Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte vetoed a bill to establish a community solar program in the state. Community solar enables ratepayers could participate in clean energy regardless of whether they are renters or homeowners or are able to put solar panels on their roof.
The Montana Solar Shares Act would have allowed solar developers to build solar arrays between 50 kW and 5 MW, and sell shares of the electricity generated to subscribers, which would be used as credits on their electricity bill. The program’s subscribers also would have had the option to assign their portion of generated electricity to a nonprofit or a public utility’s low-income energy share program. Though the utilities’ lobbyists argued that the bill would force people into the programs, community solar in actuality is a subscription-based service and ratepayers have to sign up.
Montana currently allows its electric cooperatives to have community solar programs. The bill, however, would have opened up the opportunity to consumers in the state’s investor-owned utilities NorthWestern Energy and Montana-Dakota Utilities.
Using the same phrases as for other legislation he vetoed, Gov. Gianforte, said in his veto statement that “without clear statutory guidelines and guardrails” the Public Service Commission (PSC) members might allow excessive credit rates, imposing unreasonable costs on ratepayers.
The Montana Renewable Energy Association and the Coalition for Community Solar Access issued a joint statement that said the governor chose to disregard the industry’s direct commitments to ensuring the program was responsibly implemented at the Public Service Commission.
“In a formal letter to the PSC, the developer community voluntarily outlined clear guardrails for the program—including support for cost containment and a pledge to advocate for solely economic considerations in future rulemakings,” it said. “These proactive steps were designed specifically to address concerns about PSC authority and potential cost impacts.”
After the bill was amended to require solar project owners to pay connection costs to NorthWestern Energy or Montana-Dakota Utilities, it passed the legislature 46–4, with 28 Republicans and 18 Democrats voting in favor, and four Republicans voting against it.
During testimony, NorthWestern Energy and Montana-Dakota Utilities were the only ones opposed to the to the bill. More than 20 residents and organizations testified in support.
Montana Conservation Voters said in a statement that the bill continues a troubling pattern of siding with “powerful interests over the needs and will of everyday Montanans.”
Legislators have tried to pass community solar in Montana for years, all of which NorthWestern lobbied against each time. Sen. Chris Pope, the bill’s sponsor, introduced similar legislation last year, but the bill was almost immediately tabled.
While this year’s legislation may die depending on whether the Legislator decides to override the veto, the bills arrival at the governor’s desk is stark progress compared to one year ago, which never made it even the first vote.
The bill’s passage through a Republican-controlled Legislature also captures a trend of GOP-backed community solar in other states.
(Also read: Why Pennsylvania’s efforts to legalize community solar might make a breakthrough)
Montana Conservation Voters said they “are already planning to bring these efforts forward again during the 2027 legislative session.”
Montana ranked 43rd in the country for installed solar capacity, with 321 MW installed as of Q4 2024, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Legislators also discussed community solar bills this session in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania. Read about other solar-related bills state lawmakers debated this legislative session here.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.