Southwestern Public Service
Eastern New Mexico, including Roswell, Hobbs, Clovis and Portales. An Xcel Energy company serving the eastern plains, with its own New Mexico tariffs.
- Type
- Investor owned
- Accounts
- 120K
What they credit you
We confirm it for you
Not yet published hereSPS 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 SPS’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 SPS territory.
SPS has not published a one for one credit that we have been able to verify. Until it does, we assume exporting power to SPS is worth well below what you pay to buy it back.
That does not make solar a bad idea in SPS 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. New Mexico’s rule gives systems of 10 kW or less their own section, so 10 kW is the line to design against: above it a system is treated as a qualifying facility and paid avoided cost rather than banked as kilowatt hours. SPS sets its own limits. Ask SPS 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 SPS 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 SPS for its current New Mexico net metering tariff and export terms in writing.
SPS net metering questions
- Does SPS offer one for one net metering?
- We have not been able to verify a published one for one credit from SPS. 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 SPS for the current export rate in writing before you sign anything.
- What does SPS pay for power sent back to the grid?
- SPS has not published a figure we can verify, so we do not print one. Your installer must confirm the current rate against SPS’s own tariff before you commit.
- Do I need a battery with SPS?
- Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because SPS 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 SPS territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
- How do I find my SPS bill?
- Sign in at xcelenergy.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 SPS?
- Ask SPS for its current New Mexico net metering tariff and export terms in writing.
Installers serving SPS customers
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No installers listed for SPS yet
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