Nashville Electric Service NESolar: tiers, fees and insurance

How the size is measured

the direct current nameplate rating in kW, applied with no conversion factor. The NESolar Savings participation requirement is written as a solar installation with a direct current nameplate rating of 250 kW or less, and the application form’s only capacity field is system rating in kW DC. This is the opposite of what an installer trained on AC expects: a 250 kW DC array at 190 kW AC qualifies, and a 250 kW AC array at 260 kW DC does not.

Size bands and what each one obliges

NESolar Savings, up to 250 kW DC Size 0 to 250 kW	Nashville Electric Service buys only the excess. Published rates are 3.069 cents per kWh in summer, 3.197 in winter and 3.244 in the transition months, each plus the Tennessee Valley Authority total monthly fuel cost. The application and engineering review charge is $375 residential or $600 commercial at or below 500 kW, non refundable, plus $9 per month for the interconnection. $375 residential or $600 commercial non refundable application and engineering review charge $9 per month renewable installation interconnection charge NABCEP achievement level and total system cost on the application Application no later than 60 days before any new power production
NESolar Connect, 200 kW minimum for solar, line side connected Size 250.001 to 20000 kW	Whole output purchase on a line side connection, at 7.363 cents per kWh in summer, 4.459 in winter and 5.682 in the transition months, each plus the total monthly fuel cost. The application charge rises to $700 for all customers above 500 kW. A facilities study is required for any system above 500 kW at customer cost. $700 non refundable application and engineering review charge above 500 kW $9 per month interconnection charge, plus $20 per month if on the dispersed power production program Facilities study above 500 kW at customer cost Line side connection

NESolar Savings, up to 250 kW DC Size 0 to 250 kW

Nashville Electric Service buys only the excess. Published rates are 3.069 cents per kWh in summer, 3.197 in winter and 3.244 in the transition months, each plus the Tennessee Valley Authority total monthly fuel cost. The application and engineering review charge is $375 residential or $600 commercial at or below 500 kW, non refundable, plus $9 per month for the interconnection.

$375 residential or $600 commercial non refundable application and engineering review charge
$9 per month renewable installation interconnection charge
NABCEP achievement level and total system cost on the application
Application no later than 60 days before any new power production

NESolar Connect, 200 kW minimum for solar, line side connected Size 250.001 to 20000 kW

Whole output purchase on a line side connection, at 7.363 cents per kWh in summer, 4.459 in winter and 5.682 in the transition months, each plus the total monthly fuel cost. The application charge rises to $700 for all customers above 500 kW. A facilities study is required for any system above 500 kW at customer cost.

$700 non refundable application and engineering review charge above 500 kW
$9 per month interconnection charge, plus $20 per month if on the dispersed power production program
Facilities study above 500 kW at customer cost
Line side connection

The screens that decide it

Within 100 percent of annual usage for NESolar Savings Limit 250 kW.
Energy delivered to and purchased by Nashville Electric Service may not exceed 100 percent of the participant’s annual electrical usage, aggregated across all billing meters on contiguous property. There is also a floor: a minimum of 50 kWh average monthly excess generation is required, so a system sized tight to load may not qualify at all. The primary purpose must be to serve the premises load rather than to sell energy.
Below the 50 kW point where extra engineering documentation begins Limit 50 kW.
Above 50 kW the application must show interlocks and the method of disconnecting from the utility source on loss of supply, and AutoCAD files in state plane coordinates are required.

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

How much of the program cap remains? NESolar Connect has a 35 MW maximum and NESolar Savings a 10 MW maximum, both first come first served, and Nashville Electric Service publishes no subscription counter. Confirm remaining capacity before contracting.
Is the NESolar Connect 200 kW minimum measured in AC or DC? That clause says only nameplate and never qualifies it, while the NESolar Savings limit is expressly DC.
What insurance does the interconnection and operating agreement require? None appears in the program documents, but that agreement was not published.
How long will review and permission to operate take? No interval of any kind is published.

Worth knowing before you quote

There is no net metering, and no published screens of any kind: no fifteen percent test, no minimum load test, no hosting capacity screen. Nashville Electric Service reserves the right at its sole discretion and at customer cost to require a facilities study, a flexibility device kit, a system impact study or a transmission screen, and may reject any resource in whole or in part if it judges there is a safety risk or adverse impact. Non export is handled as a condition rather than a program: participants must purchase equipment on request to prevent generation flowing to the grid. A customer crediting more than $400 per month must register for Tennessee sales tax and hold a resale certificate. The placard must be sunlight proof and weatherproof, screwed or riveted rather than stuck, and within line of sight of the utility solar disconnect. Time differentiated demand rate commercial customers need a separate commercial account. Nashville Electric Service advises the customer and contractor not to purchase or install any equipment until written approval is given.

Source

Nashville Electric Service NESolar Connect and NESolar Savings Guidelines effective October 2024, with the Application for Interconnection of Renewable Generation and the Schedule of Fees and Charges modified March 2021

Read and recorded 2026-09-12. Publicly owned utility, outside its state's interconnection rule. Its own published documents govern. Tennessee has no statewide interconnection standard. Nashville Electric Service is a local power company buying wholesale from the Tennessee Valley Authority, and there is no net metering.

All Tennessee 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