Electric cooperative
Solar with Fergus Electric Cooperative
Fergus Electric Cooperative members pay 10.6¢ per kWh plus a $5.50 per kW demand charge; a typical home's solar pays back in about 18 years.
See the numbers for your address
At a glance
Residential schedule effective January 1, 2026; checked November 1, 2026. Sources.
What this means for solar
- Excess power is banked as kWh at the full retail rate and drawn down in later months. The bank resets in April, and anything left is forfeited to the utility.
- Every member pays a $5.50 per kW demand charge on the monthly peak within Oct-May 6-9am and 6-9pm, Jun-Sep 6-9pm. Rooftop solar rarely lowers a home's peak demand, so our estimates do not count it as savings.
- Systems up to 25 kW DC qualify for net metering; above that, capacity would run without export credit.
A typical home: 900 kWh a month, gas heat
Best-case figures with the range shown; no federal credit for homes in 2026. Production reference: Lewistown. Your roof, usage and heating change every number, which is what the estimate is for.
Full schedule and net-metering rules
- Fixed charge
- $35 per month
- Energy
- 10.60¢ all kWh
- Demand
- $5.50 per kW, all residential; monthly peak within Oct-May 6-9am and 6-9pm, Jun-Sep 6-9pm. 2026 General Service schedule, 0-30 kW tier (the only retail schedule; residential meters fall in it). Averaging interval not printed.
- Net metering
- 25 kW DC cap; kWh banked Apr 1 - Mar 31, then granted to the co-op; the co-op will not purchase energy; base charge still applies.
- Notes
- Base charge is the minimum bill. GM anticipates a similar increase for 2027.
- Effective
- January 1, 2026; checked November 1, 2026
Questions members ask
- Does Fergus Electric Cooperative pay for excess solar power?
- Excess power is banked as kWh at the full retail rate and drawn down in later months. The bank resets in April, and anything left is forfeited to the utility.
- How big a solar system can I net-meter with Fergus Electric Cooperative?
- Systems up to 25 kW DC qualify for net metering.
- Does solar reduce the Fergus Electric Cooperative demand charge?
- Every member pays a $5.50 per kW demand charge on the monthly peak within Oct-May 6-9am and 6-9pm, Jun-Sep 6-9pm. Rooftop solar rarely lowers a home's peak demand, so our estimates do not count it as savings.
- What would solar cost and save for a typical Fergus Electric Cooperative home?
- For a gas-heated home using about 900 kWh a month, a net-zero system is about 8.8 kW, costs roughly $21,669 to $26,484 installed, saves $1,049 to $1,202 in the first year, and pays back in 15.4 to 20.3 years at 2.7% a year rate growth. Your address gives a real figure in about a minute.
- What federal incentives apply in 2026?
- The 30% homeowner credit (Section 25D) ended for systems completed after December 31, 2025. Business-owned systems, including ranches, farms and rental property, still qualify for the 30% investment credit (Section 48E) and bonus depreciation when placed in service by the end of 2027; tax-exempt owners receive the 30% as a cash payment. Not tax advice.
- Where do these numbers come from?
- The rate figures are read from Fergus Electric Cooperative's own published schedule and net-metering policy (linked under Sources), last checked November 1, 2026. The worked example runs the same engine as the estimator, using a production reference for Lewistown and Montana installed-cost data. If you spot an error, email us and we will correct it.
Service area
Other Montana co-ops: Flathead Electric Cooperative, Missoula Electric Cooperative, Park Electric Cooperative, Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative, Ravalli Electric Cooperative, Beartooth Electric Cooperative. All 26 utilities.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from the documents below. We print the schedule’s effective date and the date we last read it; when a utility publishes nothing, we say so instead of guessing quietly.
- Residential rate schedule: fixed charge, energy rate, demand chargeEffective January 1, 2026 · Checked November 1, 2026 · Read from the primary source
- Net-metering / distributed-generation policyChecked November 1, 2026 · Read from the primary source
- Service territory on the mapChecked October 31, 2026 · Read from the primary source
- Worked example: production, installed cost, savings and paybackChecked November 1, 2026 · Read from the primary source
Spot an error or a rate change? Email mtsolarestimate@gmail.com. How the estimate itself is built: methodology.
Your address, your numbers
Roof, usage and heating change everything above. The estimate takes about a minute and asks for no contact details.