What does Mississippi Power pay for power sent back to the grid?

Same rule, own avoided cost. Excess energy is measured and credited within the monthly billing period.

Do I need a battery with Mississippi Power?

Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because Mississippi Power 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 Mississippi Power territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.

How do I find my Mississippi Power bill?

Sign in at mississippipower.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.

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Mississippi Power

The southeastern counties, including Gulfport, Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Meridian and Laurel. A Southern Company utility, and the second of the two investor owned utilities the Commission’s net metering rule binds.

Type: Investor owned
Accounts: 192K

What they credit you

Same rule, own avoided cost

Published terms

Mississippi Power is bound by the same Commission rule as Entergy Mississippi: avoided cost of wholesale power plus the benefits adder, plus the low income adder where it applies. Its own avoided cost figure differs from Entergy’s.

Month to month: Excess energy is measured and credited within the monthly billing period.

Published terms · checked 2026-09-05 · source

Mississippi Power requirementRequired

Battery backup is mandatory
in Mississippi Power territory.

Mississippi Power 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 Mississippi Power 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. Mississippi’s Level 1 interconnection review, the fast path, is available to inverter-based systems of 20 kW or less using certified equipment. Larger systems are still allowed but go through a longer study. Mississippi Power sets its own limits. Ask Mississippi Power 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 Mississippi Power 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 Mississippi Power for its current value of distributed generation in cents per kWh in writing. Do not accept Entergy’s number for a Mississippi Power quote.

Applying to Mississippi Power

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

The credit is assembled from named parts: The rule defines Total Benefits of Distributed Generation as the Avoided Cost of Wholesale Power, plus either the Non-Quantifiable Expected Benefits or the Actual Benefits of Distributed Generation, plus the Low-Income Benefits Adder where it applies. Ask which parts are in your number.
The 2.5 cent adder has an expiry written into the rule: It is capped at "no more than 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour for no longer than three (3) years after the effective date of this rule", and exists only "as a proxy for the Actual Benefits of Distributed Generation" until those are measured. It was never meant to be permanent.
There is a lower income adder, and it is worth asking about: The rule provides a Low-Income Benefits Adder on top of the base credit. The two largest investor owned utilities are required to offer an additional 2 cents per kWh to the first 1,000 qualifying low income customers who net meter.
Avoided cost means what it says: The rule defines it as "the marginal cost to produce or purchase one more unit of electrical energy". It is a wholesale figure, and it moves.
20 kW is the fast lane, not a ceiling: Level 1 interconnection review applies where the system is inverter based, 20 kW or less, and uses certified equipment. Beyond that the utility runs longer screens, including a test that aggregated generation on the line section must stay under 15% of its annual peak load.
Your neighbours can use up the circuit: That 15% line section screen is shared. On a circuit that already has solar on it, an application can be delayed or studied further because of systems that are not yours. Ask early rather than late.

From Mississippi Power’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-05 · source