Net metering calculator, Idaho

How net metering works in Idaho

Idaho Power cut export rates significantly in late 2025

Following a proposal to cut rates by 60%, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission issued a final order on September 30, 2025 settling on roughly a 31% reduction instead, after receiving 850 public comments, 88% of them opposed; Idaho's tax credit and rebate estimator is worth checking before assuming that cut changes your overall payback much. Rates that previously ran 8 to 10 cents per kWh dropped to an average of about 6 cents, and the program shifted from net monthly billing to real-time net billing with separate on-peak and off-peak valuation. At about 6 cents against the 12.3 cent retail rate, exports earn roughly 49 percent of retail, so pick the 50 percent option in the export credit dropdown, worth about 6.2 cents, as the closest match; the 60 percent typical rate option would overstate the credit by about 1.4 cents.

What real-time, time-differentiated billing means

Under this new time-of-use rate structure, exports are valued differently depending on when they happen: on-peak hours run 3 to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday during the summer season, with different off-peak windows the rest of the time. Since most solar production happens midday, well outside the higher-value on-peak window, this shift matters more for typical export patterns than a single average rate suggests. The commission also paused further annual rate updates until 2028, reasoning that yearly changes were hard for homeowners to plan around, so this rate structure should hold steady for new Idaho Power solar customers for several years.

Rocky Mountain Power runs a separate, similar transition

Rocky Mountain Power, Idaho's other major utility, implemented its own net billing changes on a similar timeline, moving new Schedule 136 customers from a retail-rate export credit around 9 to 10 cents/kWh to a time-differentiated credit near 4 cents/kWh, also updated annually. Existing Schedule 135 legacy net metering customers stay on their original terms for 25 years before transitioning. If your utility credits exports at less than the retail rate, storing power can beat exporting it. The backup runtime estimator in our Battery & Storage section can help you size a battery for that.

Why self-consumption matters more after the 2025 changes

With export credits reduced and now time-weighted toward off-peak value for typical solar hours, using power directly from your own system carries more relative weight than it did before, and shifting usage or adding storage is worth modeling under this new rate structure. Run the tax credit and rebate estimator with your own numbers before you decide.

Interconnection and the off-grid comparison

Both Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power still require a standard interconnection review regardless of which billing structure applies; the grid interconnection cost estimator covers what that typically costs. Even with reduced export rates, staying grid-tied remains dramatically cheaper than a fully off-grid system, and the grid tie vs off grid comparison tool shows how much cheaper.