{"id":7143,"date":"2021-12-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gridalt.wpenginepowered.com\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T17:02:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:02:03","slug":"colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard: What\u2019s That?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colorado has ambitious greenhouse-gas reduction goals<\/a>, and the state\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard (RES)\u2014sometimes called a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)\u2014is a big part of those. The state\u2019s favorable RES laws also make it easy for homeowners to benefit from free solar panels. Here\u2019s what you should know\u2014<\/p>\n

What Is a Renewable Energy Standard?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A RES is a law<\/a> that requires utility companies, such as Xcel, to source a certain amount of the electricity sold from renewable sources, such as wind or solar. Usually, these requirements are tiered and the targets increase over time. For example, a state may require its utility companies to increase the amount of energy sourced from renewables by three percent per year for 10 years. More than half of states in the country have RES\/RPS standards! There is currently no federal RES\/RPS in place. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s the RES in Colorado? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s RES<\/a> applies to investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, and rural electric coops. While some states limit the types of energy considered \u201crenewable\u201d under the standard, Colorado\u2019s law is generous: in addition to wind and solar, geothermal energy, hydroelectric energy, and even things like biomass and landfill gas are accepted. Under the law, investor-owned utilities were required to meet a standard of 30 percent of energy coming from renewable sources<\/strong> by 2020 (Xcel actually hit that number one year ahead of the deadline, in 2019<\/a>). For utilities serving 500,000 or more customers, the RES standard requires that they transition to 100 percent clean energy by 2050. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Why Is a RES Important for Residential Solar Customers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having aggressive RES targets like those in Colorado incentivize utility companies to transition to clean energy, and homeowners with solar panels can help in the process. When a resident has solar panels on their home, they actually return unused energy to the grid (the utility) through net metering.<\/a> Customers will then earn Renewable Energy Credits <\/a>(RECs), which are credited to customers\u2019 virtual \u201csolar banks\u201d and then applied to customers\u2019 bills when their generation from the grid exceeds their generation from their panels. Thanks to favorable RES laws, solar panel-owning homeowners, the state, and utility companies have shared renewable energy goals, allowing them to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. <\/p>\n

Learn More About Free Solar with GRID Alternatives Today <\/strong>
\nIf you\u2019re interested in learning more about RES, how solar works, or how to get free solar panels on your home<\/a>, reach out to our outreach team today! We\u2019re thrilled to be part of the transition to a renewable energy future. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado’s RES incentivizes utility companies to source energy from renewables. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5979,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[],"region":[64],"series":[],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-7143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","content-type-news","region-colorado"],"acf":{"hero_media_type":"image","hero_media_image":null,"hero_media_url":"","hero_media_poster":null,"hero_video_play":"inline","related_stories":null,"pattern_override":null,"story_callouts":null,"media":null,"featured_blog_post":null,"featured_event":null,"pdf_download":null,"blockquote":null,"author":null,"notice":null,"social_embed":null,"contact_card":null,"meta_details":null,"faq":null,"table":null},"yoast_head":"\nColorado\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard: What\u2019s That? - GRID Alternatives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Colorado's RES incentivizes utility companies to source energy from renewables.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colorado\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard: What\u2019s That? - GRID Alternatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Colorado's RES incentivizes utility companies to source energy from renewables.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GRID Alternatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-15T05:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-16T21:02:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/29711608371_861807d546_o.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"283\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Colorado\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard: What\u2019s That?\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-15T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-16T21:02:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":429,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/29711608371_861807d546_o.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"es\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colorado\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard: What\u2019s That? - GRID Alternatives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/29711608371_861807d546_o.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-15T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-16T21:02:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"description\":\"Colorado's RES incentivizes utility companies to source energy from renewables.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/29711608371_861807d546_o.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/29711608371_861807d546_o.jpg\",\"width\":425,\"height\":283,\"caption\":\"An enormous community solar field with a group of Wells Fargo volunteers in front\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/the-current\\\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Colorado\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard: What\u2019s That?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/\",\"name\":\"GRID Alternatives\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Colorado\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard: What\u2019s That? - GRID Alternatives","description":"Colorado's RES incentivizes utility companies to source energy from renewables.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/","og_locale":"es_MX","og_type":"article","og_title":"Colorado\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard: What\u2019s That? - GRID Alternatives","og_description":"Colorado's RES incentivizes utility companies to source energy from renewables.","og_url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/","og_site_name":"GRID Alternatives","article_published_time":"2021-12-15T05:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-16T21:02:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":425,"height":283,"url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/29711608371_861807d546_o.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutos"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Colorado\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard: What\u2019s That?","datePublished":"2021-12-15T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-16T21:02:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/"},"wordCount":429,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/29711608371_861807d546_o.jpg","articleSection":["Uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"es"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/","url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/","name":"Colorado\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard: What\u2019s That? - GRID Alternatives","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/29711608371_861807d546_o.jpg","datePublished":"2021-12-15T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-16T21:02:03+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"description":"Colorado's RES incentivizes utility companies to source energy from renewables.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/29711608371_861807d546_o.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/29711608371_861807d546_o.jpg","width":425,"height":283,"caption":"An enormous community solar field with a group of Wells Fargo volunteers in front"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/the-current\/colorados-renewable-energy-standard-whats\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Colorado\u2019s Renewable Energy Standard: What\u2019s That?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/#website","url":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/","name":"GRID Alternatives","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7143"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10473,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7143\/revisions\/10473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7143"},{"taxonomy":"audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience?post=7143"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=7143"},{"taxonomy":"focus-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/focus-area?post=7143"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=7143"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=7143"},{"taxonomy":"content-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-author?post=7143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}