City Utilities of Springfield electric interconnection and net metering: tiers, fees and insurance

How the size is measured

the manufacturer nameplate AC power rating in kW, aggregated across one or more sources at a single service point of interconnection. The policy calls the governing quantity accredited capacity and defines it as the rating City Utilities gives generating equipment under its own criteria, which is a real and unquantified discretion; the application form is where the AC basis appears.

Size bands and what each one obliges

10 kW or less Size 0 to 10 kW	No insurance is required at this size and the annual anti islanding self test is waived. The published response time is 30 calendar days rather than 90. No application fee or study deposit is published. Post installation inspection by a Missouri registered professional engineer or a Springfield licensed electrician One lockable visible disconnect, satisfied by an inverter with an integral visible lockable accessible disconnect
Over 10 kW through 100 kW Size 10.001 to 100 kW	Liability insurance of no less than $100,000 is required, which may be an existing policy or an endorsement on one. The customer must conduct an anti islanding test at least once a year and retain the records; failing to produce them within 30 days of a request allows immediate disconnection. The published response time is 90 calendar days. $100,000 liability insurance Annual anti islanding test with records retained Post installation inspection by a Missouri registered professional engineer or a Springfield licensed electrician
Over 100 kW Size 100.001 to 20000 kW	There is no netting at all above 100 kW: all site energy is totalized and billed at retail, with generation credited separately at the avoided variable cost. A 50 percent advance payment on estimated reinforcement costs is required, with the balance amortizable over the contract term. A power factor of not less than 85 percent lagging must be maintained at the meter. 50 percent advance payment on estimated reinforcement costs $100,000 liability insurance 85 percent lagging power factor at the meter

10 kW or less Size 0 to 10 kW

No insurance is required at this size and the annual anti islanding self test is waived. The published response time is 30 calendar days rather than 90. No application fee or study deposit is published.

Post installation inspection by a Missouri registered professional engineer or a Springfield licensed electrician
One lockable visible disconnect, satisfied by an inverter with an integral visible lockable accessible disconnect

Over 10 kW through 100 kW Size 10.001 to 100 kW

Liability insurance of no less than $100,000 is required, which may be an existing policy or an endorsement on one. The customer must conduct an anti islanding test at least once a year and retain the records; failing to produce them within 30 days of a request allows immediate disconnection. The published response time is 90 calendar days.

$100,000 liability insurance
Annual anti islanding test with records retained
Post installation inspection by a Missouri registered professional engineer or a Springfield licensed electrician

Over 100 kW Size 100.001 to 20000 kW

There is no netting at all above 100 kW: all site energy is totalized and billed at retail, with generation credited separately at the avoided variable cost. A 50 percent advance payment on estimated reinforcement costs is required, with the balance amortizable over the contract term. A power factor of not less than 85 percent lagging must be maintained at the meter.

50 percent advance payment on estimated reinforcement costs
$100,000 liability insurance
85 percent lagging power factor at the meter

The screens that decide it

Within the 100 kW net metering ceiling Limit 100 kW.
Netting is available only at 100 kW or less of accredited capacity. Above it the customer is billed on total consumption at retail with generation credited at avoided cost, which is a materially different savings model.
Program capacity remaining, which is not published
City Utilities is not required to enter into new agreements once cumulative qualifying capacity reaches 5 percent of the previous year’s single hour peak load, or once capacity approved during the current calendar year reaches 1 percent of it. The second trigger resets every January, so a job blocked in November may clear six weeks later. Neither utilization figure is published, so this must be confirmed before signing a customer.

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

Has either aggregate cap been reached, the 5 percent cumulative or the 1 percent annual? Neither utilization figure is published anywhere.
How will City Utilities accredit this equipment? Accredited capacity is defined by City Utilities’ own criteria including reliability, availability and equipment type, and that discretion is not quantified.
What is the current avoided variable cost of generation? It is recomputed semiannually for April to September and October to March.

Worth knowing before you quote

No fifteen percent screen and no minimum load test are published; the policy instead reserves the right to evaluate each facility case by case. Within a billing period netting is one for one, but only the monthly surplus drops to avoided cost and the customer is still billed the customer charge on the applicable rate schedule. The utility asks to be notified before the customer purchases any equipment. A system designed to provide uninterruptible power to critical loads through storage or backup generation must include a parallel blocking scheme preventing backflow when the grid is down. Interconnection is normally completed within 30 calendar days of approval where service already exists.

Source

City Utilities of Springfield Missouri Policy 5.02 Electric Interconnection and Net Metering, revised 30 November 2017, with Rate Sheet 21 Net Metering Avoided Variable Cost of Generation effective January 2016

Read and recorded 2026-09-12. Municipal or public power utility, outside its state's interconnection rule. Its own published documents govern. A Missouri municipal utility. City Utilities owns its generation, so the buyback is its own avoided cost rather than a joint action constraint.

All Missouri interconnection rules

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

What to do with this