How to read your Colorado electric bill

Kilowatt-hours (kWh) used this month

This is the volume of electricity your household consumed. Colorado households vary widely — a small townhome may use 400–600 kWh per month, while a larger detached home with air conditioning, an EV, and electric appliances may exceed 2,000 kWh. Solar system sizing is driven by annual kWh, not by the dollar amount on any single bill. A useful shortcut: add up the last twelve months of kWh, and divide by twelve to get your baseline monthly average.

Rate schedule or plan name

Xcel Energy, CORE Electric Cooperative, Black Hills Energy, and municipal utilities each have several rate plans. The plan you are on materially changes what solar plus (or minus) a battery can do for you:

• Flat rate: one price per kWh, all day. Simplest for solar.
• Tiered rate: the price rises after you cross a monthly usage threshold. Solar is especially valuable when it drops you out of higher tiers.
• Time-of-use (TOU): price varies by hour. Solar production may not align with the most expensive hours; a battery can help.
• Demand charge: a portion of your bill is tied to your single highest 15-minute usage spike. Rare on residential plans but growing.

Basic service or fixed charges

Every utility charges a fixed monthly amount regardless of usage — commonly $10–$20 on Front Range residential accounts. Solar does not remove this charge, so you should not expect a $0 bill even with a system that offsets 100% of your kWh. This is a common source of surprise for new solar owners.

Net metering credits and true-up

When your system produces more than you use in a given month, most Colorado utilities credit the excess kWh to your account. Many utilities settle up ("true-up") the accumulated credits once per year. Rules for how credits are valued and what happens to leftover credits at true-up vary; read your utility's interconnection agreement carefully before signing an install contract.

Total amount due

The total dollar amount matters less than the underlying usage and rate. Two homes with the same total can have very different solar outlooks depending on plan and usage pattern.

What to do with your bill

The most useful next step is to upload a recent bill so an authorized representative can look at it with you. A single month is a start; a full twelve-month history is ideal. Ranges are fine to begin — actual bills produce far more accurate conversations, and remove the guesswork that leads to oversized or undersized proposals.