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Montana Solar Contract Cancellation

Trying to Get Out of a Solar Contract in Montana?

A Montana solar problem may involve a door-to-door sales contract, a separate loan, a utility interconnection agreement, a 12-month net-metering credit cycle, contractor credentials, and equipment warranties at the same time. Montana also added a solar-specific consumer law in 2025, while electric cooperatives and municipal systems can operate under different utility rules than investor-owned utilities. Solar Exit Montana helps organize the sales timeline, signed documents, utility records, financing assumptions, credential checks, production history, and actual bills so the homeowner can identify what deserves attention next.

  • New Montana door-to-door solar cancellation and sales-disclosure review
  • 50 kW statutory net-metering framework and annual credit reset
  • NorthWestern Energy, MDU, cooperative, and municipal utility differences
  • Interconnection, net meter, inspection, and activation records
  • Construction-contractor and electrical-license checks
  • Solar loan, tax-credit, company-closure, and home-sale concerns
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Solar Exit Montana will guide you through the process from the moment you become a client, coordinating with the legal professionals supporting your case as appropriate. We know solar contract disputes can be confusing, especially when financing, credit, installers, and utility issues overlap. You will have a team helping you understand what comes next and working toward the best available resolution for your situation.

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Find the Help You Need

Jump Directly to the Part of Your Solar Problem That Matters Most

A Montana solar dispute becomes easier to evaluate when the homeowner separates the door-to-door sales record, installation contract, financing agreement, utility account, interconnection file, contractor credentials, and system-production history. Montana-specific cancellation and net-metering rules make dates and utility identity especially important.

Common Montana Solar Problems

Does Any of This Sound Familiar?

Solar problems do not always begin and end with the installer. The salesperson, dealer, lender, loan servicer, electric utility, equipment manufacturer, and installation contractor may all play different roles.

The Door-to-Door Contract Did Not Explain Montana’s New Solar Cancellation Rule

Montana added a solar-specific consumer statute in 2025. For a solar sales agent, a term defined around door-to-door sales, the law requires a conspicuous explanation of a three-business-day right to cancel and prohibits deceptive statements about costs, financing, and contract terms. The sales channel and paperwork should be reviewed before assuming the statute applies.

Your Net-Metering Credit Bank Disappeared at the Annual Settle-Up

Montana law carries excess kilowatt-hour credits from one monthly bill to the next, but the remaining balance is granted to the utility without compensation at the end of the customer’s designated 12-month billing period. The customer chooses a cycle beginning in January, April, July, or October.

The Sales Pitch Treated One Utility’s Rules as if They Applied Everywhere

NorthWestern Energy and MDU are regulated investor-owned utilities, while electric cooperatives and municipal systems have different regulatory structures. Montana’s statutory net-metering part also excludes Title 35, chapter 18 cooperatives. The utility name can change the billing, interconnection, and complaint analysis.

The Panels Are Installed but the System Is Not Authorized to Operate

Installation is not the same as utility authorization. NorthWestern Energy says the system is not authorized to activate until the utility installs or configures the net meter and sends a welcome letter. MDU separately requires grid-connected customers to contact the utility and execute an interconnection agreement.

The 2026 Payment Plan Still Assumed a 30% Federal Homeowner Credit

Current IRS guidance says the Residential Clean Energy Credit is not available for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. If a 2026 Montana proposal, loan re-amortization schedule, or sales presentation still depends on a 30% homeowner credit, preserve that math and compare it with the actual placed-in-service date.

How It Works

Start With a Clear Review of Your Situation

You do not need to know the correct legal, financial, or utility terminology. Tell us what happened and provide the documents you have.

01

Build the Montana Solar Timeline

Put the first solicitation, contract signing, cancellation disclosures, financing, permits, interconnection application, inspection, net-meter work, activation, annual settle-up month, payment changes, service problems, and any home-sale events in chronological order.

02

Match Each Promise to the Correct Montana Record

Compare sales claims with the signed agreements, current Montana solar-sales statutes, utility tariff or cooperative policy, 12-month credit history, interconnection file, contractor credentials, production data, and current federal tax guidance.

03

Choose the Next Route by Problem Layer

The next step may involve cancellation review, a utility correction, cooperative or municipal review, contractor or electrical-license complaint, lender dispute, DOJ consumer complaint, warranty claim, home-sale coordination, or referral to a Montana attorney, tax professional, or other licensed adviser.

Montana Solar Contract Landscape

Montana Combines a New Solar Sales Law With a Utility Framework That Changes by Provider

Montana added a solar-specific consumer-protection statute in 2025. It requires a defined solar sales agent to provide an all-caps explanation of a three-business-day rescission right and bars deceptive solar solicitations concerning costs, financing, and contract terms. The statutory definition of solar sales agent centers on door-to-door sales, so the original solicitation facts matter.

For utility billing, Montana defines a net-metering system as eligible solar, wind, or hydropower generation of no more than 50 kW that primarily offsets the customer’s own electricity use. Excess generation can create a kilowatt-hour credit for the next billing period, but unused credits are cleared without compensation at the end of a designated 12-month cycle.

The utility layer is not uniform. Montana’s net-metering Part 6 does not apply to corporations organized under Title 35, chapter 18, and the Montana Public Service Commission says it does not regulate electric cooperative or municipally owned utility rates. That makes the provider on the bill an essential starting point.

Montana contractor credentials changed materially in 2026. DLI now requires covered construction contractors to hold a state construction-contractor license, and active registrations as of December 31, 2025 were converted to licenses. Electrical contracting remains separately regulated by the State Electrical Board.

MCA 30-14-165: Solar DefinitionsMCA 30-14-166: Solar Buyer CancellationMCA 69-8-103: Net-Metering DefinitionMCA 69-8-603: Net Energy MeasurementMontana PSC Consumer InformationMontana DLI Construction Contractor License Program
3 business daysSolar-specific rescission period described in MCA 30-14-166 for the covered solar sales framework.
50 kWMaximum generating capacity in Montana’s statutory definition of a net-metering system.
4 cycle choicesJanuary, April, July, or October can begin the customer’s 12-month net-metering billing period.
2026 licensingMontana DLI construction-contractor licensing became effective January 1, 2026.

Montana Utility Billing

The Electric Provider Determines Which Solar Billing and Interconnection Records Matter

Before comparing promised savings with actual Montana bills, identify the electric provider, tariff or cooperative policy, interconnection status, net-meter configuration, 12-month settle-up date, and any accumulated generation credit.

Montana-Dakota Utilities

MDU says Montana solar customers use net metering and carry excess generation forward until consumption offsets it or the designated 12-month period ends. Its current Montana tariff page lists Schedule 92 Net Metering Service, Schedule 94 Net Billing Option effective June 1, 2026, and Schedule 96 interconnection procedures, so the homeowner’s actual tariff should be verified.

MDU Renewable / Solar EnergyMDU Montana Rates and Tariffs

Electric Cooperatives

Montana statute says the Part 6 net-metering framework does not apply to corporations organized under Title 35, chapter 18. The Montana PSC also says electric cooperatives are governed by member-elected boards rather than PSC rate jurisdiction. A cooperative customer therefore needs the cooperative’s current distributed-generation policy and board-approved rates.

MCA 69-8-605: ApplicabilityMontana PSC Consumer Information

Municipal and Other Local Electric Systems

The Montana PSC says municipally owned utilities are outside its consumer-assistance jurisdiction for utility regulation. Local billing, interconnection, and complaint procedures can therefore differ from NorthWestern Energy and MDU.

Montana PSC Request AssistanceMontana PSC How the PSC Can Help
Why this matters:In Montana, the utility name is not a minor detail. It can determine the applicable tariff, interconnection procedure, credit reset, and even the correct complaint route.

Montana Net-Metering Credit Clock

Montana Net Metering Has a 12-Month Credit Clock That Can Change the Savings Story

A Montana homeowner can see excess generation carried forward month after month and still lose the remaining bank at the end of the designated annual cycle. That makes the settle-up date a core document-review point.

MCA 69-8-103MCA 69-8-602MCA 69-8-603MCA 69-8-605NorthWestern Energy Net Metering

The Statutory Net-Metering System Limit Is 50 kW

Montana defines a net-metering system as qualifying solar, wind, or hydropower generation with a capacity of no more than 50 kW, located on the customer-generator’s premises, operating in parallel with the utility, and intended primarily to offset the customer’s own electricity needs.

MCA 69-8-103

Excess Generation Creates a Kilowatt-Hour Credit

When a covered customer generates more electricity than the utility supplies during a billing period, MCA 69-8-603 provides for an excess kilowatt-hour credit to appear on the following bill. The customer still needs to separate the energy credit from fixed charges and any other tariff components.

MCA 69-8-603MCA 69-8-602

The Remaining Bank Clears Once Every 12 Months

The customer designates January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1 as the beginning of the 12-month billing period. At the corresponding annual reset, remaining unused kilowatt-hour credits from the prior 12 months are granted to the utility without compensation. NorthWestern Energy’s current guidance describes the same four annual settle-up choices.

MCA 69-8-603NorthWestern Energy Net Metering

Cooperatives and Future Rate Classifications Need Separate Review

The statutory Part 6 framework excludes Title 35, chapter 18 corporations. For commission-regulated public utilities, Montana law also allows the PSC to establish customer-generator classifications through a general rate case and includes a grandfathering provision tied to the interconnection date if new classifications are approved.

MCA 69-8-605MCA 69-8-611MCA 69-8-612

What to compare in a Montana net-metering dispute

  • Serving electric provider
  • System nameplate capacity
  • Interconnection date
  • Tariff or cooperative policy
  • Selected annual settle-up month
  • Monthly excess kWh balance
  • Date the prior credit bank was cleared
  • Fixed customer charges
  • Meter configuration
  • Export restrictions
  • Sales worksheet assumptions about annual surplus
  • Any notice of a tariff or classification change
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Montana’s 2025 Solar Sales Law

Montana Added a Solar-Specific Door-to-Door Cancellation and Disclosure Rule

Chapter 719 of the 2025 Montana laws created MCA 30-14-165 and 30-14-166. The law defines a solar sales agent as a person or entity acting for a solar company that solicits, offers, negotiates, sells, or executes solar contracts through door-to-door sales.

For that solar-sales framework, the statute requires an all-caps explanation stating that the customer has a right to cancel within three business days after signing and identifies written cancellation by email or certified postal mail to the person named for that purpose in the contract. The statute says a timely written rescission terminates the installation contract and prevents enforcement of its terms or claims for labor and materials.

The same section prohibits deceptive statements in solar solicitations concerning costs, financing, and the terms and conditions of the purchase or installation. That makes the salesperson identity, sales channel, written acknowledgment, cancellation instructions, and financing pitch especially important evidence.

MCA 30-14-165: DefinitionsMCA 30-14-166: Solar Buyer Cancellation

Records to gather for the 2025 Montana solar-sales rule

  • Date and location of solicitation
  • Whether the contact was door-to-door
  • Solar salesperson or agent name
  • Company represented by the agent
  • All-caps cancellation explanation
  • Customer initials or acknowledgment
  • Person identified to receive cancellation
  • Email or certified-mail cancellation evidence
  • Contract signing date
  • Financing pitch and written disclosures
  • Cost and savings representations
  • Any response to a cancellation notice
↑ Back to Page Guide

Montana Interconnection and Activation

Panels on the Roof Do Not Mean the Utility Has Authorized the System to Operate

NorthWestern Energy separates installation from authorization to operate. Its current Montana guidance says the applicant must first be authorized for interconnected operation, the system must pass inspections, the utility must install or configure the net meter, and the customer must receive a welcome letter before the system is authorized to activate.

For customers without an AMI meter, NorthWestern Energy says a physical meter exchange may be required and can take up to 20 business days. That means a sales promise about an installation date should not be treated as the same thing as a utility permission-to-operate date.

MDU likewise tells customers to contact the utility before beginning a grid-connected solar project and says a customer installing grid-connected generation is required to notify MDU and execute an interconnection agreement. If a project is installed but not producing, the utility file and installer file should be compared before assuming the equipment itself failed.

NorthWestern Energy Net MeteringNorthWestern Energy Montana Electric RulesMDU Renewable / Solar EnergyMCA 69-8-604

Montana interconnection records to verify

  • Utility application date
  • Interconnection agreement
  • System size and inverter model
  • Engineering or screening requirements
  • Permit and inspection approvals
  • Net-meter request
  • Meter installation or AMI configuration
  • Utility authorization / welcome letter
  • Actual activation date
  • Installer communications about PTO
  • Any required grid upgrades
  • Monitoring start date

Montana Solicitation Protections

Solar-Specific Rules Sit Alongside Montana’s Broader Personal Solicitation Sales Act

Montana’s Personal Solicitation Sales Act separately covers qualifying sales made through certain in-person or telephone solicitations away from the seller’s fixed business location. The statutory definitions include exceptions, so the source of the contact and where negotiations occurred can affect coverage.

For an in-person personal solicitation, the seller must disclose the seller’s name, the business organization represented, and the goods or services offered before making the solicitation, and must present an identification card containing specified information. Covered sales also have statutory notice and cancellation requirements.

The Montana Department of Justice Office of Consumer Protection accepts complaints involving unfair business acts, construction, deceptive advertising, telemarketing, and door-to-door sales. A complaint can help document the issue, but it does not replace any time-sensitive cancellation notice or private legal advice.

MCA 30-14-165MCA 30-14-166MCA 30-14-502MCA 30-14-503Montana DOJ Consumer Complaints

Sales evidence worth preserving

  • First contact date and method
  • Where the sales conversation occurred
  • Salesperson name and identification
  • Company represented
  • Solar proposal and savings model
  • Contract and financing disclosures
  • Utility-affiliation claims
  • Tax-credit claims
  • Cancellation notice and instructions
  • Texts, emails, and advertisements
  • Any recorded calls lawfully available
  • Complaint correspondence
Montana now has both a solar-specific door-to-door statute and a broader personal-solicitation framework. Their definitions are not identical, so the safest review begins with the facts rather than assuming a cancellation rule applies.
↑ Back to Page Guide

Montana Solar Cancellation Rights

Two Montana Three-Business-Day Frameworks May Be Relevant, but Their Coverage Must Be Checked

MCA 30-14-166 is the newer solar-specific rule. It requires the defined solar sales agent to explain a three-business-day cancellation right and says a solar buyer who timely rescinds the installation contract in writing can terminate it. Because the companion definition of solar sales agent is tied to door-to-door activity, the sales channel should be confirmed before relying on the provision.

Montana’s older Personal Solicitation Sales Act separately lets a buyer cancel a qualifying personal solicitation sale until midnight of the third business day after signing. The act has its own definitions, exceptions, written-notice rules, and required seller notice.

If a deadline may still be open, preserve proof of the exact contract date and the method used to send cancellation. If the period has passed, other contract or legal arguments may still exist, but the three-day statutes should not be stretched beyond their coverage.

MCA 30-14-166MCA 30-14-504MCA 30-14-505MCA 30-14-502

What to Look For

  • Contract signing date
  • Business-day count
  • Door-to-door or other solicitation method
  • Where negotiations occurred
  • Solar-specific cancellation disclosure
  • Personal Solicitation Sales Act notice
  • Named cancellation recipient
  • Email transmission record
  • Certified-mail receipt or tracking
  • Any statutory exception
  • Separate finance-agreement cancellation terms
  • Seller or lender response
Solar Exit Montana can help organize the documents and timeline, but whether a particular Montana cancellation statute applies is a legal question that depends on the transaction facts.
↑ Back to Page Guide

Montana Solar Contractors

Construction Contractors Now Use a State License, While Electrical Contracting Has Its Own License

Montana DLI states that covered construction contractors are required to hold a state construction-contractor license effective January 1, 2026. Contractors that had an active Montana registration as of December 31, 2025 were converted to the new license, and applications and renewals are now handled through DLI’s licensing system.

Electrical work is separately regulated. The Montana State Electrical Board says an electrical contractor license requires a Montana-licensed master electrician as the responsible party, and that responsible electrician’s license determines the level and scope of work the contractor may perform.

For a solar dispute, identify the sales company, construction contractor, electrical contractor, responsible electrician, permit applicant, utility interconnection applicant, and financing company separately. One company name on the proposal does not prove that entity performed every regulated role.

Montana DLI Construction Contractor License ProgramMontana State Electrical Board: Electrical ContractorMontana State Electrical BoardMontana DLI Complaint Portal

Montana project parties to identify

  • Solar sales company
  • Door-to-door solar sales agent, if applicable
  • Construction / installation contractor
  • Current DLI construction-contractor license status
  • Electrical contractor
  • Responsible Montana master electrician
  • Permit applicant
  • Inspection authority
  • Serving electric utility or cooperative
  • Equipment manufacturer
  • Financing company, lessor, or PPA provider

Verify the current construction-contractor license through DLI. Older proposals may still show a pre-2026 registration number, so compare that historical identifier with the contractor’s current license record.

Montana Solar Financing

Trace the Money Separately From the Roof Work and Utility Approval

Start a Montana financing review with three numbers: the quoted cash price, the principal actually financed, and the payment schedule the borrower signed. Then place the installation milestones and utility activation date beside those numbers. A construction dispute can explain why the project went wrong without, by itself, telling the borrower what the credit contract permits.

CFPB research on residential solar financing discusses dealer fees and sales comparisons that can obscure the difference between a cash price and a financed price. It also describes payment structures built around an anticipated tax benefit. For a Montana file, preserve the cash quote and every loan disclosure instead of reconstructing the deal from the monthly payment alone.

Montana added another useful checkpoint in 2025: MCA 30-14-166 bars deceptive solar solicitations about financing as well as costs and contract terms. If the borrower remembers a different payment, rate, tax assumption, or payoff story, compare the remembered pitch with dated written evidence and the lender’s executed documents.

  • Cash price shown before financing
  • Principal on the executed credit agreement
  • Annual percentage rate
  • Finance charge and maturity date
  • Any dealer fee reflected in the transaction
  • First scheduled payment
  • Later payment step-up or reset
  • Promised principal reduction
  • Re-amortization mechanics
  • Early-payoff provisions
  • Security interest or UCC language
  • Lender identity and current servicer
  • Salesperson statements about electric-bill savings
  • Salesperson statements about tax money
Treat payment decisions as a separate risk decision. Before withholding, redirecting, or stopping money owed under a solar credit agreement, review that agreement and obtain qualified advice appropriate to the borrower’s situation.
CFPB Solar Financing Issue SpotlightMCA 30-14-166

Federal Tax Claims in Montana Solar Sales

For a 2026 Placed-in-Service Date, the Legacy 30% Homeowner Credit Is the Wrong Baseline

The controlling date for this page is the date the residential energy property was placed in service. IRS guidance now says property placed in service after December 31, 2025 cannot use the Residential Clean Energy Credit. A Montana system first operating in 2026 therefore cannot be evaluated as though the former Section 25D homeowner credit still applies.

That cutoff can matter twice in a financed transaction. First, a salesperson may have reduced the apparent net cost by an expected tax benefit. Second, the loan may have assumed that a similar amount would later be paid toward principal. Put the placed-in-service evidence next to the proposal and loan schedule to see whether those assumptions ever matched the project timeline.

There is a source conflict homeowners can encounter online: MDU’s solar information page still displays a legacy example using a 30% federal tax credit. Solar Exit Montana uses the current IRS page for federal homeowner-credit timing. A tax professional should handle the homeowner’s actual return and eligibility questions.

  • Evidence of the placed-in-service date
  • Proposal date
  • Tax percentage printed in the proposal
  • Dollar amount attributed to a federal benefit
  • Loan reset tied to an expected contribution
  • Principal balance before that assumed contribution
  • Completion and activation dates
  • Installer tax worksheet or email
  • Any MDU example relied upon during the sale
  • Advice from the homeowner’s tax professional
This review can identify a mismatch between a sales representation and the project dates. It is not a tax-return calculation or an opinion about an individual taxpayer’s eligibility.
IRS Residential Clean Energy CreditMDU Renewable / Solar Energy
↑ Back to Page Guide

Montana Home Sale, Easements, and Refinance

At Closing, Separate the Utility Account From the Debt and the Real-Estate Record

A NorthWestern Energy customer should check the generation-credit bank before a service transfer. NorthWestern states that an excess balance left when the agreement terminates or ownership changes is given to the utility with no payment to the customer. That account event is distinct from what a lender, lease owner, title company, or equipment warranty may require.

Montana property law also allows a solar easement protecting exposure to sunlight. The easement must be written and recorded in the same manner as other easements, and the statute specifies information the document must contain. Many rooftop projects will not involve one, but a title search that finds a solar easement should be handled as a real-estate record rather than a utility-billing issue.

A useful closing packet therefore has separate folders for debt, utility, equipment, and title. Assemble the payoff or assumption terms, UCC information, interconnection approval, current net-metering balance, warranties, permits, and any recorded solar easement early enough for the closing professionals to identify what must be cleared or transferred.

  • Current payoff statement or assumption packet
  • UCC search result
  • Electric-service transfer instructions
  • Generation-credit balance before transfer
  • Interconnection approval
  • Who owns the panels and inverter
  • Warranty-transfer procedure
  • Permit and inspection file
  • Recorded solar easement, when present
  • Title-company conditions
  • Roof-removal / reinstall terms
  • Current service provider contacts
NorthWestern Energy Net MeteringMCA 70-17-301: Solar EasementsMCA 70-17-302: Solar Easement Contents

Montana Installer or Lender Closure

A Company Closure Does Not Collapse Every Montana Solar Obligation Into One File

If a Montana installer closes, the loan, lease, PPA, utility interconnection, equipment warranty, and service obligations can remain with different entities. A company closure alone does not establish that a financing agreement or utility obligation has disappeared.

Build a party map before taking action. The installer may be gone while the lender or servicer remains active, the manufacturer still honors an equipment warranty, and the utility still has an interconnection agreement tied to the premises.

Preserve account portals, loan statements, warranty registrations, monitoring credentials, permit records, utility correspondence, DLI credential information, and any bankruptcy or servicing notices before access disappears. The Montana DOJ complaint process can also be relevant when a business becomes unreachable or a deceptive-practice concern exists.

  • Current lender or servicer
  • Original installer contract
  • Sales company and solar sales agent
  • Utility interconnection agreement
  • Net-metering account status
  • Equipment manufacturers
  • Warranty registrations
  • Monitoring credentials
  • Permit and inspection records
  • Current DLI and electrical credentials
  • Bankruptcy or closure notices actually received
  • Successor service company, if any
↑ Back to Page Guide

Montana Complaint Paths

Choose the Montana Venue by Who Controls the Problem

A single rooftop project can produce several different disputes. Use the sales regulator for sales conduct, the utility channel for regulated billing, DLI for contractor credentials, the Electrical Board for licensed electrical work, and a financial regulator for the credit account.

Solar solicitation, rescission disclosure, advertising, or business-practice concernMontana Department of Justice, Office of Consumer Protection

OCP’s complaint program covers categories that include door-to-door sales, advertising claims, construction matters, billing disputes, and contract disputes. Submit the dated contract and sales evidence that explains the Montana consumer issue.

Important: OCP reviews consumer-protection matters. The homeowner still needs to protect any deadline and obtain private counsel when a legal remedy or contract interpretation is needed.

Official Resource
NorthWestern Energy or MDU meter, bill, rate, or electric-service disputeMontana Public Service Commission Consumer Assistance

For a privately owned utility, try to resolve the issue with the utility first. If that effort fails, PSC Consumer Assistance can review matters that fall inside Commission jurisdiction.

Important: PSC authority is utility-specific and does not extend to the installer’s construction agreement or to a lender’s consumer-credit contract.

Official Resource
Cooperative or city-owned electric serviceLocal Electric Provider and Its Governing Body

Montana PSC materials exclude rural electric cooperatives and municipally owned utilities from Commission jurisdiction. Use the provider’s own customer process and, where applicable, its member-elected or municipal governing body.

Important: A NorthWestern or MDU tariff should not be imported into a cooperative or municipal dispute without a local rule supporting it.

Official Resource
Construction-contractor license or credential concernMontana Department of Labor and Industry

DLI administers the current Construction Contractor License Program. Use DLI licensing and complaint resources when a dispute involves the installer’s construction credential or regulated conduct.

Important: DLI credential action answers a regulatory question about the contractor. It does not calculate private damages or decide the electric utility account.

Official Resource
Electrical contractor or electrician credential / conduct issueMontana State Electrical Board

Use the Board’s licensing and complaint resources when the question concerns the electrical contractor, responsible electrician, or work that falls within the Board’s regulatory authority.

Important: Electrical licensure is one project layer. Financing, utility authorization, and the installer’s broader promises require separate review.

Official Resource
Consumer credit account, lender servicing, or solar-loan disclosure issueConsumer Financial Protection Bureau

A homeowner whose dispute centers on the loan account, servicing response, or a covered consumer-finance practice can use the CFPB complaint process and attach the executed credit documents.

Important: Keep the credit-account complaint distinct from a request for construction repair or a utility-billing correction.

Official Resource
Current Status

Regulated Utility Complaints Start With the Utility

PSC Consumer Assistance requires an attempt to resolve the matter with the regulated utility before the Commission assistance request.

Verify With Official Source
Current Status

Co-op and Municipal Accounts Use a Different Path

For those providers, consult the local utility’s process because Montana PSC jurisdiction excludes rural electric cooperatives and municipally owned utilities.

Verify With Official Source
Current Status

Preserve Deadlines Independently of Complaints

An agency filing is a record of a complaint. It should not be treated as a substitute for a contract notice, statutory rescission notice, court deadline, or professional advice.

Verify With Official Source
↑ Back to Page Guide

What We Review

Your Complete Solar Situation

  • Map the sales channel to MCA 30-14-165 and 30-14-166.
  • Test the transaction facts against Montana’s Personal Solicitation Sales Act.
  • Put the salesperson’s financing representations beside the executed loan disclosures.
  • Identify the customer’s January, April, July, or October net-metering reset.
  • Reconcile each monthly generation credit through the most recent annual settle-up.
  • Pull the exact tariff or local distributed-generation policy for the provider on the bill.
  • Request utility records from application through final authorization to operate.
  • Determine whether the account is actually enrolled in the program described at sale.
  • Check the installer’s current DLI construction-contractor license status.
  • Confirm the electrical contractor and responsible Montana electrician.
  • Create a dated record of inspections, incomplete work, and utility holds.
  • Recalculate the deal from cash price, financed principal, APR, and payment schedule.
  • Compare the represented federal benefit with the system’s placed-in-service evidence.
  • Match production complaints to any written output commitment or warranty.
  • Separate manufacturer, utility, lender, and installer responsibilities if a company disappears.
  • Prepare the utility balance, debt payoff, and title records before a property transfer.
  • Search for UCC filings or other security interests during closing or refinance.
  • Check title records for a solar easement when the property file references one.
  • Send each regulatory issue to the Montana agency or utility body with jurisdiction over it.
  • Escalate legal, tax, title, and financial questions to the appropriate licensed adviser.

Prepare the Record

Documents to Gather

  • Executed solar installation agreement
  • 2025 solar rescission disclosure / acknowledgment
  • Personal-solicitation cancellation form, when supplied
  • Email headers, certified-mail receipt, or other cancellation-delivery proof
  • Complete consumer credit agreement and payment schedule
  • Cash-price quote and original solar proposal
  • Worksheet showing the represented federal tax benefit
  • Door-to-door salesperson identification and company information
  • Dated text messages, emails, advertisements, and call records
  • Pre-solar utility statements
  • Post-solar utility statements
  • Month-by-month excess-generation credit history
  • Annual settle-up selection or billing-cycle record
  • Monitoring export and production data
  • Utility interconnection application
  • Signed utility interconnection agreement
  • NorthWestern welcome letter or other operating authorization
  • Net-meter exchange / AMI configuration evidence
  • Applicable utility tariff or cooperative distributed-generation policy
  • Module, inverter, and battery specifications
  • Local building and electrical permits
  • Inspection approvals or correction notices
  • Current DLI construction-contractor credential record
  • Electrical contractor and responsible-electrician verification
  • Manufacturer warranty registrations
  • Installer service tickets and repair history
  • Lender statements and transaction history
  • Payoff, assumption, UCC, refinance, or sale documents
  • Recorded solar easement found in property records

Montana Solar Contract FAQs

Questions Montana Homeowners Often Ask Before Trying to Exit or Challenge a Solar Deal

The answer often depends on the agreement, financing, timing, utility, project status, and specific facts.

Start My Free Review
Does Montana give homeowners three business days to cancel a solar contract?

There are two Montana statutes worth checking. The 2025 solar provision describes a three-business-day rescission right in a framework whose “solar sales agent” definition is based on door-to-door sales. A different Personal Solicitation Sales Act also provides three business days for qualifying transactions. Identify how the homeowner was contacted, where the deal was made, what notice was delivered, and whether an exception applies before relying on either statute.

MCA 30-14-165MCA 30-14-166MCA 30-14-504
What is the Montana net-metering system size limit?

The Montana statutory definition sets 50 kW as the maximum generating capacity for a net-metering system. It also requires qualifying generation to be at the customer-generator’s premises, run in parallel with the utility distribution system, and be intended mainly to offset that customer’s electricity needs. Interconnection rules can add provider-specific requirements.

MCA 69-8-103
What happens to unused Montana net-metering credits?

A surplus in one billing period becomes a kilowatt-hour credit on the next bill under MCA 69-8-603. The bank is not permanent. At the customer’s yearly reset, which uses a cycle beginning January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1, remaining credits from the prior 12 months go to the utility without compensation.

MCA 69-8-603NorthWestern Energy Net Metering
Do Montana electric cooperatives use the same rules as NorthWestern Energy?

Do not assume so. Montana’s Part 6 net-metering statute expressly excludes corporations organized under Title 35, chapter 18, and PSC consumer guidance says electric cooperatives are not under PSC rate authority. The cooperative’s own distributed-generation policy, rates, export rules, and board process are the documents to check.

MCA 69-8-605Montana PSC Consumer Information
Is installation enough to turn on a Montana solar system?

For NorthWestern Energy, no. The utility says activation waits for the required net-meter work and a welcome letter after the interconnection and inspection steps. MDU also directs grid-connected customers to notify the company and execute an interconnection agreement. Use the serving provider’s written authorization rather than the installer’s completion date as the operating checkpoint.

NorthWestern Energy Net MeteringMDU Renewable / Solar Energy
Is the 30% federal homeowner solar credit available for a Montana system placed in service in 2026?

The current IRS answer is no. Residential Clean Energy Credit eligibility ends for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. Because older examples can still appear on utility or installer materials, document what the salesperson used and confirm the actual project date. A tax professional should address the homeowner’s individual return.

IRS Residential Clean Energy CreditMDU Renewable / Solar Energy
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Start With the Montana Records

In Montana, the Sales Channel, Utility Name, and Annual Credit Cycle Can Change the Analysis

If the payment, electric bill, annual credit reset, cancellation paperwork, interconnection timeline, or contractor information does not match what you were told, gather the original proposal and rebuild the sequence. Solar Exit Montana can help organize the contract, financing, utility records, credit history, interconnection documents, contractor credentials, production, and home-sale paperwork so the next questions are easier to identify.

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Official and Primary Sources

Verify the Rules That Apply to Your Situation

These government, regulator, utility, and first-party resources support the state-specific information on this page.

Montana Code Annotated

Solar buyer, solar energy system, and door-to-door solar sales agent definitions enacted in 2025

Official Resource

Montana Code Annotated

Solar-specific three-business-day cancellation disclosure, rescission language, and prohibition on deceptive solar solicitations

Official Resource

Montana Code Annotated

Personal solicitation seller disclosures and identification requirements

Official Resource

Montana Code Annotated

Personal solicitation three-business-day cancellation framework

Official Resource

Montana Code Annotated

50 kW statutory definition and requirements for a net-metering system

Official Resource

Montana Code Annotated

Monthly excess-kWh credits and January, April, July, or October annual reset

Official Resource

Montana Code Annotated

Exclusion of Title 35, chapter 18 corporations from Part 6 net metering

Official Resource

Montana Code Annotated

Potential customer-generator classifications in public utility rate cases

Official Resource

Montana Code Annotated

Grandfathering tied to interconnection date if new customer-generator classifications are approved

Official Resource

NorthWestern Energy

Current Montana net-metering, annual settle-up, interconnection, net-meter, activation, and ownership-transfer guidance

Official Resource

NorthWestern Energy

Current Montana electric net-metering and small-generator interconnection rules

Official Resource

Montana-Dakota Utilities

Montana rooftop-solar net-metering and interconnection guidance

Official Resource

Montana-Dakota Utilities

Current Montana tariffs including Net Metering Service, Net Billing Option, and interconnection procedures

Official Resource

Montana Public Service Commission

Utility jurisdiction, including the distinction between privately owned utilities and electric cooperatives

Official Resource

Montana Public Service Commission

Consumer assistance process and excluded cooperative / municipal jurisdiction

Official Resource

Montana Department of Labor and Industry

2026 construction-contractor registration-to-license transition and current application process

Official Resource

Montana State Electrical Board

Electrical contractor licensing and responsible master electrician requirements

Official Resource

Montana Department of Justice, Office of Consumer Protection

Consumer complaints involving deceptive business practices, construction, and door-to-door sales

Official Resource

Internal Revenue Service

Current Residential Clean Energy Credit cutoff for property placed in service after December 31, 2025

Official Resource

State information reviewed August 21, 2026. Laws, regulations, incentive programs, utility policies, agency responsibilities, and solar billing rules may change. Homeowners should verify current requirements with the appropriate agency, utility, lender, tax professional, attorney, or licensed contractor.