Montana will allow community solar projects effective June 13, so long as the governor does not veto the legislation.
Community solar will be legal in Montana June 13 pending the governor’s approval.
The revised solar energy policy laws would allow solar developers to build solar arrays between 50 kW and 5 MW, and sell shares of the electricity generated to subscribers, which would be used as credits on their electricity bill.
The legislation authorizes the commission to establish the rules and the applicable bill credit rate for the subscribers, among other details.
Additionally, the community solar subscribers will have the option to assign their portion of generated electricity to a nonprofit or a public utility’s low-income energy share program.
Gov. Greg Gianforte has ten days to veto the bill or it will become law, effective June 13.
Community solar enables people and businesses to participate in clean energy regardless of whether they are homeowners or rent, or able to put solar panels on their roof. The consumer subscribes to a portion of the electricity generated by a local community solar installation, receiving credits on their utility bills for the electricity produced by the facility. Some programs reserve a portion for low- or moderate-income households. At its heart, community solar empowers those who want a carbon-free future by giving them the choice to use renewable energy.
Sen. Chris Pope, the bill’s sponsor, previously tried for to pass community solar legislation in 2023, but the bill was almost immediately tabled.
Sen. Pope said the bill would expand access to locally generated, emissions-free power, which would decrease participants’ utility bills, support a growing but underdeveloped industry and improve the grid’s resilience to extreme weather events.
Scott Sweeney, a former general manager of Fergus Electric Coop testified on behalf of Northern Plains Resource Council. “Montana families and local businesses pay for the electricity that has increased substantially over the last few years. Perhaps even more troubling, these rate hikes don’t have an end in sight,” he said.
More than 20 people testified in favor of the legislation during the committee hearings. NorthWestern Energy and Montana-Dakota Utilities, the state’s largest utilities, gave the lone testimony in opposition of the bill.
During testimony, Scott Sweeney, a former general manager of Fergus Electric Coop noted that both Montana-Dakota Utilities Company and NorthWestern Energy recently raised their rates by 9% and 28%, respectively, and are currently working on another round of proposed rate increases. Community solar can offset these rates, he said.
NorthWestern Energy’s director of government affairs Alan Olson said Northwestern Energy is not opposed to renewable energy, but community solar would load the utility down with “doing all of the paperwork,” which is a cost it would pass on to ratepayers.
Sen. Pope responded to these concerns, saying pains had been taken to ensure there are no cost shifts associated with the bill.
Montana resident Jack Hanson said was captive to NorthWestern Energy because without community solar, he didn’t have much choice or market to shop among electricity suppliers.
“The bill extends some measure of choice to captive utility customers like me,” he said. “It promises to reduce my monthly electric bill by allowing me to buy solar energy credits,” he said. “It costs us taxpayers nothing at all, and it will encourage our investor-owned monopolies utilities to be more responsive to its customers.”
Montana currently ranks 43rd in the country for installed solar capacity, with 321 MW installed as of Q4 2024, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Read about other solar-related bills state lawmakers are debating this legislative session here.
