Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Net Metering Cap topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lawmakers weigh raising net‑metering cap to 100 kW to help schools, small institutions
Summary
HB 811 would raise Montana's net‑metering cap from 50 kW to 100 kW to let schools, libraries and other institutions offset more of their electricity use. Supporters said the 1999 cap is outdated; utilities warned of potential cost shifts to other ratepayers.
Representative Jamie Isely presented HB 811, a bill to raise the net‑metering generation cap from 50 kilowatts to 100 kilowatts. Isely told the committee the change would enable larger community users—schools, libraries, municipal buildings and small businesses—to install systems that meaningfully offset their electric bills and save taxpayer dollars.
Opponents, represented by Alan Olson of Northwestern Energy, said the 50 kW limit historically targeted small residential users and warned that expanding the cap could increase a cost‑shift estimated in testimony at roughly $5.2 million per year onto customers not participating in net metering. Olson said the program currently accounts for more than 60 megawatts of nameplate capacity.
Proponents, including McKenna Sellers of the Montana Renewable Energy Association and local officials from Bozeman, argued the cap is outdated and that a 100 kW limit would still fall within distributed generation and require standard interconnection and safety reviews. Sellers told the committee the most recent Public Service Commission review found insufficient evidence to change net‑metering compensation, and that state law dating to 1999 does not reflect modern system sizes.
Municipal and school witnesses described concrete savings: a high school array cited during testimony saved an estimated $14,000–$18,000 a year under the current cap and would gain additional savings if allowed to expand. The hearing closed without committee action.
