What does Level 1 mean in Michigan?

A certified project of 20 kWac or less. The simplified track fee, together with any net metering or distributed generation program application fee, may not exceed fifty dollars in total. The utility may not require any additional liability insurance and may not require being named an additional insured.

What does Level 2 mean in Michigan?

A certified project greater than 20 kWac and not more than 150 kWac. The same fee ceiling and the same insurance prohibition apply as at Level 1.

What was this customer electricity consumption over the previous twelve months? Michigan limits export to 100 percent of it, and a storage device must be configured to prevent export of stored electricity to the distribution system.

Only the utility holds this figure. Ask before you quote the job.

Is the equipment certified? Certification status rather than size alone sets the review level in Michigan, and an uncertified small system falls to Level 3 with a million dollar insurance requirement.

Only the utility holds this figure. Ask before you quote the job.

Michigan solar interconnection rules, tiers and fees

How the size is measured

nameplate capacity: the maximum active power in kWac or MWac at which a distributed energy resource is capable of sustained operation, where kWac means the electric power in kilowatts associated with the alternating current output at unity power factor. This is the most precise alternating current definition found in the region.

Size bands and what each one obliges

Level 1 Size 0 to 20 kW	A certified project of 20 kWac or less. The simplified track fee, together with any net metering or distributed generation program application fee, may not exceed fifty dollars in total. The utility may not require any additional liability insurance and may not require being named an additional insured. Total fee no more than $50 Certified equipment No additional liability insurance
Level 2 Size 20.001 to 150 kW	A certified project greater than 20 kWac and not more than 150 kWac. The same fee ceiling and the same insurance prohibition apply as at Level 1. Total fee no more than $50 Certified equipment No additional liability insurance
Level 3 Size 150.001 to 550 kW	A project of 150 kWac or less that is not certified, or a project greater than 150 kWac and not more than 550 kWac. General liability insurance of a minimum of $1,000,000 is required. Note that certification status rather than size alone sets the level, so an uncertified eight kilowatt residential system is a Level 3 project carrying the million dollar requirement. $1,000,000 general liability insurance Fast track fee of $100 plus $1 per kWac certified or $2 per kWac uncertified
Level 4 Size 550.001 to 1000 kW	Greater than 550 kWac and not more than 1 MWac. General liability insurance of $2,000,000 is required. $2,000,000 general liability insurance
Level 5 Size 1000.001 kW and above	Greater than 1 MWac. General liability insurance of $3,000,000 is required. System impact and facilities studies are capped at $30,000 each. $3,000,000 general liability insurance Studies capped at $30,000 each

The screens that decide it

Within the 150 kWac eligible electric generator limit Limit 150 kW.
The distributed generation program limits an eligible electric generator to 150 kWac of aggregate generation at a single site for a renewable energy system, and 550 kWac for a methane digester. Above that the interconnection right survives but the program does not.
Aggregate generation under 15 percent of line section annual peak load 15 percent of line section peak load, a figure only the utility holds.
Michigan applies the classic 15 percent line section screen, measured or calculated where measured data is unavailable, and allows the utility to consider 100 percent of applicable loading instead where that is available. A network protector is separately limited to the smaller of 5 percent of network maximum load or 50 kWac.

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

What was this customer electricity consumption over the previous twelve months? Michigan limits export to 100 percent of it, and a storage device must be configured to prevent export of stored electricity to the distribution system.
Is the equipment certified? Certification status rather than size alone sets the review level in Michigan, and an uncertified small system falls to Level 3 with a million dollar insurance requirement.
Have you filed fixed fees specific to level size? The published figures are initial caps only and each utility must file its own schedule once its procedures are approved.
How much of the distributed generation program cap remains on this utility?

Worth knowing before you quote

Michigan has a dedicated non export track for resources that will not inject into the distribution system, requiring an existing electrical service at the premises. Changing from a non exporting to an exporting system requires a new application. The program cap was raised from one percent to ten percent of average in state peak load over the preceding five calendar years, with not less than half reserved for generators of 20 kW or less. A pre application report fee may not exceed $300 and a fast track supplemental review may not exceed $5,000.

Utility programs we have read in Michigan

Lansing Board of Water and Light customer energy resources

Source

Michigan Administrative Code R 460.901a through R 460.992 interconnection standards and R 460.1001 through R 460.1026 distributed generation program, effective 25 April 2023

Read and recorded 2026-09-12. The 2023 rewrite replaced the old Category 1 to 5 scheme with Levels 1 to 5 and renumbered the rules. A document still using the R 460.601a numbering and Category names is the superseded 2009 standard and its thresholds and fees are wrong. Member regulated cooperatives are bound by the interconnection rules but not by the distributed generation program rules. Municipal utilities are outside both.

Solar and battery interconnection rules in Michigan

Size bands and what each one obliges

The screens that decide it

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

Worth knowing before you quote

Utility programs we have read in Michigan

What to do with this