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Net Metering Program
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NorthWestern Energy net metering in Montana

Most of the state, including Billings, Bozeman, Missoula, Great Falls and Helena. The largest utility in Montana, with net metering set out in its Rule No. 16.

Type
Investor owned
Accounts
400K

What they credit you

One for one, granted away at settle-up

Published terms

Rule 16 bills a month in which the house uses more than it makes on the net kilowatt hours supplied. In a month the panels make more, you pay the monthly customer charge and the excess kilowatt hours carry into later bills, one for one, until used or until the annual settle-up.

Month to month
Excess kilowatt hours carry from bill to bill through the chosen twelve-month period.
Once a year
At the settle-up, any excess kilowatt hour balance accumulated during the previous twelve months is granted to NorthWestern with no compensation. So is any balance left when service ends or the system is sold.

Published terms · checked 2026-10-03 · source

Installers serving NorthWestern 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 NorthWestern 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 NorthWestern bill

An average Montana 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$128.99
$128.99
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 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.

What your installer should be telling you

You choose the settle-up month (January, April, July or October) on the interconnection request and can change it only once. Size to your own annual usage: anything still banked at settle-up is gone.

What NorthWestern 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
$4.20 a month
How it is set
Residential Electric Delivery Service (REDS-1) sets a Monthly Customer Charge of $4.20 (76th Revised Sheet No. 10.1, effective 1 February 2026, after the Commission’s order in Docket 2024.05.053), and the schedule states no separate minimum bill. Almost everything else is charged per kilowatt hour: NorthWestern’s own rate summary for 1 September 2026 puts supply, deferred supply, transmission, distribution, the competitive transition and wildfire charges, the universal system benefits charge and the taxes at 16.80 cents a kilowatt hour in all, less a Bonneville residential exchange credit of 0.204 cents. So a Montana solar household’s floor is very low, and nearly the whole bill moves with the kilowatt hours the meter records. Income-qualified customers receiving LIHEAP get 15% off the whole bill from May to October and 25% from November to April.

NorthWestern Energy, Montana Electric Tariff, Schedule No. REDS-1: 76th Revised Sheet No. 10.1, effective 1 February 2026 (Docket No. 2024.05.053, Final Order No. 7968t), and 7th Revised Sheet No. 10.2; NorthWestern’s residential rate summary dated 1 September 2026 · checked 2026-10-01 · source

Applying to NorthWestern

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

50 kW AC, storage included
Rule 16 limits a customer to one net metering system per premises, and the aggregate nameplate capacity of generation and any storage may not exceed 50 kW AC for each class of service. For a house it is not a constraint.
A month’s excess becomes kilowatt hours on the next bill
If the panels make more than the house uses in a billing period, you pay the monthly customer charge and the excess kilowatt hours carry into later bills until your usage uses them up.
You choose the settle-up month, and can change it once
The settle-up falls on your meter reading day in January, April, July or October, chosen on the interconnection request. Rule 16 lets you change it only once, so it decides which twelve months your bank is measured across.
What is left at settle-up goes to the utility
At the annual settle-up, any excess kilowatt hour balance accumulated during the previous twelve months is granted to NorthWestern Energy with no compensation. The same happens when the interconnection agreement ends or the system changes hands.
A battery may store only what the panels make
Storage that is part of a net metering system may store and discharge only energy from that system, not energy drawn from the grid, and NorthWestern may ask you to show it.

From NorthWestern’s published guidelines · checked 2026-10-03 · source

NorthWestern net metering questions

Does NorthWestern offer one for one net metering?
Yes. Rule 16 bills a month in which the house uses more than it makes on the net kilowatt hours supplied. In a month the panels make more, you pay the monthly customer charge and the excess kilowatt hours carry into later bills, one for one, until used or until the annual settle-up. Excess kilowatt hours carry from bill to bill through the chosen twelve-month period.
What does NorthWestern pay for power sent back to the grid?
One for one, granted away at settle-up. At the settle-up, any excess kilowatt hour balance accumulated during the previous twelve months is granted to NorthWestern with no compensation. So is any balance left when service ends or the system is sold.
Do I need a battery with NorthWestern?
Not for the economics. NorthWestern 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 NorthWestern bill?
Sign in at northwesternenergy.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 NorthWestern?
You choose the settle-up month (January, April, July or October) on the interconnection request and can change it only once. Size to your own annual usage: anything still banked at settle-up is gone.