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Colorado Utilities Begin Solar Rebates
July 6, 2006
Colorado's second largest utility, Aquila, announced
this week it is sponsoring the Solar 2006 conference in Denver and
will become the fifth utility in the state to offer solar rebates.
Aquila will announce the details of its program at the Solar 2006
conference, and sources claim it will be the most generous of all
utility rebates for solar energy in the state. Colorado utilities
with solar rebate programs now include:
Aquila
http://www.aquila.com
Aquila will offer a rebate of $6 per watt to qualified customers in
its service territory in eastern Colorado.
Aspen Solar Pioneer Solar Rebate Program
http://www.aspencore.org/
Residents of Aspen can take advantage of a rebate of $1,000 − $2,000
on a solar hot water system and $2 per watt up to a maximum of
$6,000 for a solar power (PV) system.
Colorado Springs Utilities Renewable Energy Rebate
(Photovoltaics)
http://www.csu.org/residential/rebates/renew_rebate/index.html
Colorado Springs Utilities offers its customers a rebate of $4 per
watt for PV.
Holy Cross Energy We Care Rebates
http://www.holycross.com/default.asp
Holy Cross will pay its customers up to $2.00 per watt to install
renewable electricity generation using wind, hydroelectric,
photovoltaic (PV), biomass, or geothermal technology with a rated
capacity per installation up to 25 kilowatts (kW).
Xcel Energy Solar*Rewards
http://www.xcelenergy.com/solar
Xcel Energy will give its customers a rebate of $2 per watt for
purchase of solar PV systems installed on customer premises, up to
10 kW of rated capacity. In addition, Xcel will purchase renewable
energy credits generated by customer systems for $2.50 per watt. The
combination of the rebates and the credits will generate a total
return to customers of $4.50 per watt. To pay for the program
initially, residential customers will see an average increase in
their monthly bills of 35 cents, while commercial customers will pay
an average of 69 cents more per month.
Rebates can play an important role in the economics
of solar and other small renewable power systems. A common size for
residential PV systems in Colorado is 2 − 3 kW. Depending on the
utility involved, rebates range from $4,000 to $18,000. Typical PV
systems are priced at $6,000 to $10,000 per kW.
Finally, consumers can take advantage of federal tax
credits on their solar installations. The credits are for 30% of the
cost of the system up to a maximum of $2,000.
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http://www.westgov.org/wga/policy/06/clean-energy.pdf |
