Wyoming Solar Incentives (2026): One Net Metering Law, No Rebates

What does Wyoming’s net metering law give a solar home?

It gives you kWh credits, not dollars. That is the whole Wyoming incentive, so it helps to know each part.

The law is W.S. 37-16-101 to 37-16-104. It applies to a solar system of up to 25 kW on your own property that is meant mainly to cover your own power use. A typical Wyoming home system is 6.47 kW, so the size limit is rarely a problem.

Your utility reads the power you take and the power you send out over each billing month. If you sent out more than you took, the difference shows up as a kWh credit on the next bill. One credit cancels one kWh you buy later, whatever the price of that kWh is.

• The meter: your utility must offer a meter that counts power in both directions.
• No solar penalty in the minimum bill: the law bars any fee that would make your minimum monthly charge higher than that of other customers in your rate class.
• What you pay for: you pay all costs of your own system, including a lockable shut-off switch that the utility approves and can reach at any time.
• What credits do not cover: in a month when you buy more than you send out, you are billed the normal customer charges. Credits are kWh, so they do not pay a fixed monthly charge.

Watch out: Wyoming has no rebate or tax credit on top of this. The typical system costs about $21,416, and no state program lowers that price.

What are leftover credits worth when your utility buys them each January?

Very little. At the start of each calendar year, the law makes you sell any credits you did not use to your utility. The price is the utility’s avoided cost. That is what it would have paid to get the same power elsewhere, and it is far below what you pay for power.

Example with Rocky Mountain Power: 100 leftover kWh sell for $1.42. For comparison, Wyoming homes paid an average of 14.36 cents per kWh in July 2026, fixed charges included. At that average, 100 kWh bought from a utility cost $14.36.

So a kWh you use at home, or use up as a credit before January, is worth about 10 times more to you than a kWh you sell. Ask your installer to size the system to the kWh you use in a year, not above it.

Rocky Mountain Power serves about 4 in 10 Wyoming homes. It applied to update these prices, and the Public Service Commission gave notice on July 10, 2026. So the price for the January 2027 sale may differ. Ask Rocky Mountain Power for it in writing. Either way it is likely to stay far below what you pay for power.

Watch out: Credits carry over from month to month, but only until January. Summer credits that you use up in November and December are not lost. Only what is left at the new year is sold.

Rocky Mountain Power, a co-op or a city: does the law cover your utility?

The law covers three kinds of utility: power companies, electric co-ops and irrigation districts. Power companies here are Rocky Mountain Power, Black Hills Energy and Montana-Dakota Utilities. Co-ops include Lower Valley Energy, Powder River Energy and High Plains Power.

It does not cover a utility owned by a city or town. The law’s definition leaves municipalities out. Gillette, Cody, Powell, Torrington and Wheatland each run their own electric utility. A city utility may still offer its own credit for solar power, but state law does not make it. Get its rules in writing before you sign anything.

Watch out: The law’s future has been tested. In 2025 two bills to change net metering failed in the state Senate. No bill that changes net metering passed in the 2026 session. The law has no end date, but it also has no promise that today’s rules stay for systems already installed.

The Wyoming sales tax exemption, rebate and tax credit that guides still list

None of them exists today. Here is what the law says for each.

• Sales tax: Wyoming taxes every retail sale unless the law lists an exemption (W.S. 39-15-103 and 39-15-105), and that list does not name solar. An older exemption for renewable energy equipment ended. The state sales tax rate is 4%, and counties can add their own. Ask your installer how sales tax is handled in your quote.
• Property tax: Wyoming’s list of property tax exemptions (W.S. 39-11-105) does not name solar. Your county assessor decides how a system affects your home’s value for tax. Ask the assessor before you count on any answer.
• State tax credit: Wyoming has no personal income tax, so there is no state income tax credit to claim.
• State rebate: we found no open state rebate or grant for home solar panels.
• Federal tax credit: it ended for home systems installed after December 31, 2025. If you own the system, do not count on it.

Watch out: A quote that subtracts a Wyoming sales tax exemption, a state rebate or a federal tax credit from a system you would own is using rules that no longer apply. Ask the installer to remove the line.

Can a Wyoming city or county stop your panels or let a neighbor shade them?

Not easily. The Solar Rights Act (W.S. 34-22-101 to 34-22-106) says a city, town or county may not prohibit solar panels, except for public health and safety reasons. It also makes the use of sunlight a property right.

That right is set by a solar permit from your city, town or county, where a permit system exists. It protects your sunlight from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.. It lapses if you do not use it for 5 years. This is a legal protection, not money.

Watch out: The Act speaks to local governments. It does not mention homeowners association rules. If you live in an association, read its covenants before you sign.

When Wyoming’s bill credits will not reach you, or will be worth less

• A city or town sends your electric bill. The net metering law does not apply to municipal utilities such as Gillette or Cody. Your credit depends on the city’s own rules.
• Your system makes more than you use in a year. The extra is sold each January at about 1.4 cents per kWh at the utilities that publish a price. 100 leftover kWh bring $1.42 at Rocky Mountain Power.
• You would lease the system. Rocky Mountain Power, Montana-Dakota Utilities and Powder River Energy write their net metering terms for customers who own and operate the system. The state law does not mention leases. Ask the utility in writing before you sign a lease.
• Your system is larger than 25 kW. It is outside the law. This is rare for a home, but it can happen on a ranch or a home with a shop.
• You are a Lower Valley Energy member. Ask Lower Valley Energy whether your home bill now includes a demand charge, a fee based on the most power you draw at one time, and how much it is. kWh credits cancel kWh you buy, not a charge per kW.

From utility agreement to the first January statement: the Wyoming paperwork

1. Before you sign: find out who sends your bill. If it is a city or town, ask for its solar rules in writing. If it is a power company or a co-op, ask for its net metering agreement and its January price.You.
2. Before you sign: check the size. Compare the kWh the system should make in a year with the kWh on your last 12 bills. The quote should not count on selling extra power.You, with your installer.
3. Before the system is connected: the utility agreement. You sign your utility’s net metering agreement. This is the utility’s permission to connect, also called interconnection. The shut-off switch must be one the utility approves.Your installer files it. You sign.
4. Ask your city, town or county about a solar permit. Where a permit system exists, the permit is what sets your right to sunlight under the Solar Rights Act.You or your installer.
5. After switch-on: read your bills. Check that extra kWh show up as a credit on the next bill. In January, check the payment for leftover credits against the utility’s published price.You. Your utility applies the credits.

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