News Releases

Xcel Energy’s Solar*Rewards seeking large solar power

DENVER - Xcel Energy today announced that is it seeking solar power through a Solar*Rewards program Request for Proposal (RFP). The company is expanding its successful solar power program and is focusing on large-scale solar power projects that range from 100 kilowatts to 2 megawatts. This RFP is separate from one issued late last week for up to 25 megawatts of solar power.

The company is seeking bids for projects that will total up to 5 megawatts worth of on-site solar power. Customers would be allowed to generate up to 120 percent of their annual power usage through these solar power systems and feed the remaining power back into the grid through net metering.

Winning bidders would receive a 20-year contract to sell the Renewable Energy Credits from the project to Xcel Energy, to help the company meet Colorado’s Renewable Energy Standard. The company also would pay Xcel Energy customers a rebate of $2 per watt for the first 100 kilowatts. 

“It is becoming increasing important for us to leverage customer-owned solar power facilities as we grow our Solar*Rewards program to meet Colorado’s Renewable Energy Standard,” said Fred Stoffel, vice president of marketing. “It is significant that each time we issue an RFP for this type of power, we receive more bids than before. We think that the success of our program plays a large part in this type of response.”

The projects combined will produce up to 7,500-megawatt hours of power each year. A pre-bid conference will be held Jan. 25. More details can be found by going to www.xcelenergy.com/solar.