South Dakota

Famous for Mount Rushmore, great farmland, and the Sturgis biker rallies, South Dakota has unfortunately been lagging behind its neighbors in terms of promoting renewable energy. The current political atmosphere favors promoting biofuel and ethanol, which may be great for vehicles, but does not help homeowners much. If solar power is going to flourish in South Dakota, you may have to bring it to the attention of your state’s government. Remember to mention that South Dakota has a solar rating of “Good”, so your state would be an ideal place to watch clean energy grow.

Currently, no official net metering programs are in place in South Dakota, so if you have a solar energy system installed, you may want to contact your local utilities company to see if you can work out an arrangement with them. There are some sales and property tax exemptions available for wind power systems, but for fans of solar power, your only real incentive is the single tax incentive available for photovoltaic and solar heating systems. The increase in your property value from installing a photovoltaic system is tax-exempt, and you can save over $800 a year in utilities, so even with a scarcity of perks, most systems will pay for themselves within 30 years.

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