Municipal utility customers
Fort Collins and Loveland businesses buy power from city utilities that get wholesale power from Platte River Power Authority. Their commercial rates, demand charges and export credits are set locally, so a proposal built on Xcel assumptions will be wrong. We model from your actual bills and interval data.
Fort Collins’ time-of-day structure tends to reward storage that shifts or shaves the evening peak. In Estes Park, many businesses are seasonal, with summer-heavy loads that line up well with solar production.
Farms, processors and warehouses
East of I-25, irrigated farms and ag processors often have steady daytime loads and room for ground mounts, usually on PVREA. Warehouses and light industrial buildings in the corridor between Fort Collins, Loveland and Windsor frequently have large flat roofs — worth a structural check before we design.
Timing the federal credit
As of September 2026, commercial solar can still claim §48E, but projects that didn’t start construction by July 4, 2026 generally need to be placed in service by December 31, 2027. Storage keeps eligibility much longer. 100% bonus depreciation is available for qualifying property — confirm with your CPA.
FAQ
Questions we hear
Do Fort Collins businesses get the same solar credit rules as Xcel customers?
No. Fort Collins Utilities sets its own commercial rates and export credits, which differ from Xcel’s. We build proposals on your actual tariff.
Does commercial solar work for a seasonal business in Estes Park?
Often well, because summer-heavy loads line up with peak solar production. We check your monthly bills to see how much you’d use on site versus export.
Can a PVREA farm account in eastern Larimer net-meter more than 25 kW?
State law guarantees co-op commercial members net metering for at least 25 kW. Anything larger depends on PVREA’s own rules and interconnection review, which we confirm before designing.