Solar & batteries with Loveland Water and Power

Each month, Loveland nets what you exported against what you used. Surplus rolls to the next month and offsets later usage, so a sunny July can help cover a dark December. At December billing, any balance left is paid out at the Self-Generation Buyback Credit rate — which is why we aim to use up credits over the year rather than stockpile them.

That makes Loveland closer to Xcel’s model than to its Platte River neighbors Fort Collins and Longmont, which credit exports by time of day or at a value-of-solar rate.

Loveland doesn’t currently offer a local solar rebate. It has pointed customers who need a 200-amp panel upgrade for solar or batteries to a possible panel-upgrade rebate; we confirm current terms before counting it.

Loveland Water and Power serves inside city limits. Many homes just outside town are on Poudre Valley REA, with different sizing rules and settlement dates. A Loveland mailing address doesn’t guarantee a Loveland utility bill.

Loveland's Self-Generation Rate (2026 rate book, effective January 1, 2026) is open to any electric customer with its own generation: the city nets at the meter monthly, excess kWh carry forward month to month against later use, and any remaining balance is bought out once a year in December at $0.11028/kWh — close to retail, which makes Loveland unusually generous on surplus. The rate book sets no kilowatt cap for non-residential systems (secondary sources cite a 200% sizing rule; systems of 2 MW or more need an impact study). Small General Service is energy-only; Large General Service (over 50 kW) pays $15.75/kW in the non-summer months and $21.55/kW in summer. Rates rose about 5.9% in 2026 on a 6.3% Platte River increase; there is no city solar rebate.

Demand charges are the part of a commercial bill panels alone don't reliably cut, which is why our commercial proposals in Loveland W&P territory usually model a peak-shaving battery alongside the array. County-by-county detail is on our commercial pages.