Colorado's DDG program opens first competitive solar bid — SkimNews
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- Colorado's Public Utilities Commission approved a Dispatchable Distributed Generation (DDG) program requiring the state's larger investor-owned utilities — mainly Xcel Energy — to buy at least 50 megawatts per year of community-scale solar co-located with mid-scale batteries in 2026 and 2027.
- Xcel Energy issued the nation's first competitive solicitation under the DDG program a few weeks ago, the source reports.
- Colorado's average energy bill has grown more than 27% in the last five years while state energy demand is projected to surge 57% over the next two decades, framing the urgency behind the new program.
- Unlike traditional procurement, the DDG program evaluates bids on the value they provide to the electric system — geographic benefits and overall grid impact — rather than generation cost alone.
- Approved projects are mid-scale (1–5 MW), co-locating solar with batteries and plugging directly into the local distribution grid to avoid costly transmission build-out.
- The program was crafted by a broad coalition including Xcel Energy, the Colorado Energy Office, consumer advocates, environmental organizations, and solar and storage developers — a structure the author argues should serve as a national template.
Why it matters: Colorado ratepayers facing a 27%+ bill jump and a projected 57% demand surge now have a concrete procurement mechanism that taps competitive private developers to deliver grid capacity years faster and at lower cost than utility-owned infrastructure alone, per Common Charge's executive director.
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