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Net Metering Program
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Great River Energy cooperatives net metering in Minnesota

Much of rural Minnesota, through 27 member distribution cooperatives. A generation and transmission cooperative. Each member co-op sets its own retail terms underneath the statute.

Type
Cooperative
Accounts
700K

What they credit you

Set by each member co-op under the statute

Set by state rule

For a system under 40 kW, § 216B.164 subd. 3 lets a co-op pay for net input at its avoided cost or at its average retail energy rate, or, if you choose, give kilowatt hour credits carried to later bills. Those credits cancel at the end of the calendar year with no payment. A co-op may also charge an extra fee to recover fixed costs, if its cost of service study supports it.

Month to month
If you take kilowatt hour credits, they carry forward until the end of the calendar year.
Once a year
Kilowatt hour credits left at the end of the calendar year cancel without payment.

Set by Minn. Stat. § 216B.164 · checked 2026-10-03 · source

Installers serving Great River 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 Great River 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 Great River bill

An average Minnesota 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$124.74
$124.74
We have not read this provider’s own tariff yet, so we are not going to put a figure on what it still bills you at zero. The energy line above uses the statewide average. Ask them for their minimum bill in writing.
DirectionReading…

Meter reading falling from 41926 to 41727 kilowatt hours. A 712 kilowatt hour month against 911 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 199 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $124.74 to $0.00 at 17.52 cents per kilowatt hour.

Minnesota average household use, 712 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 17.52¢ 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.

Great River requirementRequired

Battery backup is mandatory
in Great River territory.

Great River does not credit the power you send back at the rate it charges you to take it.

That does not make solar a bad idea in Great River territory. It changes what you should build. When exports are worth a fraction of retail the credit stops being the return, and the job becomes using more of your own production inside the house, which usually means a larger array than a one for one utility would need.

Sizing is where that gets decided, so ask about it directly. Minnesota lets a system under 40 kW, far more than a house needs, be compensated for what it sends to the grid at the average retail energy rate. Size to your own annual usage anyway: surplus is worth the energy rate, not the whole bill. Great River sets its own limits. Ask Great River what it allows before you accept that a bigger system is off the table.

A battery then does two separate jobs. It moves daytime production into the evening so you use it instead of selling it, and it keeps the house running when the grid goes down. That second job is not a bonus. Panels on their own shut off in an outage, by design, so a roof full of them powers nothing during a storm. That is the part we will not refer around.

So we treat it as a requirement, not an upgrade. We will not refer you for a panels-only system in Great River territory, and you should be skeptical of anyone who quotes you one without raising storage first.

Our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement

What your installer should be telling you

Ask your own co-op three things in writing: the rate it pays for net input, whether it charges an extra fixed-cost fee to members with generation, and how much of any credit balance you would lose on 31 December.

Great River is investor owned, so Minn. Stat. § 216B.164 applies and these terms are set by the state rather than by a board that can revise them. That is the strongest position a homeowner can be in on net metering.

What Great River bills you anyway

We have not read Great River’s own tariff for this yet, so we are not going to print a figure. Almost every utility charges a fixed amount every month whatever you use, and it does not go away when your production covers your usage — ask Great River for the residential customer charge, or the minimum bill, in writing before you sign anything.

Applying to Great River

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

Average retail energy rate, under 40 kW
Minn. Stat. § 216B.164 lets a customer with a system under 40 kW elect to be compensated for net input at the average retail utility energy rate, the average of the retail energy rates excluding special rates based on income, age or conservation.
There is no February wipe-out
Older summaries describe a credit cycle ending on the last day of February with any balance eliminated. The statute as it stands, § 216B.164 subd. 3a, runs a 40 kW to 1 MW system’s bank over the calendar year and pays for the surplus at the applicable rate; Xcel’s tariff pays it on the bill after 31 December.
At a co-op or municipal utility, credits can expire with the year
If your provider is a cooperative or municipal utility and you choose kilowatt hour credits, any credits left at the end of the calendar year cancel with no compensation.
Above 40 kW the rate drops to avoided cost
Systems of 40 kW up to 1 MW at the public utilities are paid an avoided-cost rate rather than the average retail energy rate: Xcel’s tariff prints 2.283 cents a kWh for an annual bank and Otter Tail’s 4.571 cents. For a house that is rarely relevant.
Community solar runs on a different methodology
Minnesota’s community solar garden program, under § 216B.1641, credits subscribers using the state’s Value of Solar methodology rather than the retail rate. It is a different product from rooftop net metering.

From Great River’s published guidelines · checked 2026-10-03 · source

Great River net metering questions

Does Great River offer one for one net metering?
No. For a system under 40 kW, § 216B.164 subd. 3 lets a co-op pay for net input at its avoided cost or at its average retail energy rate, or, if you choose, give kilowatt hour credits carried to later bills. Those credits cancel at the end of the calendar year with no payment. A co-op may also charge an extra fee to recover fixed costs, if its cost of service study supports it.
What does Great River pay for power sent back to the grid?
Set by each member co-op under the statute. Kilowatt hour credits left at the end of the calendar year cancel without payment.
Do I need a battery with Great River?
Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because Great River does not credit exports one for one, the return has to come from using your own production rather than selling it, which after dark means storage and usually a larger array than a one for one utility would need. The other half is backup: panels alone shut off in an outage, so a battery is what keeps the house running in a storm. We do not refer panels-only systems in Great River territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
How do I find my Great River bill?
Sign in at greatriverenergy.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 Great River?
Ask your own co-op three things in writing: the rate it pays for net input, whether it charges an extra fixed-cost fee to members with generation, and how much of any credit balance you would lose on 31 December.