Solar by state
Solar in South Dakota, by the numbers
Utilities and their rates, adoption, ten years of growth, batteries, ownership, state rules and installer licensing in South Dakota, from federal 2024 data.
South Dakota in brief
0.11% of South Dakota homes had rooftop solar in 2024, the 4th-lowest of 51 (3.55% nationally). Power cost 12.86¢/kWh, below the national 16.48¢, and the average system was 7.75 kW. Northern States Power Company - Minnesota serves 21.3% of homes.
Where does South Dakota stand out?
The four measures, beyond price and adoption, on which South Dakota sits furthest from the middle of the ranking.
South Dakota solar in numbers, 2024
Every South Dakota figure next to the national one, with its place in the ranking (highest first, out of the jurisdictions reporting it).
| Measure | South Dakota | United States | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with a metered rooftop system | 0.11% | 3.55% | 4th-lowest of 51 |
| Rooftop systems counted | 469 | 5,077,543 | 4th-lowest of 51 |
| Average system size | 7.75 kW | 6.74 kW | 16th-highest of 51 |
| Residential price | 12.86¢/kWh | 16.48¢/kWh | 13th-lowest of 51 |
| Average monthly bill | $127.81 | $142.26 | 18th-lowest of 51 |
| Use per home | 11,925 kWh/yr | 10,359 kWh/yr | 18th-highest of 51 |
| Systems with a battery | 0.00% | 5.86% | 2nd-lowest of 47 |
| Leased or on a PPA | Not reported | 29.1% | No figure |
| Growth in systems, five years | 51.9% a year | — | 5th-highest of 51 |
| Minutes without power per customer | 86 | 297 (median state) | 3rd-lowest of 51 |
| Homes on a time-varying rate | 2.8% | 11.1% | 19th-highest of 51 |
| Installed rooftop capacity | 3.6 MW | 34,226 MW | — |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. The South Dakota ratios and ranks are HyreSolar calculations from EIA inputs.
Which utility serves South Dakota, and what does it charge?
The 8 largest utilities selling to South Dakota 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern States Power Company - Minnesota | Investor-owned | 92,204 (21.3%) | 13.87¢ | 745 kWh | None reported |
| Black Hills Power | Investor-owned | 60,951 (14.1%) | 14.37¢ | 767 kWh | 215 (0.35%) |
| NorthWestern Energy | Investor-owned | 51,467 (11.9%) | 12.56¢ | 903 kWh | None reported |
| Sioux Valley SW Electric Co-op | Co-op | 22,213 (5.1%) | 12.94¢ | 1,239 kWh | 26 (0.12%) |
| Southeastern Electric Co-op Inc | Co-op | 20,160 (4.7%) | 12.41¢ | 1,128 kWh | 14 (0.07%) |
| West River Electric Association | Co-op | 18,423 (4.3%) | 14.25¢ | 897 kWh | 135 (0.73%) |
| Watertown Municipal Utilities | Municipal | 11,633 (2.7%) | 9.30¢ | 856 kWh | None reported |
| City of Brookings | Municipal | 10,544 (2.4%) | 11.12¢ | 807 kWh | None reported |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 2024, Sales to Ultimate Customers and Net Metering, utility level, retrieved 5 October 2026. Shares are of 433,548 South Dakota residential accounts. Each South Dakota 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 South Dakota utility figures mean for a solar quote?
EIA-861 lists 20 utilities serving homes in South Dakota in 2024, across 433,548 residential accounts. The three largest, Northern States Power Company - Minnesota, Black Hills Power and NorthWestern Energy, served 47.2% of those homes. By ownership: investor-owned utilities 51.7%, electric cooperatives 20.8%, small utilities EIA counts as a group 19.8% and municipal utilities 7.4%.
All 433,548 South Dakota residential accounts bought energy from the utility that delivers it; EIA counted none on a competitive supplier. So a South Dakota utility’s own tariff sets both the price you avoid and the credit for what you export.
Northern States Power Company - Minnesota, the largest, served 92,204 South Dakota homes (21.3%). Its full-service residential customers paid 13.87¢ per kWh, above the South Dakota average of 12.86¢, and used 745 kWh a month on average.
EIA-861 lists no net-metered residential systems for Northern States Power Company - Minnesota in 2024, so ask it in writing how exported power is credited before sizing a system.
Among the 14 South Dakota utilities with at least 5,000 residential customers and a full-service price, the price ran from 9.30¢ at Watertown Municipal Utilities to 14.76¢ at Black Hills Electric Co-op. At the South Dakota average of 11,925 kWh a year, that 5.46¢ gap is worth about $651 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 12.86¢ South Dakota average.
Rooftop solar is concentrated: Black Hills Power alone accounts for 215 net-metered residential systems, about 46% of the 469 counted in South Dakota, and 5 South Dakota utilities reported any at all. The highest adoption among the larger utilities was at West River Electric Association, where 0.73% of homes had a system.
What does power cost in South Dakota, and why does it matter?
Residential electricity in South Dakota averaged 12.86¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, the 13th-lowest of 51 and below the national 16.48¢. Retail power in South Dakota is cheaper than in 38 of the other 50 jurisdictions. Each kilowatt-hour a system avoids is worth less, which lengthens payback.
The average South Dakota household bill was $127.81 a month ($1,534 a year), the 18th-lowest of 51, against $142.26 nationally. That $1,534 is the ceiling on what solar could save a typical South Dakota home, before fixed monthly charges.
Only 2.8% of South Dakota homes were on a time-varying rate in 2024 (11.1% nationally), so a flat rate is the likely starting point. 78.5% of South Dakota residential meters were smart meters (83.8% nationally), and a time-varying rate needs one. How time-of-use changes solar.
How many South Dakota homes have solar?
South Dakota had 469 rooftop systems on net metering in 2024, across 433,548 residential accounts: 0.11% of homes, the 4th-lowest of 51. South Dakota is one of the least developed rooftop markets in the country. Expect few local installers and a permit office with little solar experience, and allow time for both.
The South Dakota market counted 165 more systems in 2024 than in 2023 and has grown 51.9% a year over five years, the 5th-highest of 51. Where growth has turned nationally.
How has South Dakota solar changed since 2014?
South Dakota counted 12 net-metered rooftop systems in 2014 and 469 in 2024, 39.1 times as many. The share of homes with one moved from under 0.01% to 0.11%. The biggest one-year addition came in 2023, with 181 more systems than the year before.
| Year | Rooftop systems | Share of homes | Average size | Residential price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 12 | under 0.01% | 5.5 kW | 10.47¢ |
| 2016 | 27 | 0.01% | 6.3 kW | 11.47¢ |
| 2018 | 42 | 0.01% | 6.9 kW | 11.59¢ |
| 2020 | 75 | 0.02% | 7.1 kW | 11.75¢ |
| 2022 | 123 | 0.03% | 8.0 kW | 12.09¢ |
| 2024 | 469 | 0.11% | 7.8 kW | 12.86¢ |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 annual files 2014–2024, net-metered residential systems, retrieved 2 September 2026. South Dakota shares and sizes are HyreSolar calculations.
What does the South Dakota trend mean for a savings estimate?
Over the same years the South Dakota residential price went from 10.47¢ to 12.86¢ per kWh, up 23%, and the average system from 5.5 kW to 7.8 kW. With South Dakota prices up 23% across ten years, a savings estimate that assumes steep yearly rate rises is assuming more than this record shows.
How big is a typical South Dakota system?
The average South Dakota system was 7.75 kW in 2024, the 16th-highest of 51, against 6.74 kW nationally. South Dakota homes used 11,925 kilowatt-hours a year each, the 18th-highest of 51.
A South Dakota home using 11,925 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 South Dakota?
Form EIA-861 reports no third-party-ownership split for the 469 systems counted in South Dakota in 2024, so we publish none rather than infer one.
Ask any South Dakota company in writing whether it is selling you the system or a lease or power purchase agreement; the owner of a South Dakota system is the one who claims any tax credit.
Do South Dakota homes add batteries?
In South Dakota, 0.00% of solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024, the 2nd-lowest of 47. South Dakota’s share is well under half the national 5.86%.
On reliability, the average South Dakota customer went 86 minutes without power in 2024 counting major storms, and 62 minutes without them. The median state saw 297. Outages in every state.
Whether a battery pays in South Dakota 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 South Dakota?
We found no dedicated state register for solar work in South Dakota, 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 469 systems in South Dakota, 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 South Dakota on adoption?
The six jurisdictions nearest to South Dakota’s 0.11% share of homes with rooftop solar.
Where do the South Dakota numbers come from?
The South Dakota figures are HyreSolar calculations from the Form EIA-861 annual files: 469 net-metered residential systems counted against 433,548 residential accounts, sizes as means, and 20 utility-level rows for the utility table, matched to net-metering records by EIA utility number.
The method and limits cover all 51; the South Dakota row is in the data as a CSV.
No South Dakota 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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