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Net Metering Program
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Black Hills Energy net metering in Wyoming

Cheyenne and Laramie County (Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power), and Newcastle and northeastern Wyoming (Black Hills Power). Two Black Hills companies serve Wyoming under separate tariffs: Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power in Cheyenne, and Black Hills Power in the northeast. Your bill names the one you are on.

Type
Investor owned
Accounts
44K

What they credit you

Carried forward in kWh, surplus sold each January at about 2 cents

Published terms

Both Black Hills companies in Wyoming net kilowatt hours: a month’s surplus is carried forward against later usage at the full rate. Whatever is left at the start of each calendar year is bought at the avoided cost rate on the tariff, 1.922 cents a kWh at Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power and 2.128 cents at Black Hills Power.

Month to month
Surplus kilowatt hours carry forward month to month within the calendar year.
Once a year
At the start of each calendar year, unused credit is sold to the company at about 2 cents a kWh.

Published terms · checked 2026-10-01 · source

Installers serving Black Hills 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 Black Hills 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 Black Hills bill

An average Wyoming 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$131.52
$131.52
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 41685 kilowatt hours. A 863 kilowatt hour month against 1,104 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 241 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $131.52 to $0.00 at 15.24 cents per kilowatt hour.

Wyoming average household use, 863 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 15.24¢ 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

Size to what the house uses: a surplus left in January is bought at about 2 cents, against 11 to 15 cents a kWh to buy. With Black Hills Power, ask which residential schedule you will be billed on, because its Residential Demand schedule, which adds $8.25 per kW of peak demand, says it applies to homes with on-site generation.

What Black Hills 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
$16.50 in Cheyenne (about $16.74 with the carbon capture surcharge); $15.50 with Black Hills Power
How it is set
Two Black Hills companies serve Wyoming under separate tariffs. In Cheyenne, Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power’s Schedule R sets a Service and Facility Charge of $16.50 a month (effective 1 January 2026), and its net metering sheet bills that charge to every customer-generator. The Carbon Capture Compliance Surcharge, which recovers the cost of Wyoming’s low-carbon energy standard, adds 1.43% to the total bill before tax and franchise fees, so a month of zero net use costs about $16.74. Energy totals 14.906 cents a kilowatt hour with the adjustments in effect from 1 July 2026. In Black Hills Power’s territory around Newcastle, Rate R sets a Customer Charge of $15.50 with “Minimum: The Customer Charge,” and energy at 10.824 cents a kilowatt hour before the energy cost adjustment. Its Residential Demand schedule, with the same $15.50 charge, 6.430 cents a kilowatt hour and $8.25 per kW of the month’s highest 15 minute demand, says it applies to residential customers with generation at the dwelling, while the net metering sheet says to bill at the rate that would apply without the generation. Ask which schedule you will be on before you size a system. Under both net metering tariffs, systems up to 25 kW net kilowatt hours: a month’s surplus is carried forward against later usage, and whatever is left at the start of each calendar year is bought at the avoided cost rate, 1.922 cents a kilowatt hour at Cheyenne Light and 2.128 cents at Black Hills Power.

Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power Company, Wyo. P.S.C. Tariff No. 14: Schedule R, Fourth Revised Sheet No. 12, effective 1 January 2026; Rate Schedule Summation Sheet No. 4, effective 1 July 2026; Net Metering Service, Sheet Nos. 13 and 14, effective 1 April 2023; Carbon Capture Compliance Surcharge, Sheet No. 59, 1.43% from 1 January 2026; Standard Rate for Purchasing Power from Qualifying Facilities greater than 25 kW. Black Hills Power, Inc., Wyo. P.S.C. Tariff No. 5: Residential Service Rate R, Sheet No. 5; Residential Demand Service, First Revised Sheet No. 9, effective 1 January 2021; Net Metering Service, Sheet Nos. 44 and 45; Standard Rate for Purchasing Power, Third Revised Sheet No. 47, effective 1 August 2023 · checked 2026-10-01 · source

Applying to Black Hills

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

25 kilowatts per system, and no cap on the program
Wyo. Stat. § 37-16-101 defines a net metering system as one of not more than 25 kW, and the statute sets no limit on how many customers may net meter.
Municipal systems are excluded
The statute reaches investor owned utilities, cooperatives and irrigation districts, but not municipalities. If your bill comes from a town, ask what it offers rather than what the state requires.
January buys the leftover at avoided cost
At the beginning of each calendar year, unused kilowatt hour credit from the previous year is sold to the utility at its filed avoided cost, a small fraction of what the same kilowatt hour costs to buy.
25 kW binds a ranch long before it binds a house
For an ordinary home it is ample. For agricultural or small commercial load it is frequently the number that decides the design, so check it first.

From Black Hills’s published guidelines · checked 2026-10-07 · source

Black Hills net metering questions

Does Black Hills offer one for one net metering?
Yes. Both Black Hills companies in Wyoming net kilowatt hours: a month’s surplus is carried forward against later usage at the full rate. Whatever is left at the start of each calendar year is bought at the avoided cost rate on the tariff, 1.922 cents a kWh at Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power and 2.128 cents at Black Hills Power. Surplus kilowatt hours carry forward month to month within the calendar year.
What does Black Hills pay for power sent back to the grid?
Carried forward in kWh, surplus sold each January at about 2 cents. At the start of each calendar year, unused credit is sold to the company at about 2 cents a kWh.
Do I need a battery with Black Hills?
Not for the economics. Black Hills 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 Black Hills bill?
Sign in at blackhillsenergy.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 Black Hills?
Size to what the house uses: a surplus left in January is bought at about 2 cents, against 11 to 15 cents a kWh to buy. With Black Hills Power, ask which residential schedule you will be billed on, because its Residential Demand schedule, which adds $8.25 per kW of peak demand, says it applies to homes with on-site generation.