Mississippi built its solar rules around a group most states ignore. Every rooftop here earns a 2.5¢ per kWh adder on top of the avoided-cost export rate, and households at or below 225% of the federal poverty level earn another 2.0¢ on top of that, plus $3,000 toward the install and $2,000 toward a battery. That is not a rounding adjustment. On the Entergy Mississippi tariff it lifts an export credit from 3.6¢ to 6.1¢, or to 8.1¢ if you qualify, and it changes which households should be running the numbers at all.
The Adder That Pays Twice for Some Households
What you send to the grid | Standard household | At or below 225% of poverty level |
|---|---|---|
Entergy Mississippi avoided cost | 3.6¢/kWh | 3.6¢/kWh |
Distributed generation adder | 2.5¢/kWh | 2.5¢/kWh |
Low-to-moderate income adder | None | 2.0¢/kWh |
Total export credit | 6.1¢/kWh | 8.1¢/kWh |
Cash toward the system | None | $3,000 install, $2,000 battery, through 2027 |
The income-qualified package is the most generous support in Mississippi solar, so confirm your eligibility in writing before you sign. If your household clears that threshold, $5,000 comes off a system that costs about $25,098 gross, and every exported kilowatt-hour earns a third more than your neighbor’s. Ask any installer to confirm your eligibility in writing before you sign, because it changes the arithmetic more than any discount they can offer you.
Big Systems at the Seventh-Cheapest Price in America
Mississippi homes run heavy: 1,156 kWh a month, against a national picture where 900 is common. So the typical system here is large, 9.73 kW at about $25,098 gross at the $2.58 per watt benchmark (as of March 1, 2026), which ranks 7th cheapest in the country. Jackson-class sun turns that into roughly 13,875 kWh a year.
Sizes at the benchmark, gross before incentives, with the one line unique to Mississippi: what the 6.1¢ adder-inclusive credit pays on half of each system’s output.
System size | Gross cost at $2.58/W | Yearly credit on half its output at 6.1¢ |
|---|---|---|
6 kW | $15,480 | About $261 |
8 kW | $20,640 | About $348 |
9.73 kW, the typical Mississippi system | $25,098 | About $423 |
10 kW | $25,800 | About $435 |
12 kW | $30,960 | About $522 |
Used as it is produced, that output offsets the retail rate Entergy actually bills, modeled here at the 14.95¢ statewide average, and is worth about $2,074 a year, a 12.1-year payback. Export half of it at the 6.1¢ credit and the figure falls to roughly $1,460 a year, pushing you toward 17 years. At the income-qualified 8.1¢ credit, with $5,000 off the top, the same half-export household lands nearer 13 years. Rank 7 pricing is the advantage that makes all three of those numbers workable, and it is the one thing a bad quote can take away from you.
That chain runs on the statewide average, which is ranking context rather than a billed rate. Entergy Mississippi files its own residential rate in the same NEM-2 tariff this page already cites, so rerun the year and the payback with the rate on your own bill.
Enter your ZIP code and we will check your household against the income-qualified adder before anyone quotes you.
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Lease Yes, Power Purchase Agreement No
This distinction is unusual and it catches people out. The Public Service Commission’s distributed generation rule requires the net-metering customer to own or lease the system, which means a solar lease is fine here and a power purchase agreement is not: PPAs are excluded from net metering entirely. If a salesperson offers you a deal where you buy the electricity rather than the equipment, they are describing an arrangement that cannot be netted on a Mississippi meter.
That matters more since January 1, 2026, because the federal residential credit, Section 25D, is now $0 for systems you own outright under Public Law 119-21. The commercial credit reaches residential rooftops only through third-party ownership, and in Mississippi that route runs through a lease rather than a PPA. Ask which one you are being sold, in those words.
Two Utilities, Two Sets of Numbers
The rule covers investor-owned utilities only, which in practice means Entergy Mississippi (about 29% of residential customers) and Mississippi Power (about 12%). Between them that is well under half the state. Coast Electric, Singing River and the other cooperatives set their own terms and are not bound by the commission’s rule at all, so if your power comes from a co-op, none of the figures above are automatically yours.
We read the Entergy tariff directly and the 3.6¢ plus 2.5¢ structure is confirmed. Mississippi Power’s seasonal avoided-cost figures are quoted in the market at 3.25¢ for July to October and 2.89¢ for November to June, which would put its all-in credit near 5.75¢ and 5.39¢, but we could not confirm those numbers against a primary tariff document. Treat them as indicative and get your own figure in writing. There is also a 3% program cap on each utility, so availability is not permanent.
Who Should Think Twice in Mississippi
- Cooperative customers who assume the state rule applies. Coast Electric and Singing River together serve more households than Mississippi Power does, and they write their own terms. Get your co-op’s policy before you model anything.
- Anyone quoted well above $2.58 per watt. On a 9.73 kW system, every 25¢ per watt over benchmark is about $2,430, and a 6.1¢ export credit recovers that slowly.
- Households that might qualify for the income adder and have not checked. Skipping that check is the most expensive thing you can do here, and it costs nothing to ask.
- Anyone being sold a power purchase agreement. It cannot be netted under the commission’s rule. A lease can.
- Daytime-empty homes with no shiftable load. At 6.1¢ against the 14.95¢ statewide average, an export-heavy profile stretches the payback well past 17 years.
Mississippi Solar Cost FAQs
About $2.58 per watt installed, the 7th cheapest in the country, as of March 1, 2026. Mississippi homes use a lot of power at 1,156 kWh a month, so the typical system is large at 9.73 kW, roughly $25,098 before any incentives.
It has net billing rather than one-to-one net metering. Under the Public Service Commission distributed generation rule, exports are credited at the utility avoided cost plus a 2.5¢ per kWh adder, which on Entergy Mississippi comes to 6.1¢. The rule binds investor-owned utilities only, so cooperatives set their own terms.
Households at or below 225% of the federal poverty level earn an extra 2.0¢ per kWh on exports, taking the Entergy credit to 8.1¢, and can receive $3,000 toward the installation and $2,000 toward a battery through 2027. It is the most valuable support in Mississippi solar, so ask for your eligibility to be confirmed in writing.
About 12.1 years if you use everything you generate, stretching toward 17 years for a household exporting half its output at the 6.1¢ credit. An income-qualified household with the $5,000 in cash incentives and the 8.1¢ credit lands nearer 13 years even while exporting half. Your self-use share is the deciding variable.
A lease works, a power purchase agreement does not. The Public Service Commission rule requires the net-metering customer to own or lease the system, which excludes PPAs from net metering. Since the federal residential credit went to $0 for owner-purchased systems on January 1, 2026, the lease route is how third-party ownership reaches a Mississippi rooftop.
Your income bracket, your utility and your daytime usage decide this one. Enter your ZIP code and we will run all three against your address.
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Methodology: cost figures use the EcoGen Solar Cost Index for Mississippi, $2.58 per watt as of March 1, 2026, with payback modeled with no federal residential credit for owner-purchased systems, exports at the Entergy Mississippi 6.1¢ combined credit, rate escalation at the state 5-year average of 3.51%, 0.5% annual panel degradation, and a 25-year horizon. Mississippi Power seasonal avoided-cost figures are quoted as indicative and flagged as unconfirmed against a primary tariff document.
References & Research Sources
EcoGen America reviewed the Mississippi Public Service Commission distributed generation rule, Entergy Mississippi and Mississippi Power tariffs, state ownership statutes, federal electricity price and utility datasets, Census home-value data, and federal tax guidance for this Mississippi solar cost guide. Sources were accessed between June 10 and August 17, 2026, unless another date is listed below.
- Mississippi Public Service Commission (PSC). Distributed Generation and Net Metering Rule. Framework covering the investor-owned utilities, adopted 2015 and amended 2022, including the 2.5¢ distributed generation adder and low-income provisions. Accessed June 10, 2026.
- Entergy Mississippi. NEM-2 Tariff. Export credit components, system limits, and low-to-moderate income incentives. Effective for February 2026 billing. Accessed June 11, 2026.
- Mississippi Power. RENM-3 Tariff. Renewable energy net metering tariff. Effective May 27, 2025. Accessed June 11, 2026.
- Mississippi Legislature. Mississippi Code 77-3-3(d). Ownership and lease requirement affecting third-party arrangements. Accessed June 11, 2026.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A. Average residential electricity prices by state, March 2026 edition. Accessed June 10, 2026.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Form EIA-861: Annual Electric Power Industry Report, 2024. Residential customer counts for Entergy Mississippi, Mississippi Power, Coast Electric, and Singing River. Accessed June 10, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2024. Median home value data used for cost-to-value context. Accessed June 11, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS). One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provisions. Guidance on Public Law 119-21, including termination of the Section 25D residential credit for systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025. Accessed August 15, 2026.
