Xcel Energy to Restart Solar Rewards Program
After intense negotiation with the Colorado Solar Energy Industry Association (COSEIA), Xcel Energy is restarting their solar rewards program in Colorado. Good News!
The negotiation had to address three primary goals.The program needed to provide greater predictability and stability for solar businesses and customers; address the program cash flow challenges; and reduce the program’s nearly $100 million debt load. All three goals have been met. While Xcel had originally planned to reduce the up-front incentive to $0.25/watt plus a REC payment they could lower at any time – we gained agreement for a $1.75/watt up-front incentive plus a four-cent per kWh performance-based incentive for the small customer-owned category. Small third-party owned systems will move to a 16 cent per kWh performance-based incentive. Mid-sized systems will receive a 15 cent per kWh performance-based incentive.” See original article here. So what does this mean for Colorado Solar customers. Overall its good news. The incentive program goes from an up front payment to a performance based incentive, similar to what Europe has been using for the last decade (although not nearly as profitable). What it really does is encourage people to generate solar power, as opposed to merely installing solar panels. So the more production you get out of your system, the better your payout will be. And this program should still be compatible with the solar leasing programs that have become very popular. Stay tuned, we’ll see how this gets implemented in the coming months.
