Rocky Mountain Power - Net Metering
If you have solar, wind, or other renewable generation in Idaho served by Rocky Mountain Power, you can apply through their online system to interconnect your system and receive credits for excess power you generate. New applicants use Schedule 136 (the net billing program effective November 2020), where excess generation receives an export credit rate—currently $0.14666/kWh on-peak and $0.05597/kWh off-peak during summer months, with lower rates in winter—and unused credits roll over to your next bill or can be transferred to other meters for a $10 fee.
Rocky Mountain Power's interconnection process for customer generation requires you to submit applications online with system design details and a meter photo, then coordinate inspections and meter installation once permits are complete; typical timelines run 70 business days, though complex systems or grid upgrades may take longer. The utility offers two programs: Schedule 135 (grandfathered, closed to new applicants as of October 2020) and Schedule 136 (net billing, open to new applicants), with residential systems capped at 25 kilowatts and all applications requiring compliant inverter settings and approved meter-mounted devices.
Rocky Mountain Power administers net metering under two schedules in Idaho: Schedule 135 (closed October 2020, existing customers locked in for 25 years) and Schedule 136 (active since November 2020 for new applicants). As of March 2026, the utility has transitioned to an export credit rate structure approved by the Idaho PUC in November 2025, paying instantaneous credits based on avoided costs (energy, integration, line losses, generation and transmission/distribution capacity). The program covers residential, commercial, industrial, nonprofit, agricultural, schools, and government sectors; excess monthly credits carry over with a $10 meter-aggregation fee, and annual ECR updates are suspended until 2028.
Program details
- Program ID
- 980
- Last updated
- 3/31/2026
Eligibility
- Sectors
- commercial industrial local government nonprofit residential schools state government federal government agricultural multifamily residential low income residential institutional
- Technologies
- solar thermal electric solar photovoltaics wind (all) biomass hydroelectric fuel cells using non-renewable fuels wind (small) hydroelectric (small) fuel cells using renewable fuels
Program summary
Idaho does not have a statewide net-metering policy. However, each of the state's three investor-owned utilities -- Avista Utilities, Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power -- has a net-metering tariff on file with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The framework of the utilities' net-metering programs is similar, in that each utility's original program: (1) offers net metering to customers that generate electricity using solar, wind, hydropower, biomass or fuel cells; (2) limits net metering to 0.1% of its retail peak demand in a baseline year (2002 for Rocky Mountain Power); (3) limits residential systems to 25 kilowatts; and (4) restricts any single customer from generating more than 20% of such peak production.*
In an April 2016 order, the PUC removed both the system-wide capacity cap of 0.1% of peak demand, and the individual capacity cap of 20% of the customer's peak production. Rocky Mountain Power must submit annual reports to the PUC on net metering participation.
Rocky Mountain Power's net-metering tariff is Schedule 135 which closed to new applicants in October 2020, existing customers will remain on this schedule for 25 years. The PUC then approved the company's net billing program, Schedule 136, which became effective in November 2020.
In November 2025, the Commission issued an order approving Rocky Mountain Power’s request to transition to an export credit rate (ECR) as directed in Docket PAC-E-23-17. The ECR would be calculated at an instantaneous netting interval and include avoided energy cost, integration cost, avoided line losses, avoided generation capacity, and avoided transmission and distribution capacity. The current export credit rate, as of March 2026, is $0.14666/kWh (on-peak) and $0.05597/kWh (off-peak) during June - October, and $0.03664/kWh (on-peak) and $0.01228 (off-peak) during November - May. Excess credits will carry-over to the next monthly bill. Excess credits may only be used to offset charges at the meter originating the credit or other eligible meters. If excess credits exist at a meter at the end of the customer’s February billing period the customer may request to transfer the unused excess credits to offset charges at the customer’s other eligible meters. Excess credits may be transferred to a meter or meters and a meter aggregation fee of $10 applies. The order also suspended the ECR annual update requirement until 2028, at which point the proposed ECR must be calculated using an average of data from the three previous years.
*Note: In 2013, Idaho Power made a request to the PUC to modify its net metering program, resulting in changes to the capacity cap and net excess generation.
Contact & resources
- Contact email
- Wattsmarthomes@rockymountainpower.net
- Additional resources
Please verify current program details with the administering agency before making any financial decisions.
