Black Hills Energy
Southern Colorado, including Pueblo, Cañon City and Rocky Ford. Small, with notably high retail rates, which makes self consumption worth more here than in Xcel territory.
- Type
- Investor owned
- Accounts
- 100K
What they credit you
Retail rate, up to 120% of your usage
Set by state ruleExports offset consumption at the retail rate and carry month to month. The system may not produce more than 120% of your own annual usage, and leftover credit is bought at avoided cost at the annual true up.
- Month to month
- Month to month at the retail rate.
- Once a year
- Annual, at avoided cost.
Set by undefined · checked 2026-09-05 · source
What your installer should be telling you
Confirm the 120% calculation against your own twelve months of usage before you accept a system size, and ask what the current avoided cost true up rate is.
Black Hills is investor owned, so C.R.S. § 40-2-124 (and § 40-9.5-118 for cooperatives) applies and these terms are set by the state rather than by a board that can revise them. That is the strongest position a homeowner can be in on net metering.
Applying to Black Hills
What Black Hills itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.
- 120% of your own usage is the ceiling
- A net metered system may not produce more than 120% of the energy the customer uses. Both investor owned utilities apply it. Bring twelve months of bills to the first conversation, because they determine the largest system you are allowed.
- The monthly credit is at the retail rate
- Within the year, exported kilowatt hours offset what you use at retail and carry forward month to month.
- The annual true up is at avoided cost
- Xcel settles at year end in April, and leftover credit is paid at an avoided cost rate reported in the region of three to four cents rather than at retail. The 120% rule and the true up push the same way.
- Cooperatives are a different statute
- Colorado’s cooperatives net meter under § 40-9.5-118 rather than § 40-2-124, and each sets its own terms underneath it. If your bill comes from a co-op, ask for its own tariff.
- Colorado does not license contractors at state level
- There is no statewide general contractor licence. Electricians are licensed by the state, and general contracting is licensed by cities and counties, so check both.
From Black Hills’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-05 · source
Black Hills net metering questions
- Does Black Hills offer one for one net metering?
- Yes. Exports offset consumption at the retail rate and carry month to month. The system may not produce more than 120% of your own annual usage, and leftover credit is bought at avoided cost at the annual true up. Month to month at the retail rate.
- What does Black Hills pay for power sent back to the grid?
- Retail rate, up to 120% of your usage. Annual, at avoided cost.
- Do I need a battery with Black Hills?
- Not for the economics. Black Hills credits exports at the retail rate, so power you send out during the day comes back at the same value after dark without storage. A battery is still worth considering for outages during hurricane season, but it is an upgrade here rather than a requirement.
- How do I find my Black Hills bill?
- Sign in at blackhillsenergy.com. Open My Account, then Billing. Open the latest bill and save the PDF. Or screenshot the summary page. If you cannot get to it, a rough guess at your average monthly amount is enough to start.
- What is the catch with Black Hills?
- Confirm the 120% calculation against your own twelve months of usage before you accept a system size, and ask what the current avoided cost true up rate is.
Installers serving Black Hills customers
Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.
These are real companies operating in Black Hills territory, ordered by reviews, years trading and BBB grade. None of them pays us for placement. Pick the one you want and we will call you to arrange it.
Ordering combines three things we read from primary sources: Google review count and rating, years trading taken from the company’s Better Business Bureau profile rather than its own marketing, and its BBB letter grade. BBB accreditation is shown but never scored, because it is a paid membership rather than a mark of quality.
Check any contractor license yourself at the state register. Do that before you sign anything, with any company, including ours.