# Utilities Configuring your utility companies correctly is essential to providing accurate quotes. Your company can configure as many Utility Companies as you need to select from when creating quotes. Quotes you create can also have their utility company modified without affecting other quotes, or the utility company record that is being used for new quotes. A Utility consists of the following attributes: * Name * Description, * Minimum Monthly Fee, * Import Rate, * Export Rate, * Credit Rollover, * Annual kWh Credit Cap, * Annual Escalation Rate ### Single or Multiple Rates You can either use one import rate and one export rate or define an import and export rate for each month of the year. ### Monthly Fee An unavoidable cost incurred monthly by the customer for the privilege of having a utility meter. You can opt to exclude this from your quotes by leaving the value as $0. If you put a value here it is clearly indicated on your quotes when there is a monthly fee being applied so as to not confuse the customer about their energy savings. ### Import Rate Dollars and cents per [kWh](kWh) imported from the utility company. ### Export Rate Dollars and cents per [kWh](kWh) exported to the utility company. ### Credit Rollover - Monthly Compensation: Surplus kWh are sold at the export rate at the end of each month instead of being carried forward. Value of kWh exports is added to net savings. - Yearly Compensation: Monthly kWh surplus is carried through to the next month until the end of the year and are then sold at the export rate. Value of kWh exports is added to yearly net savings. - Indefinitely: Surplus kWh are carried forward indefinitely from month to month and year to year. ### Annual Credit Cap Toggle on for utilities that do not remunerate annual kWh surplus. With this attribute toggled on annual exports will be limited to annual production. I.e. if the annual consumption is 20,000 kWh then any projected production beyond this figure will be zeroed out annually. ###### Warning: With this toggled on quotes that estimate yield over 100% of the consumption will have payback period lengthened to accurately model the energy that is not remunerated. ### Annual Escalation Rate The rate at which the value of imports and exports increase annually. This figure is applied linearly and annually across the 30 years of projections to model the increase in the value of power as time goes on. Escalation rates should be conservative and usually fall close to 3 - 5%. An overblown escalation rate will oversell the payback period and return on investment figures on the projections. ### Metering Type * Net Metering * Net Metering allows you to balance production against consumption. Value is determined by savings over the customer's previous power bill and total savings is calculated using a combination of cost avoidance at the import rate and the value of exports. KWh credits are tracked month to month and can be compensated monthly, yearly or indefinitely. * Net Feed in Tariff * Net Feed in Tariff is a utility program that allows you to offset your consumption and sell surplus energy at the specified export rate. Similar to net metering but all surplus kWh are exported monthly and surplus energy cannot be capped. * Feed in Tariff * Feed in Tariff is a utility program that pays you for the energy you produce. With this option selected power bills and consumption offsets are not shown and only production values are demonstrated. All production is sold at the export rate annually instead of being balanced against imported energy.