Minnesota Power net metering in Minnesota
Northeastern Minnesota, including Duluth, Grand Rapids and the Iron Range. An ALLETE company serving the north.
- Type
- Investor owned
- Accounts
- 150K
What they credit you
Surplus credited at 13.75 cents under 40 kW
Published termsFor a system under 40 kW, Minnesota Power’s Rider for Parallel Generation buys net energy at the average retail energy rate, 13.75 cents a kilowatt hour for residential customers from 1 July 2026, as a monthly bill credit or banked in kilowatt hours through the year.
- Month to month
- A monthly bill credit, or kilowatt hours banked through the year.
Published terms · checked 2026-10-01 · source
Installers serving Minnesota Power customers
Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.
- RetroGreen EnergyLocal installerBBB A+, accredited4.8248 GoogleSaint Cloud installer covering central Minnesota and the Twin Cities.All of MinnesotaSelect this installer
- MN Solar and MoreLocal installerBBB A+, accredited4.9127 GoogleCentral Minnesota installer based at Hawick, working across greater Minnesota.All of MinnesotaSelect this installer
- Blue Raven SolarLocal installerBattery24 years tradingBBB A+, accreditedA nineteen state residential installer, now part of the group trading as SunPower after buying those assets out of the 2024 bankruptcy.All of MinnesotaSelect this installer
These are real companies operating in Minnesota Power 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 Minnesota Power 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 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.
What your installer should be telling you
The monthly minimum still applies however much you export. If you bank kilowatt hours rather than take the monthly credit, ask how a balance is settled at the end of the year.
What Minnesota Power 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
- $9.00 a month, about $10.28 with the low-income surcharge
- How it is set
- Residential Service (Schedule 20) sets a Service Charge of $9.00 a month, or $15.00 on the seasonal rate (Revision 52, effective 1 January 2026), and “The Minimum Charge (monthly) shall be the Service Charge plus any applicable Adjustments.” One of those adjustments is a fixed amount: the Low-Income Affordability Program Surcharge of $1.28 a month on every residential bill except LIHEAP-qualified customers, which takes the floor to $10.28 before any city franchise fee. Energy is a flat 10.772 cents a kilowatt hour before fuel and the other riders, with a 4.311 cent discount on the first 600 for eligible low-income customers. For systems under 40 kW, the Rider for Parallel Generation (effective 1 July 2026) buys net energy at the average retail energy rate, 13.75 cents a kilowatt hour for residential customers, as a monthly bill credit or banked in kilowatt hours through the year, and the monthly minimum still applies.
Minnesota Power Electric Rate Book Volume I: Residential Service, Section V Page Nos. 1.0 and 1.1, Revision 52, effective 1 January 2026 (Docket E015/PA-24-198); Rider for Customer Affordability of Residential Electricity, Page No. 92.1, effective 1 August 2025; Rider for Parallel Generation, Revision 47, effective 1 July 2026 (Docket E999/PR-26-09) · checked 2026-10-01 · source
Applying to Minnesota Power
What Minnesota Power 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 Minnesota Power’s published guidelines · checked 2026-10-03 · source
Minnesota Power net metering questions
- Does Minnesota Power offer one for one net metering?
- Yes. For a system under 40 kW, Minnesota Power’s Rider for Parallel Generation buys net energy at the average retail energy rate, 13.75 cents a kilowatt hour for residential customers from 1 July 2026, as a monthly bill credit or banked in kilowatt hours through the year. A monthly bill credit, or kilowatt hours banked through the year.
- What does Minnesota Power pay for power sent back to the grid?
- Surplus credited at 13.75 cents under 40 kW.
- Do I need a battery with Minnesota Power?
- Not for the economics. Minnesota Power 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 Minnesota Power bill?
- Sign in at mnpower.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 Minnesota Power?
- The monthly minimum still applies however much you export. If you bank kilowatt hours rather than take the monthly credit, ask how a balance is settled at the end of the year.