Solar by state
Solar in Idaho, by the numbers
Utilities and their rates, adoption, ten years of growth, batteries, ownership, state rules and installer licensing in Idaho, from federal 2024 data.
Idaho in brief
2.64% of Idaho homes had rooftop solar in 2024, the 20th-highest of 51 (3.55% nationally). Power cost 11.52¢/kWh, below the national 16.48¢, and the average system was 6.5 kW. Idaho Power Company serves 60.6% of homes.
Where does Idaho stand out?
The four measures, beyond price and adoption, on which Idaho sits furthest from the middle of the ranking.
Idaho solar in numbers, 2024
Every Idaho figure next to the national one, with its place in the ranking (highest first, out of the jurisdictions reporting it).
| Measure | Idaho | United States | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with a metered rooftop system | 2.64% | 3.55% | 20th-highest of 51 |
| Rooftop systems counted | 22,899 | 5,077,543 | 26th-highest of 51 |
| Average system size | 6.5 kW | 6.74 kW | 13th-lowest of 51 |
| Residential price | 11.52¢/kWh | 16.48¢/kWh | 2nd-lowest of 51 |
| Average monthly bill | $108.73 | $142.26 | 6th-lowest of 51 |
| Use per home | 11,326 kWh/yr | 10,359 kWh/yr | 21st-highest of 51 |
| Systems with a battery | 2.03% | 5.86% | 20th-highest of 47 |
| Leased or on a PPA | 0.0% | 29.1% | 4th-lowest of 38 |
| Growth in systems, five years | 29.5% a year | — | 18th-highest of 51 |
| Minutes without power per customer | 204 | 297 (median state) | 17th-lowest of 51 |
| Homes on a time-varying rate | 1.3% | 11.1% | 23rd-lowest of 51 |
| Installed rooftop capacity | 148.8 MW | 34,226 MW | — |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. The Idaho ratios and ranks are HyreSolar calculations from EIA inputs.
Which utility serves Idaho, and what does it charge?
The 8 largest utilities selling to Idaho homes, by residential customers, with the price full-service customers paid and how many run net-metered solar.
| Utility | Type | Homes served | Price per kWh | Use per home, monthly | Net-metered systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho Power Company | Investor-owned | 525,751 (60.6%) | 11.76¢ | 916 kWh | 18,207 (3.5%) |
| Avista Corporation | Investor-owned | 128,226 (14.8%) | 11.62¢ | 881 kWh | 659 (0.51%) |
| PacifiCorp | Investor-owned | 74,170 (8.5%) | 12.11¢ | 899 kWh | 3,350 (4.5%) |
| Kootenai Electric Cooperative | Co-op | 30,378 (3.5%) | 12.21¢ | 1,131 kWh | 219 (0.72%) |
| City of Idaho Falls | Municipal | 28,142 (3.2%) | 9.25¢ | 951 kWh | 248 (0.88%) |
| Northern Lights | Co-op | 18,511 (2.1%) | 11.49¢ | 1,083 kWh | None reported |
| Fall River Rural Electric Co-op | Co-op | 15,433 (1.8%) | 11.11¢ | 1,166 kWh | 182 (1.2%) |
| United Electric Co-op, Inc | Co-op | 5,100 (0.59%) | 7.89¢ | 1,646 kWh | 26 (0.51%) |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 2024, Sales to Ultimate Customers and Net Metering, utility level, retrieved 5 October 2026. Shares are of 868,136 Idaho residential accounts. Each Idaho price is residential revenue divided by sales for full-service customers (HyreSolar calculation); a wires company’s price is its default-service price.
What do the Idaho utility figures mean for a solar quote?
EIA-861 lists 13 utilities serving homes in Idaho in 2024, across 868,136 residential accounts. The three largest, Idaho Power Company, Avista Corporation and PacifiCorp, served 83.9% of those homes. By ownership: investor-owned utilities 83.9%, electric cooperatives 8.9%, small utilities EIA counts as a group 4.0% and municipal utilities 3.2%.
All 868,136 Idaho residential accounts bought energy from the utility that delivers it; EIA counted none on a competitive supplier. So a Idaho utility’s own tariff sets both the price you avoid and the credit for what you export.
Idaho Power Company, the largest, served 525,751 Idaho homes (60.6%). Its full-service residential customers paid 11.76¢ per kWh, above the Idaho average of 11.52¢, and used 916 kWh a month on average. 18,207 of its customers ran net-metered rooftop solar, 3.5% of its homes against 2.64% statewide.
Among the 8 Idaho utilities with at least 5,000 residential customers and a full-service price, the price ran from 7.89¢ at United Electric Co-op, Inc to 12.21¢ at Kootenai Electric Cooperative.
At the Idaho average of 11,326 kWh a year, that 4.32¢ gap is worth about $489 a year (our arithmetic), so the same system offsets more money in one territory than the other.
Price a quote on your own utility’s rate, not the 11.52¢ Idaho average.
Rooftop solar is concentrated: Idaho Power Company alone accounts for 18,207 net-metered residential systems, about 80% of the 22,899 counted in Idaho, and 9 Idaho utilities reported any at all. The highest adoption among the larger utilities was at PacifiCorp, where 4.5% of homes had a system.
What does power cost in Idaho, and why does it matter?
Residential electricity in Idaho averaged 11.52¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, the 2nd-lowest of 51 and below the national 16.48¢. That is one of the lowest residential prices in the country. Each avoided kilowatt-hour is worth little, which can stretch payback in Idaho whatever the sunshine.
The average Idaho household bill was $108.73 a month ($1,305 a year), the 6th-lowest of 51, against $142.26 nationally. That $1,305 is the ceiling on what solar could save a typical Idaho home, before fixed monthly charges.
Only 1.3% of Idaho homes were on a time-varying rate in 2024 (11.1% nationally), so a flat rate is the likely starting point. 81.3% of Idaho residential meters were smart meters (83.8% nationally), and a time-varying rate needs one. How time-of-use changes solar.
How many Idaho homes have solar?
Idaho had 22,899 rooftop systems on net metering in 2024, across 868,141 residential accounts: 2.64% of homes, the 20th-highest of 51. Adoption in Idaho sits above the middle of the 51, so there is a working installer market to choose between.
The Idaho market counted 2,631 more systems in 2024 than in 2023 and has grown 29.5% a year over five years, the 18th-highest of 51. Where growth has turned nationally.
How has Idaho solar changed since 2014?
Idaho counted 439 net-metered rooftop systems in 2014 and 22,899 in 2024, 52.2 times as many. The share of homes with one moved from 0.06% to 2.64%. The biggest one-year addition came in 2022, with 5,073 more systems than the year before.
| Year | Rooftop systems | Share of homes | Average size | Residential price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 439 | 0.06% | 4.3 kW | 9.72¢ |
| 2016 | 1,065 | 0.15% | 5.8 kW | 9.95¢ |
| 2018 | 3,801 | 0.51% | 5.8 kW | 10.15¢ |
| 2020 | 8,140 | 1.04% | 6.1 kW | 9.95¢ |
| 2022 | 15,949 | 1.93% | 6.3 kW | 10.37¢ |
| 2024 | 22,899 | 2.64% | 6.5 kW | 11.52¢ |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 annual files 2014–2024, net-metered residential systems, retrieved 2 September 2026. Idaho shares and sizes are HyreSolar calculations.
What does the Idaho trend mean for a savings estimate?
Over the same years the Idaho residential price went from 9.72¢ to 11.52¢ per kWh, up 19%, and the average system from 4.3 kW to 6.5 kW. With Idaho prices up 19% across ten years, a savings estimate that assumes steep yearly rate rises is assuming more than this record shows.
How big is a typical Idaho system?
The average Idaho system was 6.5 kW in 2024, the 13th-lowest of 51, against 6.74 kW nationally. Idaho homes used 11,326 kilowatt-hours a year each, the 21st-highest of 51.
A Idaho home using 11,326 kWh is an average, not a design input: size from your own twelve months of bills and usable roof with cost by system size and the system size calculator.
Who owns the systems in Idaho?
In Idaho, 0.0% of systems were third-party owned in 2024: leased, or on a power purchase agreement (PPA), rather than owned by the household. That is the 4th-lowest of 38, against 29.1% nationally.
Nearly every Idaho system is owned by the household. A lease or power purchase agreement would be unusual here, which is a reason to read one closely. Whoever owns a Idaho system claims any tax credit on it: Section 48E explained.
Do Idaho homes add batteries?
In Idaho, 2.03% of solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024 (465 systems), the 20th-highest of 47. Idaho’s share is well under half the national 5.86%.
On reliability, the average Idaho customer went 204 minutes without power in 2024 counting major storms, and 153 minutes without them. The median state saw 297. Outages in every state.
Whether a battery pays in Idaho turns on your utility’s export credit and your own outage history: what a home battery does.
How do you check a solar company’s license in Idaho?
We found no dedicated state register for solar work in Idaho, so we publish no company counts. That is not evidence of light regulation: electrical work can be licensed at state or local level even where solar is never named.
With 22,899 systems in Idaho, the company quoting you may be based out of state. Ask which license it holds, in which state, and confirm it with that authority. What to do when the search comes back empty.
Which states are closest to Idaho on adoption?
The six jurisdictions nearest to Idaho’s 2.64% share of homes with rooftop solar.
Where do the Idaho numbers come from?
The Idaho figures are HyreSolar calculations from the Form EIA-861 annual files: 22,899 net-metered residential systems counted against 868,141 residential accounts, sizes as means, and 13 utility-level rows for the utility table, matched to net-metering records by EIA utility number.
The method and limits cover all 51; the Idaho row is in the data as a CSV.
No Idaho figure here is an estimate for one home: your roof, usage, utility tariff and tax position decide that.
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Questions
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Do Idaho homeowners add batteries to solar?
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