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Net Metering Program
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Xcel Energy net metering in Minnesota

The Twin Cities and much of the state, including Minneapolis, St Paul and Rochester. The largest utility in Minnesota and the administrator of the state’s community solar garden program.

Type
Investor owned
Accounts
1.3M

What they credit you

Surplus paid at 11.4 to 12.0 cents under 40 kW

Published terms

Inside each month what the panels make offsets what you use. A month’s net surplus from a system under 40 kW on a non-time-of-day rate is paid at Rate A50, the average retail utility energy rate: 11.402 cents a kilowatt hour from October to May and 11.964 cents from June to September, on the sheet in force since 24 December 2020.

Month to month
Paid each month rather than banked.

Published terms · checked 2026-10-03 · source

Installers serving Xcel 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 Xcel 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 Xcel 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 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 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

Rate A50 is written for customers on a non-time-of-day rate. The time-of-day schedule in the same section, Rate A54, pays 1.9 to 2.9 cents a kWh for net surplus, plus a capacity payment only when the system delivers firm power, so ask Xcel which applies before you move to a time-of-day rate.

What Xcel 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
$6.00 a month
How it is set
Residential Service sets a Customer Charge of $6.00 a month for overhead and underground service alike, and the same $6.00 whether or not you heat with electricity; a separately metered water-heating-only service carries none. The floor is stated in two words: “MONTHLY MINIMUM CHARGE: Customer Charge.” That is the 35th Revised Sheet No. 5-1, effective 1 June 2025. Treat older figures with suspicion. Xcel’s Minnesota rate book that most searches still turn up is a 2019 compilation showing customer charges of $8.00 to $12.00, every one of them superseded. One thing sits on top and is not settled. Since 1 January 2025 a 7.14 percent Interim Rate Surcharge has applied “to rate components specified in the Interim Rate Surcharge Rider” while Xcel’s rate case is decided; interim rates are collected subject to refund, and whether that rider reaches the customer charge is set out in the rider rather than on this sheet. Energy is 13.069 cents a kilowatt hour from June to September and 11.364 cents in other months, or 6.537 cents in winter on the electric space heating rate, before the fuel clause and the resource and environmental riders.

Northern States Power Company (Minnesota), Minnesota Electric Rate Book MPUC No. 2, Section 5, Residential Service rate codes A00, A01 and A03, 35th Revised Sheet No. 5-1, filed 23 May 2025 and effective 1 June 2025, Docket E002/M-23-524 · checked 2026-10-01 · source

Applying to Xcel

What Xcel 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 Xcel’s published guidelines · checked 2026-10-03 · source

Xcel net metering questions

Does Xcel offer one for one net metering?
Yes. Inside each month what the panels make offsets what you use. A month’s net surplus from a system under 40 kW on a non-time-of-day rate is paid at Rate A50, the average retail utility energy rate: 11.402 cents a kilowatt hour from October to May and 11.964 cents from June to September, on the sheet in force since 24 December 2020. Paid each month rather than banked.
What does Xcel pay for power sent back to the grid?
Surplus paid at 11.4 to 12.0 cents under 40 kW.
Do I need a battery with Xcel?
Not for the economics. Xcel 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 Xcel bill?
Sign in at xcelenergy.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 Xcel?
Rate A50 is written for customers on a non-time-of-day rate. The time-of-day schedule in the same section, Rate A54, pays 1.9 to 2.9 cents a kWh for net surplus, plus a capacity payment only when the system delivers firm power, so ask Xcel which applies before you move to a time-of-day rate.