What Xcel power really costs per kWh
The cost per kWh
A Denver home on Xcel pays about 19 cents per kilowatt-hour once everything on the bill is counted. That's close to double the base rates Xcel advertises, which run from about 7¢ to 21¢ depending on the season and time of day.
The gap comes from riders: separate charges, each approved by state regulators, that cover fuel, energy-efficiency programs, wildfire prevention, and more.
These numbers come from a real Denver home's Xcel bills for September and October 2026: $383.11 in electric charges for 1,943 kWh. Leave out the $7.10 monthly charge (about $7.69 once the franchise fee and sales tax are added to it), and that's 18.9¢ per kWh. Winter months run somewhat lower, because winter base rates are lower.
At a glance
Riders, fees and taxes nearly double the base rate
What one kWh cost a Denver home on Xcel, Sept–Oct 2026, in cents
From two Xcel bills, Sept–Oct 2026: 1,943 kWh, $383.11 in electric charges. The $7.10 monthly charge is left out.
The base rate is only about half of what each kWh costs. The rest is riders, which regulators approve one by one, plus your city's franchise fee and taxes.
Base rates: the number Xcel advertises
The base rate is the price per kWh set in Xcel's rate schedules. Most Denver homes are on one of two plans:
| Plan | When | Summer (Jun–Sep) | Winter (Oct–May) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time of use, on-peak | 5–9 p.m. weekdays | 21.277¢ | 18.331¢ |
| Time of use, off-peak | All other hours | 7.884¢ | 6.792¢ |
| Flat rate | All day | 10.380¢ | 8.570¢ |
Source: Xcel Energy. Xcel itself notes these are base rates only, and that bills add riders, fees, and taxes on top.
Time of use is the default. You can switch to the flat rate any time in My Account. Our net metering guide explains why that switch often pays for homes with solar.
The riders: where the rest comes from
A rider is a charge that sits outside the base rate so Xcel can adjust it on its own schedule, often quarterly or yearly, without a full rate case. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission approves each rider when it's created, often in its own proceeding: the wildfire rider, for example, came out of Xcel's Wildfire Mitigation Plan case.
After that, Xcel changes the amounts by filing updated rates with 30 days' notice (C.R.S. 40-3-104); the fuel charge, for instance, resets every quarter. Those updates take effect on schedule unless the PUC suspends them and orders a hearing, which it can do on its own or after a complaint (C.R.S. 40-6-111). The fuel and purchased-capacity charges also get an annual prudence review, where the PUC checks after the fact that the costs Xcel passed through were reasonable.
Most are charged as a percentage of your base energy charge, so they grow when base rates grow.
| Rider (as shown on your bill) | What it pays for | How it's charged | On Sept–Oct 2026 bills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electric Commodity Adjustment (ECA) | Fuel for Xcel's power plants and power it buys from others | % of base energy charge, reset quarterly | 29.0–29.4% |
| Demand Side Mgmt (DSMCA) | Xcel's energy-efficiency rebates and programs | % of base energy charge | 10.9% |
| Wildfire Adj | Xcel's 2025–2027 wildfire plan, approved in 2025 at about $1.9 billion | % of base energy charge | 7.44% |
| PurchCapCostAdj (PCCA) | Power-plant capacity Xcel contracts from other owners | % of base energy charge | 4.65% |
| Trans Cost Adj (TCA) | High-voltage transmission lines | % of base energy charge | 2.9% |
| Trans Elec Plan | Xcel's EV charging programs | % of base energy charge | 1.9% |
| Grid Mod Adj | Upgrades to the local distribution grid | % of base energy charge | 0.94% |
| GRSA E | The 2026 rate-case increase, applied before base rates are formally reset | Cents per kWh | 1.452¢ |
| Clean Energy Plan Rev | New generation under Xcel's 2021 Clean Energy Plan | Share of the bill | about 1.2% |
| Renew. Energy Std Adj | Colorado's renewable energy programs | Share of the bill | 1% |
| Colo Energy Plan Adj | Early retirement of Xcel's coal plants | Share of the bill | 1% |
| Energy Assistance Chg | Bill help for income-qualified households, required by state law | Flat monthly amount | about $0.83 |
| Franchise Fee | Your city's charge for running power lines through public streets | % of the electric subtotal; set by your city | 3% (Denver) |
| Sales Tax | Local sales taxes | % of the subtotal plus franchise fee; varies by city | about 5.1% (Denver) |
Percentages are approximate, taken from a recent Denver bill. Xcel updates riders throughout the year, so your bill is the best source of truth. Some riders, like the ECA, can also move down when fuel prices fall.
Charge we leave out
Service & Facility charge: $7.10 a month. You pay it whether you use 50 kWh or 1,500. It covers your meter, billing, and connection to the grid. With the franchise fee and sales tax added on top, it comes to about $7.69. Because it doesn't depend on usage, and solar can't reduce it, we leave it out of the per-kWh price. Everything else on the electric bill, including the franchise fee and taxes, is counted in the 18.9¢.
Find your own price in two minutes
Your real price per kWh is easy to work out from any Xcel bill:
- Find the electric section of the bill. If you also get gas from Xcel, ignore that section.
- Take the total electric charges, including riders, fees and taxes.
- Subtract the $7.10 Service & Facility charge.
- Divide by the kWh you used that month.
That's what each kilowatt-hour really cost you. Do it for a summer bill and a winter bill, since summer rates run higher. You can also download 12 months of bills from My Account for a full-year average.
Why the price keeps rising
In the 2026 rate case, PUC's staff found that Xcel's Colorado electric rates had gone up eight times since September 2023, for a total increase of about 22%, more than three times the rate of inflation. Most of those increases came through riders rather than base-rate changes (Colorado Sun, reporting on the PUC staff filing).
Increases come through two channels:
- Rate cases. Every few years Xcel asks the Public Utilities Commission to raise base rates. In its latest case, filed November 2025, Xcel asked for $356 million a year, about a 9.9% increase for homes. The PUC approved $157 million, adding about $5 a month (4.77%) to a typical bill starting August 29, 2026.
- Riders. Between rate cases, riders rise on their own as costs come in. PUC staff flagged in the 2026 case that more and more of Xcel's costs are being recovered through riders. The wildfire plan alone was projected to add close to $9 a month to a typical bill by 2028.
What this means for solar
The all-in price is the right number for judging solar, not the base rate. When your panels offset a kWh, you avoid the base rate and the per-kWh riders on it. Xcel credits net-metered solar at the base energy rate plus riders charged per kWh. So a solar kWh is worth close to the 19¢ you really pay, not the 7–10¢ on the rate sheet. The fixed $7.10 charge is the one piece solar doesn't touch.
It also means rising rates work in solar's favor. Every new rider or rate increase makes the power your roof produces worth a little more. How much depends on your rate plan; our net metering guide walks through time of use versus the flat rate.
Open Sun is built on this math. We install and maintain panels on your roof for $0 down and one flat monthly fee, sized so the total comes in at least 20% under what you pay Xcel today. If Xcel's rates keep climbing, the gap grows.
Common questions
What is Xcel's price per kWh in Denver? Base rates run 6.8¢ to 21.3¢ depending on season, time of day, and plan. With riders, fees and taxes, recent Denver bills come to about 19¢ per kWh.
Why is my bill higher than the rate times my usage? Because the advertised rate is only the base rate. Riders for fuel, efficiency programs, wildfire prevention and more are added on top, then the franchise fee and taxes.
Is Xcel raising rates again? The latest electric increase took effect August 29, 2026, adding about $5 a month to a typical bill. Riders change throughout the year, and Xcel files new rate cases every few years.
Can I lower my price per kWh? Your rate plan matters: shifting use away from 5–9 p.m. on weekdays helps on time of use, and the flat rate can be better if you can't. Producing your own power with solar avoids most of the per-kWh charges altogether.
Sources
- Xcel Energy: Time of Use: current base rates and the $7.10 Service & Facility charge
- Xcel Energy: Colorado residential rates brochure: rider names and how each is charged
- Xcel Energy: Solar Bank Election Form: solar credits valued at base energy rate plus per-kWh riders
- Colorado PUC: Xcel electric rate decision, August 2026
- Colorado Sun: Residential bills rise $5 a month: typical bill, 22.2% increase since 2023
- Colorado Sun: Xcel rate increase settlement, June 2026: PUC staff on growing rider recovery
- Colorado PUC: Wildfire Mitigation Plan approval