Rebates and incentives, Montana
No state tax credit and no state sales tax to begin with. See what the 10-year property tax exemption and full retail net metering are actually worth for you.
How it works
Step 1
Since Montana's net metering credits reset to zero at the annual settle-up, oversizing tends to waste value rather than build lasting savings.
Step 2
There's a deadline for consideration in the current tax year. Use the property tax exemption savings calculator for a longer projection once confirmed.
Step 3
NorthWestern Energy and MDU both cap net-metered systems at 50 kW and don't allow aggregate or virtual net metering. Check your federal ITC status separately for your complete 2026 picture.
Montana's former state tax credits for energy upgrades, including solar, have expired and are not available for 2026 installations. Separately, Montana has no statewide sales tax at all, similar to Alaska, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Oregon. This isn't a solar-specific exemption, it simply means solar equipment was never taxed in the first place, which quietly keeps the upfront cost lower than in states that charge sales tax even after applying a solar carve-out. With no state tax credit or sales tax exemption to lean on, net metering and the property tax exemption below carry more of the load in Montana's overall incentive picture. Check your federal ITC status for what's actually available at the federal level in 2026.
The added value your solar system gives your home is exempt from property tax assessment for up to 10 years, capped at $20,000 for single-family homes. You apply using Form AB-14 through the Montana Department of Revenue, submitted to your local field office by a stated deadline for the current tax year. Because property tax administration happens at the county level, confirm exact timing and documentation requirements with your specific county rather than assuming a single statewide process. The property tax exemption savings calculator can project this out further based on your own numbers.
Montana's Public Service Commission mandates net metering for investor-owned utilities and electric cooperatives alike, crediting exported power at the full retail rate, among the more generous structures nationally. However, credits only roll over month to month during the year, and an annual settle-up resets any remaining balance to zero at a designated month, with no cash payout for what's left over. NorthWestern Energy proposed ending net metering entirely in its 2019 rate case, adding a separate rate class and a demand charge for new solar customers. Per the Commission's own final order, that proposal was rejected 5-0, and retail-rate net metering was preserved, but only until rooftop solar adoption reaches 5% of NorthWestern's peak load, a threshold that gives the current terms real staying power without making them permanent. Compare against the Idaho incentive estimator for a neighboring state's structure.
NorthWestern Energy and Montana-Dakota Utilities both limit net-metered systems to 50 kW and don't allow aggregate or virtual net metering across multiple accounts. Note also that a fixed monthly customer charge typically still applies regardless of how much solar you generate, since that fee covers grid connection rather than energy usage. Given the annual credit reset, sizing your system around your realistic on-site consumption, rather than the maximum your roof could support, tends to produce better financial outcomes than overbuilding.
If you borrow for the rest of the system, the combined loan and rebate timing tool takes your rebate total and works out the monthly payment on the balance.
Questions
No, not anymore. Montana's former state tax credits for energy upgrades, including solar, have expired and are not available to 2026 installations. Homeowners should evaluate Montana solar based on project pricing, financing, net metering rules, and the property tax exemption rather than a state credit that no longer exists.
No, and this isn't a special solar exemption, it's because Montana has no statewide sales tax on anything, similar to Alaska, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Oregon. There's nothing to exempt because there's no tax to begin with, which quietly lowers the upfront cost of solar compared to states that do charge sales tax even after any solar-specific exemption.
The added value your solar system gives your home is exempt from property tax assessment for up to 10 years, capped at $20,000 for single-family homes. You apply using Form AB-14 through the Montana Department of Revenue, submitted to your local field office by a stated deadline for the current tax year. Because property tax administration happens locally, confirm timing and documentation requirements with your specific county.
No. Montana credits roll over month to month during the year, but an annual settle-up resets any remaining balance to zero at a designated month, with no cash payout for unused credits. This means oversizing your system well beyond your actual usage tends to waste value rather than build a long-term credit bank, so size your system around realistic on-site consumption instead. The retail-rate crediting itself, per the Public Service Commission's 2019 rate case order, is also only guaranteed until rooftop solar adoption reaches 5% of NorthWestern's peak load.