Solar in Nebraska: how the rules work
How Nebraska credits the power solar panels send back to the grid, what homes there pay for electricity, and what to check when a home with solar is bought or sold.
How exported power is credited
Power sent to the grid is credited at the full retail rate (kWh for kWh), at least within each billing period.
Nebraska's statewide net metering law (Neb. Rev. Stat. 70-2001 to 70-2005, LB 436 of 2009) covers systems of 25 kW or less and applies to all public power utilities until net-metered capacity hits 1% of a utility's average monthly peak demand. OPPD (Rate 483 Net Metering Service Rider) nets imports against exports over each monthly billing period at the retail rate. Only net excess generation for the month is compensated, at OPPD's avoided cost, which is well below retail. OPPD does not publish the avoided-cost cents/kWh on its site; it is in its rate manual. The Legislature's summary says excess credits carry forward and are paid at year-end at avoided cost. The 1.0 share applies to exports netted within the month; monthly excess earns avoided cost only. Solar customers still pay the monthly service charge, FPPA and OPPD's summer minimum-usage charge, and cannot use Level Pay. OPPD had 1,875 net-metered facilities (13.9 MW) at end of 2025. 2021 bills to raise the cap (LB506, LB573) stalled, no statewide change was found for 2023-2026, and there is no grandfathering issue.
What changes for a home with solar
A savings estimate that counts exported power at the full retail rate matches how exports are credited here. Where only month-end surplus earns a lower rate, homes that use most of their power themselves come closest to that estimate.
Electricity here costs about 12.9¢ per kWh (2026) and has risen about 1.0% a year over the last decade. A lease or PPA escalator above that pace makes the solar payment rise faster than utility rates have.
When a home with solar is sold in Nebraska
- Owned outright: proof it is paid off, the warranties, and the utility’s interconnection or net-metering agreement, which has to move into the buyer’s name.
- Loan: a payoff letter, and whether the buyer can assume the loan. Many solar loans are secured by a UCC-1 fixture filing that title will find.
- Lease or PPA: the transfer process and how long approval takes, the buyer’s credit check, the current payment or rate and its yearly increase, and a buyout quote.
- Every case: whether the export-credit terms above stay with the home after the sale, and the last 12 months of production from the monitoring app.
Have the solar contract for a Nebraska home?
Upload it and get a letter-graded report card: price, production, payment changes, value and transfer terms, measured against Nebraska’s rates and rules.
Grade a solar contractSources
- www.oppd.com/residential/residential-rates/customer-owned-generation/customer-owned-genera
- www.oppd.com/residential/residential-rates/customer-owned-generation/net-metering/
- www.oppd.com/residential/residential-rates/net-metering-annual-report/ (2026)
- update.legislature.ne.gov/?p=29213 (2021-02)
- Electricity prices: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B (2026) and EIA state annual averages 2014–2024
- Installed price: EnergySage marketplace, September 2026