Solar by state
Solar in Colorado: incentives, net metering and prices
Utilities and their rates, adoption, ten years of growth, batteries, ownership, state rules and installer licensing in Colorado, from federal 2024 data.
Colorado in brief
7.03% of Colorado homes had rooftop solar in 2024, the 5th-highest of 51 (3.55% nationally). Power cost 14.92¢/kWh, below the national 16.48¢, and the average system was 5.16 kW. Public Service Company of Colorado serves 53.9% of homes.
Where does Colorado stand out?
The four measures, beyond price and adoption, on which Colorado sits furthest from the middle of the ranking.
Colorado solar in numbers, 2024
Every Colorado figure next to the national one, with its place in the ranking (highest first, out of the jurisdictions reporting it).
| Measure | Colorado | United States | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with a metered rooftop system | 7.03% | 3.55% | 5th-highest of 51 |
| Rooftop systems counted | 179,751 | 5,077,543 | 7th-highest of 51 |
| Average system size | 5.16 kW | 6.74 kW | lowest of 51 |
| Residential price | 14.92¢/kWh | 16.48¢/kWh | 25th-highest of 51 |
| Average monthly bill | $100.57 | $142.26 | 3rd-lowest of 51 |
| Use per home | 8,091 kWh/yr | 10,359 kWh/yr | 15th-lowest of 51 |
| Systems with a battery | 0.72% | 5.86% | 17th-lowest of 47 |
| Leased or on a PPA | 17.7% | 29.1% | 18th-highest of 38 |
| Growth in systems, five years | 27.9% a year | — | 22nd-highest of 51 |
| Minutes without power per customer | 257 | 297 (median state) | 21st-lowest of 51 |
| Homes on a time-varying rate | 47.2% | 11.1% | 4th-highest of 51 |
| Installed rooftop capacity | 927.5 MW | 34,226 MW | — |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. The Colorado ratios and ranks are HyreSolar calculations from EIA inputs.
Which utility serves Colorado, and what does it charge?
The 8 largest utilities selling to Colorado homes, by residential customers, with the price full-service customers paid and how many run net-metered solar.
| Utility | Type | Homes served | Price per kWh | Use per home, monthly | Net-metered systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Service Company of Colorado | Investor-owned | 1,365,053 (53.9%) | 15.05¢ | 600 kWh | 113,499 (8.3%) |
| City of Colorado Springs | Municipal | 216,771 (8.6%) | 14.45¢ | 619 kWh | 9,332 (4.3%) |
| CORE Electric Cooperative | Co-op | 165,067 (6.5%) | 15.04¢ | 864 kWh | 10,006 (6.1%) |
| United Power | Co-op | 101,502 (4.0%) | 15.75¢ | 811 kWh | 12,610 (12.4%) |
| Black Hills Colorado Electric, LLC | Investor-owned | 89,252 (3.5%) | 17.05¢ | 571 kWh | 8,956 (10.0%) |
| City of Fort Collins | Municipal | 70,803 (2.8%) | 13.21¢ | 621 kWh | 3,918 (5.5%) |
| Mountain View Electric Association | Co-op | 59,789 (2.4%) | 15.52¢ | 897 kWh | 3,800 (6.4%) |
| Holy Cross Electric Association | Co-op | 49,982 (2.0%) | 12.04¢ | 1,150 kWh | 2,730 (5.5%) |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 2024, Sales to Ultimate Customers and Net Metering, utility level, retrieved 5 October 2026. Shares are of 2,533,972 Colorado residential accounts. Each Colorado price is residential revenue divided by sales for full-service customers (HyreSolar calculation); a wires company’s price is its default-service price.
What do the Colorado utility figures mean for a solar quote?
EIA-861 lists 33 utilities serving homes in Colorado in 2024, across 2,533,972 residential accounts. The three largest, Public Service Company of Colorado, City of Colorado Springs and CORE Electric Cooperative, served 68.9% of those homes. By ownership: investor-owned utilities 57.4%, electric cooperatives 25.6%, municipal utilities 15.3% and small utilities EIA counts as a group 1.7%.
All 2,533,972 Colorado residential accounts bought energy from the utility that delivers it; EIA counted none on a competitive supplier. So a Colorado utility’s own tariff sets both the price you avoid and the credit for what you export.
Public Service Company of Colorado, the largest, served 1,365,053 Colorado homes (53.9%). Its full-service residential customers paid 15.05¢ per kWh, above the Colorado average of 14.92¢, and used 600 kWh a month on average. 113,499 of its customers ran net-metered rooftop solar, 8.3% of its homes against 7.03% statewide.
Among the 25 Colorado utilities with at least 5,000 residential customers and a full-service price, the price ran from 6.97¢ at City of Fort Morgan to 18.38¢ at San Luis Valley R E C. At the Colorado average of 8,091 kWh a year, that 11.41¢ gap is worth about $923 a year (our arithmetic), so the same system offsets more money in one territory than the other.
Price a quote on your own utility’s rate, not the 14.92¢ Colorado average.
Rooftop solar is concentrated: Public Service Company of Colorado alone accounts for 113,499 net-metered residential systems, about 63% of the 179,751 counted in Colorado, and 29 Colorado utilities reported any at all. The highest adoption among the larger utilities was at United Power, where 12.4% of homes had a system.
What does power cost in Colorado, and why does it matter?
Residential electricity in Colorado averaged 14.92¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, the 25th-highest of 51 and below the national 16.48¢. The price sits near the middle of the 51. With the retail rate unremarkable, what your utility pays for exported power can decide the result.
The average Colorado household bill was $100.57 a month ($1,207 a year), the 3rd-lowest of 51, against $142.26 nationally. That $1,207 is the ceiling on what solar could save a typical Colorado home, before fixed monthly charges.
In Colorado, 47.2% of homes were on a time-varying rate in 2024.
On those rates the hour you use or export power changes its value, so ask for a proposal modeled on your own tariff.
92.5% of Colorado residential meters were smart meters (83.8% nationally), and a time-varying rate needs one. How time-of-use changes solar.
How many Colorado homes have solar?
Colorado had 179,751 rooftop systems on net metering in 2024, across 2,557,732 residential accounts: 7.03% of homes, the 5th-highest of 51. Colorado is one of the most established rooftop markets in the country. A market this size can mean more installers to compare and permit offices used to solar applications.
The Colorado market counted 19,057 more systems in 2024 than in 2023 and has grown 27.9% a year over five years, the 22nd-highest of 51. Where growth has turned nationally.
How has Colorado solar changed since 2014?
Colorado counted 25,197 net-metered rooftop systems in 2014 and 179,751 in 2024, 7.1 times as many. The share of homes with one moved from 1.15% to 7.03%. The biggest one-year addition came in 2021, with 40,064 more systems than the year before.
| Year | Rooftop systems | Share of homes | Average size | Residential price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 25,197 | 1.15% | 5.4 kW | 12.18¢ |
| 2016 | 36,538 | 1.62% | 5.6 kW | 12.07¢ |
| 2018 | 47,884 | 2.06% | 4.9 kW | 12.15¢ |
| 2020 | 63,359 | 2.64% | 5.1 kW | 12.36¢ |
| 2022 | 126,063 | 5.08% | 5.1 kW | 14.19¢ |
| 2024 | 179,751 | 7.03% | 5.2 kW | 14.92¢ |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 annual files 2014–2024, net-metered residential systems, retrieved 2 September 2026. Colorado shares and sizes are HyreSolar calculations.
What does the Colorado trend mean for a savings estimate?
Over the same years the Colorado residential price went from 12.18¢ to 14.92¢ per kWh, up 22%, and the average system from 5.4 kW to 5.2 kW. With Colorado prices up 22% across ten years, a savings estimate that assumes steep yearly rate rises is assuming more than this record shows.
How big is a typical Colorado system?
The average Colorado system was 5.16 kW in 2024, the lowest of 51, against 6.74 kW nationally. Colorado homes used 8,091 kilowatt-hours a year each, the 15th-lowest of 51.
A Colorado home using 8,091 kWh is an average, not a design input: size from your own twelve months of bills and usable roof with cost by system size and the system size calculator.
Who owns the systems in Colorado?
In Colorado, 17.7% of systems were third-party owned in 2024: leased, or on a power purchase agreement (PPA), rather than owned by the household. That is the 18th-highest of 38, against 29.1% nationally.
Leases and power purchase agreements are a minority in Colorado, and may be offered alongside purchase. Whoever owns a Colorado system claims any tax credit on it: Section 48E explained.
Do Colorado homes add batteries?
In Colorado, 0.72% of solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024 (1,298 systems), the 17th-lowest of 47. Colorado’s share is well under half the national 5.86%.
On reliability, the average Colorado customer went 257 minutes without power in 2024 counting major storms, and 119 minutes without them. The median state saw 297. Outages in every state.
Whether a battery pays in Colorado turns on your utility’s export credit and your own outage history: what a home battery does.
Which Colorado solar laws have we read?
Colorado statutes we read ourselves. Any rule not listed here is one we have not read, not one that does not exist.
Property tax on the added value
Exemption, reached through the household furnishings statute; the property must not produce income.
C.R.S. § 39-3-102. Read from a third-party copy of the code on September 2, 2026, not yet confirmed against the state’s own publisher. Property tax exemptions
How do you check a solar company’s license in Colorado?
We checked 59 Colorado solar companies from June to August 2026 against the state license register. 5.1% of those did not hold a current license when checked (3 expired).
Ask which license a company holds, then confirm the number with the issuing authority yourself.
These counts describe the companies we checked on those dates, not every company in Colorado, and a license current then may have lapsed since. How to verify a solar license.
Which states are closest to Colorado on adoption?
The six jurisdictions nearest to Colorado’s 7.03% share of homes with rooftop solar.
Where do the Colorado numbers come from?
The Colorado figures are HyreSolar calculations from the Form EIA-861 annual files: 179,751 net-metered residential systems counted against 2,557,732 residential accounts, sizes as means, and 33 utility-level rows for the utility table, matched to net-metering records by EIA utility number.
The method and limits cover all 51; the Colorado row is in the data as a CSV.
No Colorado figure here is an estimate for one home: your roof, usage, utility tariff and tax position decide that.
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Questions
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Do Colorado homeowners add batteries to solar?
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