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Net Metering Program
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Xcel Energy net metering in Colorado

The Front Range and much of the state, including Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins and Grand Junction. The larger of Colorado’s two investor owned utilities. Anything you bank is settled once a year, at the end of the calendar year, at Xcel’s average hourly incremental cost unless you elect to roll it over as a dollar credit instead.

Type
Investor owned
Accounts
1.6M

What they credit you

Banked kilowatt hours, cashed out yearly at wholesale

Published terms

Schedule NM nets what you send out against what you use. In a month when the panels make more than the house uses, Xcel pays nothing for the difference; the surplus is banked and offsets your use in later months, kilowatt hour for kilowatt hour. On a time-of-use rate the bank is kept by period, and on-peak surplus is applied to on-peak use first, then to off-peak. A system may be sized to supply up to 200% of your expected annual use.

Month to month
Banked as kilowatt hours from month to month through the calendar year, by on-peak and off-peak period on a time-of-use rate.
Once a year
What is left at the end of the calendar year is paid within sixty days at Xcel’s average hourly incremental cost (AHIC) of supply over that year, and within sixty days if you end service. The tariff prints no AHIC figure. You may instead elect once, in writing, to roll excess over indefinitely as a dollar credit at the total energy rate of the period it was made in; that credit cannot offset the Service and Facility Charge and is forfeited when you leave.

Published terms · checked 2026-10-02 · source

Installers serving Xcel customers

Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.

Not sure which to choose?

These are real companies operating in Xcel territory. Bold Energy is listed first because it is the company we introduce first. That order is our choice, not a score. The other companies are 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.

What this looks like on a Xcel bill

An average Colorado household, against a system sized to cover its year. The energy charge is the part that goes to zero. The fixed monthly charge underneath it is the part that never does, and it is the number that decides whether a system pays for itself.

Meter readingkWh
Energy charge$115.46
$115.46
We have read this provider’s own tariff. What it still bills you at zero is set out below, with the sheet it came from. The energy line above uses the statewide average. See what they still bill
DirectionReading…

Meter reading falling from 41926 to 41738 kilowatt hours. A 674 kilowatt hour month against 862 kilowatt hours produced leaves 0 kilowatt hours billed and 188 banked for next month, so the energy charge falls from $115.46 to $0.00 at 17.13 cents per kilowatt hour.

Colorado average household use, 674 kWh a month, at the current published residential price of 17.13¢ per kWh. Your utility still bills a fixed monthly customer charge that no system offsets, so this is the energy part of the bill, which is the part that goes away.

What your installer should be telling you

Ask Xcel for last year’s AHIC before paying for panels that will run a surplus: it is a wholesale value and the tariff does not print it. On a system installed since 26 December 2014, the three percentage riders (3.25% in all) are also charged on everything the panels produce, including what your house uses itself.

What Xcel bills you anyway

In a month when your production covers everything you use, the energy charge can reach zero. This does not. It is the floor under every bill, and it is the number that decides whether a system pays for itself.

The charge
$7.10 a month, $8.22 once the riders on it are added
How it is set
Residential service carries a Service and Facility Charge of $7.10 a month, the same on the standard rate (Schedule R) and on the time-of-use rate Xcel is moving households to (RE-TOU, on-peak 5 to 9 p.m. on weekdays). Both schedules make the monthly minimum that charge “plus the Production Meter Charge if applicable”: $2.55, which the net metering schedule bills only to Solar*Rewards participants with systems above 10 kW. Riders sit on top. The Electric Energy Assistance Charge rose to $0.86 a month on 1 October 2026; income-qualified customers are exempt, and the tariff lets anyone have it removed by asking Xcel by phone or email. Three percentage riders of 1%, 1% and 1.25% (RESA, CEPA and CEPR) then apply to every charge on the bill, which brings Xcel’s own rate summary to $8.22 a month before any city franchise fee. The charge solar households most need to know about is not fixed. For any system installed on or after 26 December 2014, those same three percentages are also charged on everything the panels produce, as read by the production meter and priced at the full energy rate with its riders: 3.25 percent of the retail value of every kilowatt hour the system makes, including the ones your house uses itself. Colorado’s rules call these Fair Share charges. Banked credit cannot touch the fixed charge either. If you choose to roll excess over as a dollar credit, it offsets your bill “except for the Service and Facilities charge.” Energy on the standard rate is 10.380 cents a kilowatt hour from June to September and 8.570 cents otherwise, about 17.6 and 15.7 cents with every rider included.

Public Service Company of Colorado, Colo. PUC No. 8 Electric: Schedule R, Ninth Revised Sheet No. 30 (effective 1 May 2024) and Sheet 30A; Schedule RE-TOU, Seventh Revised Sheet No. 33B (effective 1 November 2025) and Sheet 33C; Schedule NM, Sheets 112D and 112E; Electric Energy Assistance Charge, Sheets 122 and 122A (effective 1 October 2026); RESA Sheet 150, CEPA Sheet 151 and CEPR Sheet 152; checked against Xcel’s Electric Rates Summary effective 1 October 2026 · checked 2026-10-01 · source

Applying to Xcel

What Xcel itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.

200% of your expected usage is the ceiling
Colorado law lets a system be sized to supply up to 200% of your reasonably expected average annual consumption, and an investor owned utility may not limit the size based solely on your past usage. Bring twelve months of bills anyway, with any planned additions such as an electric car, because together they set a realistic size.
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 wholesale
Xcel settles at the end of the calendar year and pays for leftover kilowatt hours within sixty days at its average hourly incremental cost of supply over that year, a wholesale value calculated after the year ends. Schedule NM prints no figure, so ask Xcel what it paid last year. Surplus is bought back at wholesale, so building far past your own use rarely pays.
The roll-over election has two catches
You may instead elect once, in writing, to keep excess as a dollar credit valued at the total energy rate of the period it was generated in. That credit cannot offset the monthly Service and Facility Charge, and anything left when you move out is forfeited.
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 license. Electricians are licensed by the state, and general contracting is licensed by cities and counties, so check both.

From Xcel’s published guidelines · checked 2026-10-02 · source

Xcel net metering questions

Does Xcel offer one for one net metering?
Yes. Schedule NM nets what you send out against what you use. In a month when the panels make more than the house uses, Xcel pays nothing for the difference; the surplus is banked and offsets your use in later months, kilowatt hour for kilowatt hour. On a time-of-use rate the bank is kept by period, and on-peak surplus is applied to on-peak use first, then to off-peak. A system may be sized to supply up to 200% of your expected annual use. Banked as kilowatt hours from month to month through the calendar year, by on-peak and off-peak period on a time-of-use rate.
What does Xcel pay for power sent back to the grid?
Banked kilowatt hours, cashed out yearly at wholesale. What is left at the end of the calendar year is paid within sixty days at Xcel’s average hourly incremental cost (AHIC) of supply over that year, and within sixty days if you end service. The tariff prints no AHIC figure. You may instead elect once, in writing, to roll excess over indefinitely as a dollar credit at the total energy rate of the period it was made in; that credit cannot offset the Service and Facility Charge and is forfeited when you leave.
Do I need a battery with Xcel?
Not for the economics. Xcel 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 Xcel bill?
Sign in at xcelenergy.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 Xcel?
Ask Xcel for last year’s AHIC before paying for panels that will run a surplus: it is a wholesale value and the tariff does not print it. On a system installed since 26 December 2014, the three percentage riders (3.25% in all) are also charged on everything the panels produce, including what your house uses itself.