KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to Tennessee

SB1124 • 2026

Consumer Protection

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 6; Title 7; Title 9; Title 13; Title 47; Title 65 and Title 66, relative to net metering credits.

Energy
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Southerland
Last action
2025-02-12
Official status
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text does not explicitly mention adding new sections to existing consumer protection laws, only that violations are considered unfair business practices under Tennessee law.

Solar Energy System Sales and Installations

This bill requires companies selling or installing solar energy systems to provide proof of a net metering program from the local utility before making an agreement with customers.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires companies offering to sell or install solar energy systems to show written evidence that the local utility has a net metering program for the area where the system will be installed.
  • The proof must include details about how the net metering program works, fees involved, and credit rates.
  • Violations of this requirement are considered unfair business practices under Tennessee law.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Companies that sell or install solar energy systems
  • Customers interested in purchasing or installing a solar energy system

Terms To Know

Net metering credit
A billing mechanism where the utility credits a customer for electricity generated by their solar panels and fed back into the grid.
Solar energy system
Any device or structure that collects, converts, and stores solar energy for useful purposes like heating, cooling buildings, or producing power.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if a utility does not offer net metering credits.
  • It is unclear how this law will be enforced or the penalties for non-compliance.

Bill History

  1. Date Tennessee General Assembly

  2. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

  3. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  4. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Abstract summarizes the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
<BillNo> <Sponsor>

SENATE BILL 1124
By Southerland

SB1124
000500
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4;
Title 6; Title 7; Title 9; Title 13; Title 47; Title 65
and Title 66, relative to net metering credits.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 47, Chapter 18, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
47-18-136.
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Company" means a for-profit or not-for-profit organization,
association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited
liability partnership, limited liability company, or other entity or business
association, including all wholly owned subsidiaries, majority-owned subsidiaries,
parent companies, or affiliates of those entities or business associations;
(2) "Net metering credit" means a billing mechanism that credits a solar
energy system owner or user for the electricity or energy the solar energy system
adds to the utility grid;
(3) "Solar energy system" or "system" means a device, mechanism,
structure, apparatus, or part thereof, whose primary purpose is to collect solar
energy and convert and store it for useful purposes, including heating and
cooling buildings or other energy saving processes, or to produce generated
power by means of any combination of collecting, transferring, or converting
solar-generated energy; and
(4) "Utility" means:

- 2 - 000500

(A) A public utility, as defined under § 65-4-101, that provides
electricity;
(B) A municipal or county-owned utility that provides electricity; or
(C) A cooperative, as defined under § 65-25-102.
(b) A company offering to sell or install a solar energy system must provide
written proof that the utility serving the area where the system is to be installed has a net
metering program or otherwise offers net metering credits to an owner or user of a
system before the company enters into an agreement to sell or install the system. The
written proof required by this subsection (b) must include:
(1) A description of how the net metering program works, including the
requirements to participate; applicable fees related to participation; and the
general or anticipated buyback or crediting rate; and
(2) A notarized signature or document from the utility verifying that the
utility has a net metering program or otherwise offers net metering credits to an
owner or user of a solar energy system in the area in which the system is to be
installed.
(c) A violation of subsection (b) constitutes a violation of this part as an unfair or
deceptive act or practice affecting the conduct of trade or commerce, and is subject to
the penalties and remedies as provided by this part. Each act in violation of subsection
(b) constitutes a separate violation of this part.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 47-18-104(b), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
( ) Violating § 47-18-136;
SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to agreements entered into or modified on or after that date.