Idaho pays some of the cheapest electricity rates in the country, and since 2024 Idaho Power prices solar exports by the hour: 15.68¢ on summer afternoons, 2.9¢ most of the year. That spread, and which of Idaho's two big utilities bills you, decides whether panels pencil here. EcoGen America runs the math before any salesperson rounds it up.
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Idaho pays some of the cheapest electricity rates in the country, which means solar has to clear a higher bar here than almost anywhere else.
Since 2024, Idaho Power prices solar exports by the hour: 15.68 cents on summer afternoons and about 2.9 cents most of the year. That spread rewards systems aimed at summer peaks and punishes designs that assume one flat rate.
Which of Idaho’s two big utilities bills you matters as much as the hardware, because the crediting programs read differently on either side.
EcoGen America runs the math before any salesperson rounds it up, and sizes Idaho systems to the hours that actually pay.
Idaho Power pays 15.68 cents on summer peak hours and pennies otherwise. We design for the hours that pay instead of a flat-rate fiction.
Built-in checks for export assumptions priced at one rate, utility-specific crediting, and paybacks that survive cheap Idaho retail power.
We track Idaho Power's hourly export pricing and the crediting rules at the state's other utilities as they move.
Your data is only shared with the licensed Idaho installers you choose.
EcoGen is 100% free for homeowners. We earn a small referral fee from installers only when you choose to proceed with a project through our platform.
Idaho Power’s export schedule concentrates nearly all the export value into summer afternoons. Design for the window or design for self-use; there is no third option.
When You Export | What It Earns | Design Consequence |
|---|---|---|
Summer on-peak afternoons | 15.68¢/kWh | West-tilted arrays that produce into the late afternoon earn far more than raw output suggests |
Summer off-peak | 3.39¢/kWh | Morning surplus is nearly worthless; self-use it |
Non-summer, all hours | ~2.9¢/kWh | Eight months of exports at pocket change; size to your own load |
The quiet implication: orientation is money in Idaho. A west-facing array aimed at the on-peak window can out-earn a bigger south-facing one, and almost no volume installer models that at all.
Idaho Power or Rocky Mountain Power? Their export rules currently differ by a factor of two or more, and RMP's pending cut could change the answer mid-decision.
Model the summer on-peak window against your roof's geometry. West-facing production at 15.68¢ beats morning production at 3¢.
With ~11¢ retail and no state incentives, the margin is thin. High daytime self-use closes it; ordinary usage often does not yet.
Free 15-minute call. Utility, orientation, clear verdict.
Idaho’s two big utilities currently sit years apart in solar policy, and the gap is closing. Timing matters on one side of the state.
If you are in RMP territory and the math works under today’s crediting, connecting before the proposal resolves is the rational move. If it only works under today’s crediting, understand what you are betting on.
Idaho Contract Checks
Thin margins and hourly rates leave no room for rounded-up projections.
A flat export rate does not exist on Idaho Power. The projection must price exports by season and hour, or it is fiction.
The on-peak window rewards west-facing production. If the design ignores orientation economics, it was templated elsewhere.
Eight months of ~2.9¢ exports make oversizing a donation. Size to your consumption, not the roof.
No incentives means nothing hides a dealer fee. The gap between cash and financed is the tell.
Four proofs, any Idaho bid. Installers who model carefully here are rare and worth keeping.
Vetted for licensing, schedule-accurate modeling, warranties and complaint history.
Cheap power is a blessing that makes solar a harder sell. These cases should wait.
Who can genuinely proceed: Rocky Mountain Power homes while retail-rate crediting lasts, west-roofed homes with strong afternoon self-use, and all-electric households with shiftable load. Everyone else loses nothing by waiting; the sun is patient and Idaho’s rates are low.
Priced against the market band, exports at the real hourly schedule.
15 minutes, independent. Utility, window, orientation, verdict.
Talk to an Idaho AdvisorNo obligation. 100% free service.
Not for new Idaho Power customers since January 2024. Net billing replaced it, pricing exports by season and hour: 15.68¢ on summer afternoons, 3.39¢ summer off-peak, about 2.9¢ the rest of the year, roughly 4.27¢ on average.
Rocky Mountain Power in eastern Idaho still credits near retail, with a cut proposal pending; pre-December 2019 systems keep legacy net metering until 2045.
Because nearly all export value sits in the summer on-peak window. A west-tilted array producing into late afternoon sells at 15.68¢; a morning-weighted array sells at pennies.
In Idaho, aiming the array at the schedule can beat adding panels.
No state credit, no rebate, no exemptions, and the federal residential credit ended December 31, 2025.
Idaho’s case rests entirely on self-consumption against ~11¢ power, the on-peak window, and, in eastern Idaho, Rocky Mountain Power’s remaining retail-rate crediting.
Systems installed or purchased by December 20, 2019 keep traditional net metering until December 20, 2045, and that agreement transfers with the home.
Document the date at resale, and get utility confirmation in writing before any modification that could touch the agreement.
The export schedules, rates and figures on this page come from the records below. Sources accessed between June 10, 2026 and August 20, 2026.
Dean Mahmoud is the CEO of EcoGen America. He has connected tens of thousands of homeowners with residential solar installers across all 50 states since 2021, and works directly with installation companies on solar pricing, financing, and what homeowners actually pay for rooftop solar.
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