Kansas' electricity prices average $0.12/kWh, below the national average of $0.14/kWh and down from last year.
Cost of a Solar Install
The average cost of a 5.5kW (equivalent to saving 120 trees a year) solar power system starts around $12,000 in Kansas. That system would pay for itself through energy savings within 6-7.3 years. System life can span well over 25 years, and savings will improve with inflation. One courld reasonably expect a net profit of over $20,000 for such a system over its life.
Kansas Solar Laws
After several attempts, the Kansas House of Representatives repealed the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) which had for 20% renewable electricity by 2020, and replaced it with a "voluntary goal” for that same 20% of peak demand. The voluntary goal was exceeded, thanks mainly to industrial wind farms across the state. Currently Kansas ranks 47th in the US for installed solar.
In 2019 the Kansas Corporation Commission adopted K.A.R. 82-17-1 through 82-17-5 to implement net-metering standards which include monthly fees added to the energy bills of homeowners with grid-tied solar power systems. In a rare upset the monthly fees were overturned by the state supreme court the following year. Kansas net metering laws require private utility companies to give homeowners full credit for grid-exported energy, but those credits generally expire after 12 months if unused. Rooftop solar installations are exempt from property tax, but sales tax still applies.
Because Kansas has no state-level interconnection policy, requirements vary by utility.
