COLORADO'S AMENDMENT 37:
In November of 2004, Colorado voters passed Amendment 37 (A37), mandating that 10% of Colorado's electricity come from renewable sources such as wind and solar power. The rules were finalized and Xcel began paying out rebates in the Spring of 2006 and Aquila started their program in July, 2006. The incentive is divided into a $2.00 per watt rebate and a $2.50 per watt REC (Renewable Energy Credit) payment. Because a typical flush-mount roof array costs about $8 per watt installed, the combination of rebate and REC payments from Xcel or Aquila, along with the current federal tax credit, your final out-of-pocket cost can be reduced by 50% to 60%. This assumes that your system can be installed in a location and configuration that allows it to produce at least 90% of what an optimally positioned array in a shade-free area would produce. If your installed system is predicted to produce less than 90% of optimum, then the REC portion of the Xcel and Aquila incentive (which is production-based) is reduced accordingly.
In March of 2007, Colorado legislators passed HR 1281 which doubled our state's renewable energy portfolio to 20% by 2020 and includes all utilities serving 40,000 metered customers or more! We will keep you informed as these utilities introduce their compliance programs.
Colorado Springs Utilities RERP
Xcel Energy's Solar*Rewards Rebate Program
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