Montana-Dakota Utilities
Eastern Montana, including Miles City, Glendive and Sidney. A small Montana footprint of a utility that also serves the Dakotas and Wyoming under different rules.
- Type
- Investor owned
- Accounts
- 30K
What they credit you
We confirm it for you
Not yet published hereMDU is a investor owned provider, so its terms are set by its own board rather than by any state rule. We have not yet read MDU’s own tariff, and we will not print a number we have not verified. Your installer confirms the current terms in writing before you sign. If they will not, walk away.
Battery backup is mandatory
in MDU territory.
MDU has not published a one for one credit that we have been able to verify. Until it does, we assume exporting power to MDU is worth well below what you pay to buy it back.
That does not make solar a bad idea in MDU 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. Montana caps net metered systems at 50 kW and grants any unused credit to the utility at your annual settle-up, so choose the settle-up month deliberately: it decides which twelve months of production your bank is measured over. MDU sets its own limits. Ask MDU 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 MDU 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 MDU for its Montana net metering tariff specifically. Its Dakota and Wyoming territories run under different state rules.
MDU net metering questions
- Does MDU offer one for one net metering?
- We have not been able to verify a published one for one credit from MDU. As a investor owned provider it is not bound by whatever state rule covers the investor owned utilities, so it sets its own terms. Ask MDU for the current export rate in writing before you sign anything.
- What does MDU pay for power sent back to the grid?
- MDU has not published a figure we can verify, so we do not print one. Your installer must confirm the current rate against MDU’s own tariff before you commit.
- Do I need a battery with MDU?
- Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because MDU 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 MDU territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
- How do I find my MDU bill?
- Sign in at montana-dakota.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 MDU?
- Ask MDU for its Montana net metering tariff specifically. Its Dakota and Wyoming territories run under different state rules.
Installers serving MDU customers
Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.
No installers listed for MDU yet
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