do I find my Avista bill?
Sign in at myavista.com. Open My Account, then Billing. Open the latest bill and save the PDF. Or screenshot the summary page. If you cannot get to it, a rough guess at your average monthly amount is enough to start.
What is the catch with Avista?
Size the system to what the house uses in a year, because anything still banked on 31 March is lost.