Xcel Energy Colorado solar export rate
What Xcel Energy Colorado pays for power exported from rooftop solar in Colorado, with the source and the date it was checked.
No single rate — formula based
Monthly excess kWh offset applicable retail kWh at 1:1; annual cash-out at AHIC, or customer may elect indefinite rollover dollar credits at the prevailing total energy rate plus applicable per-kWh riders
Xcel Energy Colorado · Colorado
Schedule NM is Xcel's CPUC-filed Net Metering Service tariff. Xcel also purchases RECs under separate Solar*Rewards contracts; REC payments are distinct from net-metering export compensation.
Source: xcelenergy.com
Full Xcel Energy Colorado detail →Colorado rules that apply to Xcel Energy Colorado
The state framework sets the default. Where Xcel Energy Colorado pays something different, the utility tariff governs and is what the card above reports.
| Compensation mechanism | Retail-rate net metering for investor-owned qualifying retail utilities: monthly excess kWh carry forward at 1:1 against retail kWh; annual cash-out is at the utility's average hourly incremental cost unless the customer makes the one-time election for an indefinite rollover credit. Xcel's rollover election converts excess generation to a dollar credit based on the prevailing total energy rate; Black Hills also provides on-site net metering under its filed tariff. |
|---|---|
| Export rate | No single statewide dollar export rate. Under ordinary net metering, monthly excess is credited 1:1 in kWh against the customer's applicable retail rate; annual cash-out is at each utility's average hourly incremental cost. Black Hills' filed 2026 Energy Payment/AHIC rate is $0.03489/kWh for annual cash-out. Xcel's rollover option uses the prevailing total energy rate plus per-kWh riders for the generation period. |
| Rate effective | Retail credit applies under the utility's effective retail rate schedule; Black Hills' $0.03489/kWh AHIC cash-out rate is effective January 1, 2026. Xcel's tariff does not state one fixed statewide export price. |
| Credit rollover | Excess kWh carry from month to month at 1:1 against retail kWh. A customer may make a one-time written election for a dollar-credit rollover indefinitely until service terminates; Xcel's dollar credit is based on the prevailing total energy rate for the period generated, while Black Hills' tariff provides the same indefinite rollover option for on-site net metering. |
| Credit expiration | No expiration while the customer remains in service if the indefinite rollover option is elected; remaining credits are not paid when service terminates. Without that election, excess is reconciled and cashed out within 60 days after the calendar year or service termination. |
| Annual true-up | Within 60 days after the end of each calendar year, or within 60 days after termination of retail service, unless the customer has elected indefinite rollover. |
| Aggregate program cap | No statewide aggregate program-capacity cap identified for ordinary on-site net metering. The principal limits are customer/site sizing and service-entrance or distribution capacity; off-site installations have 500 kW single-meter and 300 kW-per-meter multi-meter limits. |
| Program status | No statewide ordinary on-site net-metering cap reported as reached. Black Hills' tariff states customer-specific sizing and off-site limits rather than a program subscription cap. |
| Grandfathering | No separate statewide fixed-term grandfathering period was identified. Existing customers can retain the indefinite rollover treatment by making the one-time election described in the rule/tariff; credits end without payment when service terminates under that election. |
| Regulator | Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) |
| Governing rule | 4 CCR 723-3-3664 (Net Metering), C.R.S. § 40-2-124, and each utility's CPUC-filed net-metering tariff (Xcel Schedule NM; Black Hills On-Site Net Metering Service). |
| Pending change | HB26-1225 was enacted in 2026 and is scheduled to take effect August 12, 2026 if no referendum petition changes that outcome. It requires qualifying utilities to implement off-site installation limits (500 kW single-meter and 300 kW per meter multi-meter), directs the CPUC to evaluate those limits in a future Renewable Energy Standard compliance plan, and requires a qualifying utility with more than 500,000 Colorado customers to report its interconnection working-group recommendations by December 15, 2026. The act also creates an October 1, 2026 option for community-solar organizations to direct different fixed/annual credit treatment for income-qualified and other subscribers; this is community solar, not ordinary on-site NEM. |
Other Colorado utilities
- Black Hills Energy ColoradoFormula basedMonthly on-site excess kWh offset at 1:1 against retail kWh; annual cash-out at AHIC. Filed Ene
- Colorado municipal utilities and co-opsUnverifiedNot statewide CPUC-regulated; compensation depends on the utility's own tariff or governing-bod