Colorado Solar Incentives

Renewable Energy-Related Legislation in Colorado

Colorado voters passed Amendment 37 in 2004. The Amendment established a Renewable Standard Portfolio for the state which requires 10% of electricity produced in the state come from renewable sources. As part of the portfolio, 4% of the 10% must come from solar sources. Amendment 37 also requires a statewide net-metering system be established. A net meter is a bi-directional gauge which calcuates the amount of electricity being produced by any given renewable energy source, such as a wind turbine or solar panels. Net-metering allows customers who produce their own electricity to use the electricity they produce first. If they need more than they produce they can purchase if from their utility provider. If they generate more than they can use, they can sell the excess back to the utility company. Amendment 37 only required the investor-owned utilities to participate.

House Bill 1281 was passed in 2007. Encouraged by early success generating more electricity from renewable sources,  HB 1281 doubled the Renewable Standard Portfolio set in Amendment 37, increasing the percentage of electricity generated by renewable sources from 10% to 20% by 2015. The bill also required more utility companies to participate.

Additional legislation influencing the state's solar industry include House Bills 1160 and 1164, both passed in 2008. Dubbed the "go solar" legislative package, both bills reinforced the push towards generating more electircity from renewable sources. HB 1160 extended net-metering to include rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities and HB 1164 strongly encouraged the bigger utility companies to begin acquiring large scale (2 MWs or more) solar power plants to help meet the state's future energy needs.

A few other House Bills passed in 2009 are worth noting. HB 1149 offers homebuilders the option to pre-wire their houses for solar system installations. Homebuilders can even incorporate the cost of installing solar systems into their original mortgage. Such an option can potentially reduce the labor costs of future installations because the homes will not need to be retrofitted prior to installing a solar system.

HB 1312 was just passed in March of 2009. Touted as the "Renewables for Schools" loan program, low intereste loans in the amount of $10,000 and up will be available for schools who want to offset future energy costs by investing in renewable energy systems now.

Rebate Programs

In April of 2007 Governor Bill Ritter established the Governor's Energy Office and committed Colorado to a "New Energy Economy". With legislation leading the way, several rebate programs for solar system installations have been launched. The two big investor-owned utilities in the state; Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy, formerly Aquila, Inc., both instituted solar rebate programs shortly after the passage of Amendment 37 in 2004. Beginning in 2007, the Governor's Energy Office created it's own solar rebate program for Colorado residents not included in Xcel or Black Hills service territories. By partnering-up with municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives, the Governor's Energy Office was able to extend the benefits of investing in solar power systems throughout Colorado.

Black Hills Energy, formerly Aquila, Inc., offers their electricity customers in Colorado a direct rebate for equipment and installation costs to install a solar photovoltaic systems, as well as a Renewable Energy Credit based on the amount of electricity their system generates. Small business and homeowners, both grid-connected and off grid systems are eligible to receive $2 per watt rebate.

Xcel Energy launched their solar rebate program in 2006. Customers saw a slight increase in their monthly bills to initiall fund the program, which offers a rebate of $2 per watt up to 10 KW for their solar system. Xcel will also purchase any excess electricity generated by home systems at $2.50 per watt.

The following utiltities partnered-up with the Governor's Energy Office to offer their electricity customers rebates for installing solar systems.

Delta-Montrose Electric Association is a rural electirc cooperative serving residents of Delta and Montrose Counties. Members are eligible for up to $9,000 per solar electric system installed for residential locations, and up to $15,000 for small businesses.

Empire Electric Association serves residents of the City of Cortez and Montezuma County. Empire offers up to $3,000 in rebates for the installation of solar water heating systems.

Fort Collins Utilities is a municipal utility which partenered-up with the Governor's Energy Office to offer rebates up to $9,000 for solar installations. Homeowners can also receive a $3 per watt rebate up to 3 KW. ($2 base incentive and $1 per watt Renewable Energy Credit) They also offer a high performance rebate for qualifying households. If your household is among the lowest in electricity use, the 2009 level being set at 450 KW used per month, you can receive up to a $4 per watt rebate.

Gunnison County Electric Association provides low interest loans for installing photovoltaic systems 10 KW or less. Low interest loans can be used to finance up to $25,000 over 10 years.

San Miguel Power Association services residents of Telluride and Ouray County and is also a program partner with the Governor's Energy office. They offer rebates up to $9,000 for homeowners and $15,000 for small businesses.

Colorado Springs Utilities offers a rebate up to $3.75 per watt AC, up to 10 KW for residential locations and 25 KW maximum for small businesses.

Holy Cross Energy serves residents of Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley and offers rebates of up to 50% of installation costs and $2 per watt DC.

La Plata Electric Association serves the Durango area and offers a rebate of $2 per watt DC with a maximum of $3000.

Longmont Power & Communications offers a rebate of up to $3 per watt with a maximum of $9,000 for homeowners and $15,000 for small businesses.

Southeast Colorado Power Association located in La Junta, Colorado has also partnered-up with the Governor's Energy Office to offer a rebate of $3 per watt, maximum $9,000 for residential locations and $15,000 for small businesses.

San Luis Valley Rural Cooperative partnered-up with the Governor's Energy Office to offer up to $3,000 rebates for installing domestic solar heating systems and up to $9,000 for solar photovoltaic system installations.

The city of Aspen has established a Solar Pioneer Program offering rebates for solar water heating systems. Installing two to three panels will make you eligible for a $1000 rebate, four to five panels will get you $1500, and six panels or more will cap out at $2000. Rebates for solar photovoltaic systems are $2 per watt AC, up to $6,000.

The City and County of Boulder have created a Climate Smart rebate program which offers grants and loans for low income residential locations installing either solar water heating systems of solar photovoltaic systems.

Solar Energy-Related Business Activity in Colorado

"High-Efficiency Solar Power Plant Coming to the San Luis Valley"

SunPower Corp is a California-based manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels, and solar systems. The power plant will be built in Alamosa County in the San Luis Valley, about 160 miles south of Denver.  The plant is scheduled to begin operating in 2010. According to research conducted at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, the San Luis Valley has the best solar conditions in Colorado. SunEdison, the largest provider of solar power in North America, just built a 8.2 Megawatt solar power plant on 80 acres of land near the proposed SunPower site. Once it is up and running, the new Sunpower plant will generate 17 megawatts of power, firmly establishing itself as the second largest high-efficiency solar photovoltaic power plant in North America.

SunPower's technology focuses on increasing the amount of energy captured from the sun by tracking its path across the sky. SunPower (R) Tracker Systems can generate 30% more energy per land area than conventional systems, which optimizes land use as well. SunPower will sell its solar-generated electricity to Xcel Energy, which is already the fifth largest provider of solar power in the country. With the Governor's Energy Office committed to establishing a "New Energy Economy" for Colorado, another 17 megawatts will go a long way in increasing the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources.

"Solar Technology Research Center Will Be Built in Colorado"

With Governor Ritter pursuing a new energy economy and Ken Salazar talking about establishing Colorado as the renewable energy capital of the world, its perhaps not much of a surprise that a new solar research facility will be built in the state. The Solar Technology Acceleration Center (SolarTAC) will provide a place for both public and private entities to test and further develop new solar technologies. The Center is dedicated to developing new solar technologies that will lower the cost of new systems and make solar power influential in transitioning the entire country to a cleaner and greener energy economy. Researchers will be able to share and compare results, further enhancing the pace and efficiency of the development process.

Abengoa Solar, a Spanish company with their U.S. headquarters in Lakewood, has joined forces with the City of Aurora where the facility will be built, the Midwest Research Institute, SunEdison, Xcel Energy, and the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory to make the Solar Technology Acceleration Center a reality. The 74 acre site has already been designed, engineered, and permitted. When it is completed in the next few years, it will be the largest solar test and evaluation facility in the the world.

Sources used in the creation of the report include:

votesolar.org, dsireusa.org (database for state incentives for renewable energy), interwest.org (interwest energy alliance), forbes.com, the Denver Daily News, npr.org (national public radio), colorado.gov/energy (Governor's Energy Office), reuters new service, the associate press, coloradoenergy.org, crea.org (Colorado Rural Electric Association), eia.org (Energy Information Administration), time.org, cosolar.com, solarelectricpower.org, coseia.org (Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association), goodtobegreen.org, aessolarenergy.com, cres-energy.org (Colorado Renewable Energy Society), eere.energy.gov (U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Department). Older data that used to be contained within this article can now be found here.