Holy Cross solar and battery incentives in 2026: what valley homeowners actually get

Short answer: If Holy Cross Energy sends your electric bill, a new home solar system in 2026 earns a flat Holy Cross incentive of $100 per kW, up to 25 kW. A home battery can earn far more: up to $12,500 through Power+ or Power+FLEX, or through the Time of Use battery incentive. You can size solar to cover up to 200% of your last 12 months of use. Here is what that looks like in real dollars for a valley home.

Holy Cross changed its solar incentive and its rates on April 1, 2026. Since then, the most common question we hear at our Carbondale office is some version of "what do I actually get now?" This post answers that with Holy Cross's published numbers and our own recent proposals. Every figure links to its source.

The solar incentive: $100 per kW

Holy Cross's Solar + Battery Energy Storage page spells out the current rules:

• New net-metered solar applications get a flat $100 per kW, up to 25 kW. The most any one account can get for solar is $2,500.
• Funding is limited and first-come, first-served.
• The incentive can't exceed 40% of the installed cost.
• You need a Holy Cross approval letter before any part of the system is built, and the install has to be finished within 120 days of your reservation.
• Projects by installers who aren't on Holy Cross's preferred list may not qualify. SōL Energy is on the Holy Cross directory of local contractors and installers.

What that means on real systems, using sizes from our recent valley proposals:

• An 11.44 kW system at about $34,300 earns about $1,144 from Holy Cross.
• A 20.24 kW system at about $60,700 earns about $2,024.

So the solar incentive is real, but modest. It covers roughly 3% of a typical system. The bigger value for most Holy Cross members is in how net metering credits your solar, and in the battery incentives.

How big you can go: 200% of last year's use

Holy Cross lets you size solar to produce up to 200% of your account's previous 12 months of electricity use. For new construction, Holy Cross estimates your use (Holy Cross). That headroom matters if you're planning a heat pump, an EV or a hot tub. You can size for the house you'll have, not just the bills you had.

Bigger isn't automatically better, though. The next section explains why.

Net metering: full credit up to your annual use

Holy Cross gives 100% retail credit for solar you send to the grid, as long as it offsets your annual consumption. Anything beyond that is credited at a wholesale rate (Holy Cross rates). In practice, solar sized close to what you'll really use earns the most per panel. Oversizing well past your use mostly earns wholesale credit.

One April 2026 change to know: solar net-metering members now pay a monthly Demand Charge, like every other member. For Small Residential accounts it's new, at $1.00 per kW of your highest 15-minute demand each month (Holy Cross rates). Running the dryer, oven and EV charger at the same time on a winter evening sets that peak. Spreading those loads out, or letting a battery cover them, keeps it down.

The battery incentives: where the real money is

Holy Cross offers two battery paths, and you pick one (Holy Cross):

• Power+ or Power+FLEX: $500 per enrolled kW of battery capacity, up to $12,500.
• Time of Use rate: the lesser of $250 per kW or $100 per kWh of battery capacity, capped at $12,500.

The member limit for battery incentives is $15,000, separate from the solar limit (Holy Cross). Portable batteries and vehicle-to-home setups don't qualify.

Power+FLEX also pays a monthly bill credit of $10.60 per kW of enrolled battery capacity. In exchange, Holy Cross can draw on part of your battery during peak hours, usually between 4 and 9 p.m., no more than 10 times a month (Holy Cross Power+FLEX). Your enrolled share is chosen when you apply and can't be changed later.

A worked example with one battery

Most of our battery installs use the Enphase IQ Battery 10C. Enphase rates each unit at 10 kWh of usable capacity and 7.08 kVA of continuous power (Enphase). Here's how the two paths compare for one unit:

• Time of Use path: $250 × 7.08 kW = $1,770, or $100 × 10 kWh = $1,000. You get the lesser: about $1,000.
• Power+FLEX path: if the battery's full 7.08 kW were enrolled, $500 × 7.08 = about $3,540 up front, plus monthly bill credits. Enrolling a smaller share pays less, and Holy Cross confirms the enrolled amount.

On paper, Power+FLEX pays more. But the two paths treat your bill differently. Time of Use members don't pay a demand charge, and off-peak energy costs much less than on-peak (Holy Cross rates). We walk through that trade-off in Power+FLEX or Time of Use: picking a path for your home battery.

Either way, a battery keeps your chosen circuits running when the grid goes down. That matters for homes up the Crystal River toward Marble and on long rural lines outside Basalt. See our battery backup options and our post on fire-season power shutoffs.

Not on Holy Cross? Check your bill first

Four main electric utilities serve the valley, and the rules differ:

• Xcel Energy serves parts of Garfield County, including homes around Silt. Its residential time-of-use on-peak window is weekdays from 5 to 9 p.m., excluding holidays (Xcel Energy). That makes a battery useful on winter evenings. More in Xcel time-of-use rates and home batteries.
• Glenwood Springs Electric customers in Glenwood Springs face a city limit of 10 kW for net-metered residential solar (City of Glenwood Springs). We confirm current rules with the city before design.
• City of Aspen Electric serves part of Aspen. Holy Cross serves the rest. Projects that add solar or batteries on the city system need city review first (City of Aspen).

Holy Cross also serves New Castle and the area east of the Garfield County Airport. Its Rifle East Feeder reopened to new solar applications in February 2026 after system upgrades (Holy Cross). Holy Cross is also the electric co-op for much of Eagle County.

What about plug-in solar?

A new Colorado law allows small plug-in ("balcony") solar systems up to 1.92 kW, one per address. Excess power from them isn't eligible for net metering credit, and Holy Cross asks to be notified when you install one (Holy Cross plug-in solar). They can make sense for renters and condo owners. For a house, a permanent system earns full net metering credit and the incentives above.

Is it worth it?

The answer depends on your utility, your rate, your roof and how you use power. Solar tends to pencil out best for valley homes that:

• Use a lot of electricity, or plan to add a heat pump or EV.
• Have a roof that won't need replacing soon. If it will, do the roof first. See roof first or solar first.
• Want backup power, where the Holy Cross battery incentive recovers a real share of the cost.
• Plan to stay in the house for years.

It's weaker for heavily shaded lots or if you expect to move soon. We'd rather tell you that up front.

Next step

Send us 12 months of electric bills. We'll show you the system size, the price and the Holy Cross incentives for your address, and we'll handle the approval letter before any work starts. Call (970) 963-1060 or request a free quote.

Incentive amounts and utility rules change, and Holy Cross funding is first-come, first-served. Figures were checked against Holy Cross, Xcel, Enphase and city sources in November 2026. Confirm current terms with your utility before you sign.