Utilities · Rhode Island
Rhode Island Energy in 2026: near-retail solar credits
Written by the Solar Learning Lab research deskUpdated August 29, 202612 min read
Rhode Island hands a solar buyer two good deals and forces a choice between them. Net metering credits rooftop generation at close to the full retail rate under state law, or the Renewable Energy Growth program pays a fixed 31.55 cents per kWh for 15 years. You cannot hold both, the decision binds for the life of the contract, and the state grant money only flows to one side. Meanwhile the utility itself is mid-churn: a rate case decided August 21, 2026 puts new delivery rates in force September 1, and a winter supply filing is pending. The rules are friendly. The numbers move.
28.26¢
EIA 2024 bundled residential average price per kWh for The Narragansett Electric Co
31.55¢
REG fixed rate per kWh for a 1 to 15 kW residential system, locked for 15 years, program year 2026
$14,500
Maximum Renewable Energy Fund grant per customer at $1.65 per watt, net-metered systems only
Sources: EIA Table 6, 2024 utility bundled residential sales; RIGL 39-26.4-2; REG enrollment calendar; RI Office of Energy Resources; and IRS FAQs under Public Law 119-21.
Check the current tariff sheets
The Summary of Retail Delivery Rates (RIPUC No. 2095) and the Last Resort Service summary (No. 2096) are the documents a savings projection should be built on, and both change September 1 and October 1, 2026. Date-stamp everything.
Open Rhode Island Energy's rates pageOne utility, 38 of 39 cities and towns
Rhode Island Energy is the operating name of The Narragansett Electric Company, which is how it appears on every tariff sheet and RIPUC docket caption. PPL Corporation bought it from National Grid for approximately $3.8 billion, closing May 25, 2022, and rebranded it immediately. It is an investor-owned utility, rate regulated by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, which is why the compensation rules in this guide come from state statute and RIPUC filings rather than a company program page. The footprint is nearly the whole state: a 1,200 square mile service area covering 38 of 39 Rhode Island cities and towns, about 501,236 electricity customers and 274,304 natural gas customers per PPL's fact sheet, over 770,000 combined per the company's own page. EIA counts 332,540 residential bundled retail customers for 2024.
The exceptions are small and specific. The Block Island Utility District served 1,629 residential customers in 2024 at a bruising 39.66 cents per kWh average, and the Pascoag Utility District served 4,373 at 16.52 cents. Both are excluded from the state net metering chapter's definition of an electric distribution company and run their own PUC-approved net metering tariffs, so if you are in either pocket, this guide's compensation math does not apply to you.
Sources: PPL acquisition completion release; PPL Rhode Island Energy overview fact sheet; Rhode Island Energy company page; EIA Table 6, 2024; and RIGL 39-26.4-2.
The A-16 rate a Providence home actually pays
Start with the benchmark. EIA's 2024 bundled residential average for The Narragansett Electric Co is 28.26 cents per kWh, across 332,540 residential customers, 2,291,381 MWh of sales, and $0.65 billion of revenue. Rhode Island's statewide residential average hit 29.46 cents in May 2026, up from 29.00 a year earlier. This is expensive power, which is exactly what makes each offset kWh worth chasing.
The standard residential rate is the Basic Residential Rate, A-16, RIPUC No. 2224. The bill splits into delivery charges from the Summary of Retail Delivery Rates (RIPUC No. 2095) and a supply charge, which for non-shopping customers is Last Resort Service under RIPUC No. 2096. Here is the delivery stack in force on August 29, 2026, from the filed summary sheet effective July 1, 2026.
| A-16 delivery component | Amount in force August 29, 2026 | Effective date printed |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Charge (also the minimum charge) | $6.72 per month | 7/1/26 |
| RE Growth Charge (fixed) | $3.38 per month | 4/1/26 |
| LIHEAP Enhancement Charge (fixed) | $0.78 per month | 1/1/26 |
| Total fixed charges | $10.88 per month | per 7/1/26 sheet |
| Distribution kWh charge | 6.013¢ / kWh | 7/1/26 |
| Net Metering Charge | 1.594¢ / kWh | 4/1/26 |
| Long-Term Contracting Charge | 0.353¢ / kWh | 4/1/26 |
| Transmission (base plus adjustment plus uncollectible) | 5.275¢ / kWh | 4/1/26 |
| Transition Charge | 0.000¢ / kWh | 4/1/26 |
| Energy Efficiency Charge | 1.199¢ / kWh | 4/1/26 |
| Total delivery kWh charges | 14.434¢ / kWh | per 7/1/26 sheet |
Source: Summary of Retail Delivery Rates, RIPUC Tariff No. 2095, effective July 1, 2026; rate availability terms per the A-16 tariff, RIPUC No. 2224. One conflict worth flagging: the customer-facing residential rates page still prints an older stack ($6.00 customer charge, 5.379 cent distribution, 4.773 cent transmission). The filed summary above is authoritative, per the residential service rates page.
Supply sits on top. The residential Last Resort Service rate is 11.092 cents per kWh, effective April 1, 2026 through September 30, 2026, built from an 8.788 cent base charge, 0.350 cents of adjustment, 0.350 cents of administrative cost, and a 1.604 cent Renewable Energy Standard charge. Add it up and an A-16 home on default supply pays 25.526 cents per kWh in volumetric charges, our arithmetic on the two tariff summaries, not a tariff line itself, before the state gross earnings tax adjustment, plus the $10.88 in monthly fixed charges that solar never offsets.
Two dates should temper any model built on these numbers. The delivery stack changes September 1, 2026, three days after this guide's pull date, when the compliance tariffs from the decided rate case take effect. And the supply rate resets every April 1 and October 1; last winter it ran 14.770 cents, and the company's proposed rate for October 2026 through March 2027 is 17.029 cents, still pending Commission approval. Rhode Island supply is seasonal by design. A payback model that freezes 11.092 cents forever understates winter bills and overstates summer ones.
Sources: Summary of Last Resort Service Rates, RIPUC Tariff No. 2096; RIPUC Last Resort Service rate table; RIPUC Docket 25-45-GE; and EIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Net metering: near retail, and the 20 percent myth
Rhode Island net metering lives in state law, RIGL chapter 39-26.4, not in a utility program that a board can quietly rewrite. The credit formula is on the statute's face: for generation up to 100 percent of your usage, each kWh is credited at the sum of the Last Resort Service kWh charge, the distribution kWh charge, the transmission kWh charge, and the transition kWh charge. On the sheets in force August 29, 2026, that is 11.092 plus 6.013 plus 5.275 plus 0.000, about 22.4 cents per kWh by our arithmetic. What the credit skips are the fixed monthly charges and the program surcharges (energy efficiency, net metering, long-term contracting), which is why it is near retail rather than full retail.
Now the myth. In 2023 the General Assembly cut the net metering credit by 20 percent, and that sentence, stripped of its scope, has been scaring Rhode Island homeowners ever since. Read the statute. The reduction in RIGL 39-26.4-2(22) applies to projects after April 15, 2023 that are subject to the 275 MWac cap under section 39-26.4-3(a)(1)(vi). That section is the cap on remote net metering for ground-mounted systems, and it says in its own text that the restriction does not apply when the system is interconnected behind the same meter as the customer's load, or when the energy is consumed by accounts of the same owner on the same or contiguous parcels. A rooftop system behind your own meter is outside the cap, so the 20 percent cut never touches it. It reaches only remote and virtual net metering projects. The state energy office's own webpage compresses this to a blanket 20 percent reduction without the behind-the-meter carve-out, which is exactly how the myth spreads. The statute wins.
The rest of the mechanics favor the homeowner. Systems must be sized to produce no more than annual usage, measured by the three-year average at the site, with projections allowed until three years of actuals exist. Production beyond 100 percent of consumption earns the excess credit at the ISO-New England wholesale clearing price, and for systems of 25 kW or less that wholesale treatment applies to all production past 100 percent, per the statute as amended effective June 27, 2025. Unused credits can carry forward month to month, and the law gives customers the option to cash out a remaining balance. Rate design is protected too: a net-metered account pays the same rates as any other account in its class, no offsetting charges allowed, and no back-up or standby rates. The program's cost shows up on everyone's bill as the 1.594 cent Net Metering Charge. One piece of paperwork is easy to miss: rooftop systems of 25 kW or less must include a Self-Certification for Core Forest Determination form from RI DEM with the interconnection application. The company's implementing tariff is its Net Metering Provision, currently RIPUC No. 2279, and a pending tariff advice to amend it is covered in the dockets section below.
Sources: RIGL 39-26.4-2; RIGL 39-26.4-3; OER net metering page; Summary of Retail Delivery Rates, RIPUC No. 2095; RE Growth program page (core forest form); and RIPUC Docket 26-30-EL.
REG: a fixed price for 15 years instead of net metering
The Renewable Energy Growth program, built under chapter 39-26.6, is the other path: sell your generation under a long-term tariff at a fixed price instead of netting it against your bill. The residential tariff, RIPUC No. 2151-M, took effect April 1, 2026, and its program year 2026 rates are worth staring at next to that 28.26 cent retail average.
| REG residential tier, PY2026 | System size (DC) | Rate | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small-Scale Solar I | 1 to 15 kW | 31.55¢ / kWh | 15 years |
| Small-Scale Solar II | 15 to 25 kW | 28.65¢ / kWh | 20 years |
Sources: REG residential tariff, RIPUC No. 2151-M, section 7.3 and the REG enrollment calendar. The calendar prints the 31.55 cent rate as inclusive of assumed eligible federal incentives. A third-party caution: the RI Commerce REF page still quotes 33.85 and 32.35 cent REG ceilings for this year; those are stale against the PY2026 tariff, per commerceri.com.
Payment splits in two: the account owner gets a bill credit for the energy, and the applicant is paid the remaining performance-based incentive, funded through the RE Growth Charge on everyone's bills, set by the Distributed Generation Board and approved by the RIPUC. Enrollment for small-scale systems is refreshingly simple: no lottery, no bidding windows. Applications ride the interconnection application itself, first come first served, on an ongoing basis until the 3 MW DC program year target fills or March 31, 2027 arrives, whichever comes first. (Projects over 25 kW use two-week open enrollments instead.) Eligibility is strict on timing: the system must sit in Rhode Island on RI Energy's distribution system at a site on rate A-16, A-60, or C-06, cannot already be operational or under construction at application beyond preparatory work under 25 percent of project cost, and must be operational within 24 months of the conditional certificate.
Here is the decision the two programs force. State guidance says it flatly: a customer can have a net-metered system or an REG system, not both, and the decision is binding for the lifetime of the contract. The tariff enforces it from both directions; a project receiving net metering compensation is not eligible for REG, and a project holding a final certificate and receiving PBI payments cannot take net metering credits during the term. REG participants also give up the Renewable Energy Fund grant, which is available for net-metered systems only. So the real comparison is REG's fixed 31.55 cents for 15 years against net metering's roughly 22.4 cent floating credit plus up to $14,500 in grant money up front. In practice the grant closes most of the gap on day one, and the floating credit rides whatever New England supply prices do next. Neither answer is wrong. Signing one without pricing the other is.
Sources: OER small-scale solar page; 2026 Small-Scale Solar REG one-pager; REG residential tariff, RIPUC No. 2151-M; and the RE Growth program page.
The REF grant: $1.65 per watt, net metering only
The Renewable Energy Fund is the upfront money, and it is substantial. The small-scale solar program pays $1.65 per watt up to $14,500 per customer, plus a flat $5,000 Energy Storage Adder for solar plus storage projects. The mechanics matter: the grant applies to net-metered systems only, the installer applies on the homeowner's behalf, and the money is paid to the installer after completion paperwork and a quality assurance evaluation. So the grant should appear in your contract price, not as a check you wait on. Ask where it shows up in the quote. If the installer cannot answer, that tells you something. For scale, the commercial program starts at $0.70 per watt and declines with size, with a $0.50 per watt storage adder capped at $40,000; the residential deal is the richer one per watt.
REF is run by RI Commerce and funded through the system benefit charge on electric bills plus alternative compliance payments from suppliers. The 2026 small-scale rounds printed on the Commerce page opened May 1, July 17, and October 16, 2026, so as of this writing one round remains this year. And a consumer protection worth knowing exists behind all of this: under RIGL 5-93-4, every residential solar retailer in Rhode Island must hold an annual registration with the Department of Business Regulation. A company that cannot show one should not be on your roof.
Sources: OER small-scale solar page and the RI Commerce Renewable Energy Fund page.
Rhode Island tax breaks are alive. The federal credit is not.
Both state-level tax shields survive 2026. Sales tax first: RIGL 44-18-30(57) exempts renewable energy products from sales tax by name, solar photovoltaic modules or panels, solar thermal collectors, DC to AC inverters that interconnect with utility power lines, and manufactured mounting racks and ballast pans, along with wind and geothermal equipment. Property tax second: RIGL 44-3-3(a)(48) exempts renewable energy resources used in residential systems, and associated equipment, placed in service after December 31, 2015, statewide. There is also an older 1980 local-option provision, RIGL 44-3-21, letting city and town councils exempt renewable systems by ordinance, but the statewide residential exemption is the one doing the work for a homeowner rooftop. Net effect: the array does not add sales tax at purchase and does not raise the property assessment afterward.
The federal side is over. IRS FAQs under Public Law 119-21 state that the 25D residential clean energy credit is not allowed for any expenditures made after December 31, 2025, and that an expenditure is treated as made when the original installation is completed. A Rhode Island system finished in 2026 cannot claim it. Any proposal still carrying a 30 percent federal line is stale or dishonest. One subtlety specific to this state: the 2026 REG rate is printed as inclusive of assumed eligible federal incentives, so the program's pricing already bakes in its own federal assumptions. Do not let a model double-count a credit that no longer exists.
Sources: RIGL 44-18-30; RIGL 44-3-3; RIGL 44-3-21; IRS FAQs under Public Law 119-21; and the REG enrollment calendar.
Interconnection: $0 for a typical rooftop, on a 20 day clock
The governing document is the Standards for Connecting Distributed Generation, RIPUC No. 2244, effective September 1, 2021. A typical homeowner rooftop qualifies for the Simplified Process: listed inverter-based systems with export capability of 25 kW or less, on secondary service from a matching transformer configuration, on radial distribution, passing the screens. What that path costs and how long it takes are both printed in the tariff's tables.
| Published item, Simplified Process | Amount or standard |
|---|---|
| Application fee | $0 |
| Supplemental review fee | $0 |
| Witness test fee | $0 |
| Acknowledgment of application | Within 3 business days |
| Completeness evaluation | Within 10 business days |
| Review of all screens | Within 10 days |
| Supplemental review, if needed | Within 30 days |
| Total maximum to executable agreement | 20 business days; 50 with supplemental review |
Source: Standards for Connecting Distributed Generation, RIPUC No. 2244, fee schedules and Table 1.
Fall outside Simplified and fees appear, though residential stays cheap: feasibility review is $0 at 25 kW or less and $50 above, impact study $0 at 25 kW or less and $100 above. The expedited and standard paths, where applicable, charge $3 per kW with a $300 minimum and $2,500 maximum, and a pre-application report runs $100 under 250 kW. If the grid needs upgrades, the company charges actual cost, and the tariff limits it to modifications specifically necessary for and directly related to the interconnection. Applications go through the company's PortalConnect site, the same application doubles as REG small-scale enrollment, and rooftop systems of 25 kW or less attach the RI DEM core forest self-certification form. The witness test, when required, is scheduled on 10 days notice.
Sources: RIPUC No. 2244; 2026 Small-Scale Solar REG one-pager; and the RE Growth program page.
What is still moving at the RIPUC
The big one just landed. Docket 25-45-GE is the company's first PPL-era base rate case, filed November 26, 2025, proposing a two-year plan: first-year base distribution increases of approximately $65.9 million electric and $114.7 million gas, then $17.6 million and $31.8 million in year two. The Commission held open meetings August 12, 13, 18, and 21, 2026, and approved new distribution rates on August 21; the Providence Journal reported the approved increase is less than the company requested, with the original proposal implying bill increases of about 5 percent electric and 21 percent gas. The compliance filing landed August 27, and the docket page lists electric tariffs effective September 1, 2026. Translation for solar shoppers: the delivery numbers in this guide are the last days of the old stack, and since distribution and transmission charges feed the net metering credit formula, the credit moves with them.
Two more dockets belong on the calendar. Docket 26-27-EL holds the winter Last Resort Service rates for October 1, 2026, filed July 22, 2026 with the proposed residential rate of 17.029 cents per kWh still awaiting Commission approval; the Attorney General and the George Wiley Center intervened in August, and Uprise RI reported the filed number was initially sealed. And Docket 26-30-EL, filed August 14, 2026, is the company's tariff advice to amend its Net Metering Provision, RIPUC No. 2279, to implement the legislative changes in chapter 39-26.4, the same changes that moved excess-generation pricing to the ISO-New England clearing price. Its predecessor, Docket 25-50-EL, did the 2025 round of the same exercise and ran through an April 27, 2026 oral argument and a compliance filing after the May 12, 2026 open meeting. The April 2026 supply rate itself is settled business: Docket 26-03-EL closed with PUC Order No. 25694 on May 22, 2026.
Sources: RIPUC Docket 25-45-GE; Providence Journal, August 21, 2026; RIPUC Docket 26-27-EL; Uprise RI; RIPUC Docket 26-30-EL; RIPUC Docket 25-50-EL; and RIPUC Docket 26-03-EL.
Rhode Island Energy solar questions, answered
Does Rhode Island Energy have real net metering?
Does the 20 percent net metering credit cut apply to my rooftop?
Should I pick net metering or the REG program?
Is the 30 percent federal tax credit still available in Rhode Island?
What we could not verify
As of August 29, 2026, the final approved dollar figure of the 25-45-GE rate case was not stated on any fetched page; the compliance calculations were due August 27 and the docket page lists the filing without a number in its page text, so the September 1 delivery rates could not be quantified here. The company's PortalConnect article pages, including its customer-facing net metering and interconnection process pages, are a Salesforce portal that returns only a loading shell to non-browser fetches; every fee and timeline in this guide comes from the filed RIPUC No. 2244 tariff PDF instead, which is the better source anyway. The winter 2026 to 2027 supply rate of 17.029 cents remains a proposal, not an approved rate. And two official pages conflict with the filed tariffs, the company's own residential rates page printing an older delivery stack and the OER net metering page compressing the 20 percent reduction's scope; in both cases this guide follows the filed tariff and the statute. These stay gaps until a primary source closes them.
Sources: RIPUC Docket 25-45-GE; PortalConnect RI process page; RIPUC Last Resort Service rate table; Rhode Island Energy residential rates page; and OER net metering page.
Run a Rhode Island solar estimate
Use 12 months of Rhode Island Energy bills and both compensation paths. A model that shows a federal tax credit, or applies a 20 percent haircut to rooftop net metering, is not modeling Rhode Island in 2026.
Calculate my solar savingsRead the statute before you sign
The credit formula, the sizing rule, the cash-out right, and the exact scope of the 20 percent reduction are all in RIGL 39-26.4. Ten minutes of statute beats an hour of sales deck.
Open RIGL 39-26.4-2