CO · Solar + Battery

Solar quotes in Colorado Springs, CO.

Battery-coupled solar closes most often in Colorado. One real quote from a vetted local installer, with the federal Clean Tech ITC (30%) on storage stacked with state net metering.

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What you get

One vetted local Colorado Springs installer
Rebates checked for your exact address
No call-center spam, no lead list

8 kW
Average system size: $2.80/W
Average cost (USD): 9 yrs
Average payback: 250+
Local installers

Why solar in Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs is the one Colorado city where the timing of your decision may matter more than the price of the system. Colorado Springs Utilities is a municipal utility, so nothing Xcel does applies here, and the terms on which solar customers are billed and credited are being rewritten right now. City Council approved the net metering proposal in concept by a 6-2 vote on August 25, 2026, with final adoption scheduled for September 22, 2026. The proposals answer what Colorado Springs Utilities puts at a $4.5 million annual cost shift from net metering customers, and the options presented were a grid access fee or a demand charge, with a five-year grandfathering period for existing customers. That grandfathering is why the calendar is part of the arithmetic here: the date your system connects may decide which set of terms you spend the next five years on. Confirm the outcome of the September 22 vote before relying on any of this.

Colorado Springs Utilities is not Xcel

Almost every Colorado solar guide describes Xcel terms, because Xcel serves most of the Front Range. Colorado Springs Utilities is a municipally owned utility that sets its own rates through City Council rather than through the Public Utilities Commission.

So the Solar Bank election, the Solar*Rewards programme and the Xcel crediting arrangement that fill those guides do not describe your bill. If a quote for a Colorado Springs home cites Solar*Rewards, the person who prepared it has not checked which utility serves the address.

Because rates are set by Council rather than a regulator, the process is also more political and more public than a rate case elsewhere, which is why the current proposal has drawn a large volume of public testimony.

The practical consequence is that the terms are genuinely changeable, and that any figure you are shown has a date attached to it whether or not the quote says so. Ask which tariff the projection assumes and what date that tariff is current as of.

The change being decided right now

Colorado Springs Utilities has identified an annual cost shift of about $4.5 million attributed to net metering customers, and has put two options to Council to address it: a grid access fee, presented as Option 1, and a demand charge, presented as Option 2.

On August 25, 2026 Council heard public testimony from more than 30 speakers, the large majority opposed. A motion to delay implementation until battery storage programmes were approved failed 3-5. Council then directed Utilities to prepare final decisions based on the proposed tariffs, passing 6-2, with final adoption scheduled for September 22, 2026.

Reporting through 2026 has put the monthly impact on a typical solar customer in the region of tens of dollars per month, with figures around $38 and around $51 appearing in different accounts of different versions of the proposal. Treat any single number you read as version-specific rather than settled.

This is not a reason to avoid solar in Colorado Springs. It is a reason to insist that your quote states which tariff it assumes, and to ask your installer what your bill looks like under both options rather than only under current rates.

What the five-year grandfathering actually means

Both options as presented included a five-year grandfathering period for existing customers. Customers with net metering agreements dated before April 1, 2027 transition to the new rates on April 1, 2032.

Read that carefully, because it is a date on an agreement rather than a date on an installation. What is being tested is when your net metering agreement is dated, which is an interconnection milestone, not the day the panels went up.

That gap is exactly where a project can slip. An installation completed in good time can still land on the wrong side of an agreement date if the interconnection paperwork lags, so ask your installer to commit in writing to the date they expect your net metering agreement to be executed.

And treat grandfathering as a delay rather than an exemption. On the terms presented, a customer who signs before the deadline moves to the new rates in 2032 regardless, so a 25-year savings projection that assumes today rates for its whole length is describing something the tariff does not do.

The parts that survive without qualification

Start by removing the federal residential credit. The 30 percent Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, so a cash or loan purchase receives nothing from it.

Section 48E, the commercial credit, survives at 30 percent and is available to third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements. Ask a provider what they claim and what portion reaches you in the rate, and confirm with a tax advisor.

Then remove anything Xcel-specific, because it does not apply to a Colorado Springs Utilities customer. What does apply statewide is the property tax exemption for residential systems of no more than 100 kW AC under Section 39-3-102 C.R.S., the residential energy sales and use tax exemption, and the protection against an outright association ban under Section 38-30-168 C.R.S.

What is left is your own utility tariff, and that is the number under active revision. Ask for the projection under current rates and under the proposed rates, and check the status of the September 22, 2026 adoption before you sign.

Incentives & rebates

Net metering: Full retail net metering with a Solar Bank election

Colorado credits exported solar at the retail electricity rate. Under Xcel Energy's arrangement, excess generation from a net metered system rolls over month to month and year to year and is held in a Solar Bank, and the customer elects how it is handled. Option A is continuous rollover credits, which never run out and can be used whenever consumption exceeds generation, but the Solar Bank cannot be cashed out and no credit is given if the customer moves or stops service. Option B is a year-end payout, in which Xcel cashes out the Solar Bank at the end of the year and sends a cheque for the excess energy, purchased at the average hourly incremental cost of electricity from the previous 12 months. Waiving the decision defaults the customer to the year-end payout. Municipal utilities, cooperatives and other investor-owned utilities in Colorado set their own arrangements, so confirm what applies at your address.

Related Colorado resources

Battery + Storage

Why solar + battery in Colorado Springs

Colorado gives residential solar full retail net metering and two state exemptions that need no application, and it also asks you to make a decision most homeowners never realise they are making. Under Xcel Energy's arrangement excess generation rolls over month to month and year to year into a Solar Bank, and you elect how it is treated: continuous rollover credits that never expire but cannot be cashed out and are lost if you move, or a year-end payout at the average hourly incremental cost of electricity from the previous 12 months. Waiving the decision defaults you to the payout. Independently owned residential solar of no more than 100 kW AC is exempt from property tax under Section 39-3-102 C.R.S., and Section 38-30-168 stops an association banning solar outright. The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025.

✓ Federal Clean Tech ITC 30% on storage ✓ Outage resilience

How payback works in Colorado

System cost: $22,400
Estimated net cost: $22,400
Estimated payback: ~13.8 years
25-year net savings: ~$18,100

These figures are illustrative; your actual quote reflects your roof, sun exposure, and local utility rates.

Frequently asked questions

Does Xcel serve Colorado Springs?

No. Colorado Springs Utilities is a municipally owned utility with its own rates set by City Council. The Xcel Solar Bank election and the Solar*Rewards programme do not apply here, so a quote that cites either has not checked which utility serves your address.

Are net metering rates changing in Colorado Springs?

A change is well advanced. Council approved a net metering proposal in concept by 6-2 on August 25, 2026, with final adoption scheduled for September 22, 2026. Two options were presented, a grid access fee and a demand charge, addressing an annual cost shift Utilities put at about $4.5 million.

Will I be grandfathered if I install now?

On the terms presented, customers with net metering agreements dated before April 1, 2027 transition to the new rates on April 1, 2032, a five-year period. Note that the test is the date of the net metering agreement rather than the installation date, so ask your installer to commit in writing to the expected agreement date.

Should I wait to see what Council decides?

Waiting past the agreement deadline is what carries the risk, since grandfathering is tied to an agreement dated before April 1, 2027. The more useful step is to ask your installer to show the savings projection under current rates and under both proposed options, then decide with those two numbers in front of you.