Colorado Regulators Mandate Annual Purchases of Community Solar-Plus-Storage

Colorado has adopted a new regulatory framework aimed at speeding deployment of distributed solar and storage to address rising energy bills and growing demand. According to Mary Rafferty, executive director of Common Charge, a coalition of nonprofits, businesses and consumers advocating for affordable and distributed energy, the average energy bill in Colorado has grown more than 27% over the last five years, while energy demand in the state is expected to surge 57% over the next two decades.

Program details

Last year, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved a Dispatchable Distributed Generation (DDG) program requiring the state's larger investor-owned utilities, mainly Xcel Energy, to buy at least 50 megawatts a year of community-scale solar co-located with mid-scale batteries in 2026 and 2027. These dispatchable resources pair solar generation with batteries so energy can be stored when the sun is up and released when needed. Rafferty notes such mid-scale projects are typically sized between 1 and 5 MW, allowing them to connect directly to local distribution grids rather than requiring new transmission infrastructure.

The program relies on a competitive procurement process in which Xcel Energy identifies where additional capacity would provide the greatest grid value, and developers submit proposals to meet those needs. Regulators oversee the process to evaluate grid impact and customer value.

What's next

A few weeks ago, Xcel Energy issued what Rafferty describes as the nation's first competitive solicitation under the program. The framework was developed with input from Xcel Energy, the Colorado Energy Office, consumer advocates, environmental organizations, and solar and storage developers.