Montana
Net metering in Montana, provider by provider.
Every provider in the state, and every figure below read from the published tariff or interconnection document rather than a comparison site. Some credit you the full retail rate for the power you send back. Most do not, and that difference is the whole reason this page exists.
Meter reading falling from 41926 to 41688 kilowatt hours. A 852 kilowatt hour month against 1,090 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 238 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $128.99 to $0.00 at 15.14 cents per kilowatt hour.
Montana average household use, 852 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 15.14¢ 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.
Solar buyback rates in Montana, utility by utility
Montana credits a month’s excess kilowatt hours to the next bill and carries them for twelve months. At the annual settle-up any unused credit is granted to the utility without compensation, and the customer picks which of four months that falls in.
Montana net metering rules
One for one, with a settle-up month you choose.
- Who it binds
- NorthWestern Energy and the other regulated utilities. Cooperatives set their own terms.
- What happens to a surplus
- Kilowatt hour credits carry month to month through the chosen annual cycle.
- How big a system you may build
- 50 kW AC at NorthWestern, generation and storage together, one system per premises.
Mont. Code Ann. § 69-8-601 et seq., net metering — checked 2026-10-03
What actually happens after you pick
Most sites in this business hand your number to a sales team and disappear. We do the preparation first, so the company that turns up already knows your situation.
You see your real terms
Your provider page shows what that specific utility credits you, when it trues up, and where the catch is. Sourced and dated, not a sales page.
You choose the company
Companies serving your territory in Montana, with the reviews, years trading and BBB grade we found for each. You pick. Not a call center, not an auction.
We set the whole thing up
We call you, go through your bill and your last twelve months of use, work out what your utility owes you, and get the program paperwork in order.
They arrive prepared
The company you chose turns up to a job that is already understood, with your figures in hand. No cold pitch on your doorstep.
Solar installers in Montana
Every company we list for at least one Montana utility. Each profile shows the utilities it covers and what each one pays for the power you export.
Net metering in Montana: the questions people ask
- Does Montana have net metering?
- Montana credits a month’s excess kilowatt hours to the next bill and carries them for twelve months. At the annual settle-up any unused credit is granted to the utility without compensation, and the customer picks which of four months that falls in.
- What is the solar buyback rate in Montana?
- It is set utility by utility, not by the state. How the 2 providers we list in Montana credit the power you export: 2 at the full retail rate. Each one’s own page gives its figure and the date we read it.
- Is solar worth it in Montana in 2026?
- It depends mostly on what your utility pays for the power you export, because the 30% federal credit ended for systems completed after 31 December 2025. Montana homes use about 852 kWh a month at an average of 15.14 cents per kWh, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Where exports are credited at the full retail rate, each kilowatt hour your panels send back is worth about that much; where they are credited below retail, size the system to what you use while the sun is up. Check your own utility on this page before you get a quote for solar panels.
- Is there a solar tax credit in Montana in 2026?
- Not a federal one. The 30% federal credit, IRC Section 25D, ended for systems completed after 31 December 2025, and a deposit paid in 2025 does not preserve it. Anyone still quoting it is working from an old script. Any incentive left in Montana comes from the state or your utility, and what your utility pays for exported power is now most of the financial case.
- Which providers does the Montana rule cover?
- NorthWestern Energy and the other regulated utilities. Cooperatives set their own terms.
- What happens to credits you do not use in Montana?
- Kilowatt hour credits carry month to month through the chosen annual cycle. At the annual settle-up, unused credit is granted to the utility without compensation.
- How big a solar system can you install in Montana?
- 50 kW AC at NorthWestern, generation and storage together, one system per premises.
- Which electricity providers does this cover in Montana?
- We have read the published terms of 2 providers in Montana: NorthWestern Energy, Montana-Dakota Utilities. Each has its own page with the figures taken from its own tariff or from the state’s own order.
Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 69-8-601 et seq., net metering, checked 2026-10-03.
Not sure which one you are on?
It is the name at the top of your bill. Find it on the schedule and we will show you what it pays.
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