New Hampshire solar in 2026

The bill is high. The roof yield is steady.

A paid-off rooftop kWh levels out around 8.8 cents under our cost and production assumptions, against a statewide residential blend of 27.33 cents. That spread is substantial. Still, electricity rates alone do not reserve a place in a utility allocation. Ask about the status of your utility's net-metering path while the quote is live.

RSA 362-A:9 is a benefit and a capacity constraint

Each electric distribution utility must offer a standard net-metering tariff under RSA 362-A:9. The tariff is tied to the customer's otherwise-applicable default generation service tariff, available first come first served, and ends December 31, 2040.

The same statute sets a 100 MW total standard net-metering cap and divides allocation among utilities. Within each utility-specific share, facilities up to 100 kW receive 80% of the allocation, while larger facilities receive 20%. That architecture is not a reason to panic-buy a system. It is a reason to make the installer state the tariff and queue position in writing.

Policy sources: RSA 362-A:9.

New Hampshire specifics worth acting on

• Treat the 100 MW cap as a due-diligence item. The right question is not whether the law exists, but what allocation applies to your project today.
• Residential facilities sit in the statutory category that reserves 80% of each utility-specific share for systems up to 100 kW.
• The standard net-metering tariff ends December 31, 2040 under RSA 362-A:9. Do not accept a sales illustration that quietly assumes a different term.
• A local property-tax exemption is optional, not statewide automatic. Call the assessor before you price it into savings.

Read the allocation rules before you treat the tariff as automatic

RSA 362-A:9 starts with a useful promise: each electric distribution utility must offer standard net-metering tariffs under Commission rules and orders. The tariff carries the same rates and charges as the customer's otherwise-applicable default generation service tariff. It is also first come, first served, and it ends on December 31, 2040, when customer-generators move to the tariff then in force. That is the rule a sales proposal needs to describe plainly.

The next layer is capacity, and it is not one statewide waiting room. The statutory standard net-metering ceiling is 100 MW. Half is allocated among the four distribution utilities under Commission jurisdiction in 2010, while the other half is spread among the three investor-owned utilities by their share of 2010 coincident peak demand. A homeowner needs the status of the relevant utility allocation, not a generic statement that the state has room.

Residential-scale facilities should also be read in their own bucket. Within each utility's 50 MW share, 80% is held for facilities up to 100 kW, with 20% for facilities above 100 kW up to 1 MW. No one person, developer, or installer can reserve more than 20% of a utility-specific allocation. There is a separate 6 MW aggregate annual limit for low- and moderate-income community solar designations. Those are very different facts from a normal roof proposal, but they explain why allocation language matters.

Tax treatment is local as well. A city or town may adopt a property-tax exemption under RSA 72:27-a. For municipalities adopting or re-adopting on or after January 1, 2020, the definition includes photovoltaics, inverters, and storage across grid-tied, net-metered, group-net-metered, and off-grid systems. The exemption amount is set locally. Call the assessor, then put the answer in the financial model.

Sources: RSA 362-A:9; RSA 72:62; RSA 72:61.

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