Public Service Company of New Mexico net metering in New Mexico
Most of the state, including Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Rio Rancho and Las Vegas. The largest utility in New Mexico, and the one with the better of the two crediting arrangements.
- Type
- Investor owned
- Accounts
- 540K
What they credit you
Kilowatt hour credits that do not expire
Published termsFor systems of 10 kW or less, excess electricity is saved as kilowatt hour credits applied to future bills, and the credits do not expire while the account remains open.
- Month to month
- Indefinite, as kilowatt hour credits, while the account is open.
Published terms · checked 2026-09-05 · source
Installers serving PNM customers
Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.
- Affordable SolarLocal installerBBB A+, accredited4.9371 GoogleLong established Albuquerque solar contractor.All of New MexicoSelect this installer
- Positive Energy SolarLocal installerBBB A+, accredited4.9172 GoogleAlbuquerque installer working across New Mexico, in both PNM and El Paso Electric territory.All of New MexicoSelect this installer
- SunrunLocal installerBattery19 years tradingBBB A+, accreditedThe largest residential solar and home battery company in the United States, trading since 2007 and operating in twenty states.All of New MexicoSelect this installer
These are real companies operating in PNM 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 PNM bill
An average New Mexico 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 reading falling from 41926 to 41744 kilowatt hours. A 654 kilowatt hour month against 836 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 182 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $98.49 to $0.00 at 15.06 cents per kilowatt hour.
New Mexico average household use, 654 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 15.06¢ 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
Confirm the current treatment for your system size in writing, and confirm that the 10 kW figure is measured the way your installer is measuring it.
What PNM 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
- $11.93 a month
- How it is set
- Rate No. 1A, Residential Service, says it in the plainest words of any tariff on this site: “Absent any consumption, the monthly minimum charge is the customer charge”, and the customer charge is $11.93 per metered account in summer and non-summer alike. That is the 27th Revised sheet, effective 1 April 2026 under the Commission’s final order in Case 24-00089-UT. The energy above it is where PNM is unusual, and it is good news for solar. The tiers climb steeply: 8.96783 cents a kilowatt hour for the first 450, then 14.86546 cents for the next 450 in summer, and 19.94661 cents for everything beyond 900 — against 12.82683 and 17.01214 cents in the non-summer months. A household using 1,200 kWh in July is paying almost 20 cents for its last 300, more than double the first block, and those top-tier kilowatt hours are exactly the ones a rooftop system removes first. Fuel and purchased power are adjusted separately on top of these energy rates.
Public Service Company of New Mexico, 27th Revised Rate No. 1A, Residential Service, Advice Notice No. 651, effective 1 April 2026 per NMPRC final order in Case No. 24-00089-UT · checked 2026-10-01 · source
Applying to PNM
What PNM itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.
- Under 10 kW you bank kilowatt hours, not dollars
- For systems of 10 kW AC or less, excess electricity is saved as kilowatt hour credits and applied to future bills. A banked kilowatt hour keeps its value as the retail rate rises; a banked dollar does not.
- The credits do not expire while the account is open
- There is no annual forfeiture at PNM for these credits. That is unusual and it is worth a great deal over twenty years.
- 10 kW is the design line
- Rule 570 has a dedicated section for customer-sited qualifying facilities up to and including 10 kW. Above it, the arrangement changes.
- Above the line you are a qualifying facility
- A utility pays a qualifying facility avoided costs for energy or capacity purchased from it. That is a wholesale price, not a banked kilowatt hour.
From PNM’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-05 · source
PNM net metering questions
- Does PNM offer one for one net metering?
- Yes. For systems of 10 kW or less, excess electricity is saved as kilowatt hour credits applied to future bills, and the credits do not expire while the account remains open. Indefinite, as kilowatt hour credits, while the account is open.
- What does PNM pay for power sent back to the grid?
- Kilowatt hour credits that do not expire.
- Do I need a battery with PNM?
- Not for the economics. PNM 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 PNM bill?
- Sign in at pnm.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 PNM?
- Confirm the current treatment for your system size in writing, and confirm that the 10 kW figure is measured the way your installer is measuring it.