Colorado’s Sunny Future for Solar: A Conversation With COSSA CEO K.C. Becker
The Third Installment of Our Brighter Future Interview Series
In Colorado, high solar potential has been met with willing residents and legislators, creating innovative opportunities for renewable energy. To further support the development of solar energy across sectors, from residential to utility scale, the Colorado Solar and Storage Association (COSSA) advocates for policies that promote sustainable energy practices and supports its members in creating a cleaner, greener future.
COSSA is a trade association supporting solar and battery storage across the state. The organization currently has about 230 members, from residential solar to large, utility-scale solar and manufacturers, professional services organizations, and distributors.
“Colorado has a great solar resource. We've got 300 sunny days a year, and we also have greenhouse gas reduction goals in statute that mean there's a lot of utility-scale solar happening in the state,” says K.C. Becker, COSSA CEO and former Colorado state legislator. “Generally, there’s a lot of support for renewable energy in Colorado, and we know that there's going to be policy moves we need to make to keep it friendly for that sector.”
Solaris has been a member of COSSA since its inception, and various executives have held Board of Directors positions over the years, including Nick Perugini, Solaris CEO and Co-Owner, who served as Board Chairman. Solaris has been a strong supporter of COSSA's work, attending and sponsoring conferences and events, and contributing through various committees for years.
Solaris has many operational and developing projects in Colorado and continues to work with our partners inside and outside the state to acquire and finance projects. Most recently, Solaris has been working with our partners to offer competitive bids for commercial and industrial (C&I) and utility projects around the state.
We spoke to K.C. for the third installment of our Brighter Future Interview Series, which features perspectives from solar leaders across the country. In the conversation below, she covers where Colorado's solar market stands today, the regulatory and legislative contests shaping its trajectory, the relationships between data centers and solar, and why industry voices like Solaris's matter to make progress in the years ahead. “We think that Colorado is a sunny place to be when it comes to the future for renewable energy,” K.C. says.
What is COSSA currently working on?
We are active with the Public Utilities Commission, run state legislation, and advocate in local governments. In each sector, we have a different focus. In our residential sector, our focus has been advancing meter collars, or meter socket adapters. This technology helps bring down the cost of residential solar and battery and helps integrate systems into a home. We also are busy on the residential side defending net metering. Colorado has a strong net-metering law that's been in place since 2004, but there's a large municipal utility proposing a rate that doesn't comply with the law.
We are trying to advance opportunities in Commercial and Industrial (C&I) solar, because Colorado does not have a strong commercial and industrial market for solar. We are holding a legislator tour this fall to help them understand why we don't have a stronger market and to get feedback from legislators with their thoughts. As in other states, Colorado currently has misaligned incentives and demand charges that make C&I development less robust here than in other states, so we're going to really explore that with legislators.
We also have spent a lot of time this past year trying to strengthen and improve interconnection, specifically with Community Solar Gardens (CSG) and inclusive community solar. We ran legislation this past year, House Bill 1225, that fixed a bill credit issue with community solar, but also created a process with Xcel Energy, which is the largest Investor-Owned Utility (IOU) in the state, to really explore how we can speed interconnection. One of the things that we're looking at is cluster studies for interconnection, and we're looking at having third parties, not the utility, work directly with CSG developers to do interconnection studies. We think doing that could help speed interconnection.
Colorado has a great solar resource.
Colorado has a great solar resource. We have 300 sunny days a year, and we also have greenhouse gas reduction goals in statute that mean there's a lot of utility-scale solar happening in the state. As that happens, we are seeing some pushback from rural areas about utility-scale solar. It has spurred some legislators to ask why aren't we seeing more solar in more urban areas, whether that's on buildings or carports or anything in between, and what can we do to incentivize that? We’re seeing interest from folks who want to learn how we could make it easier.
How are you seeing Colorado's post-Investment Tax Credit (ITC) solar development?
We see a rush to meet the deadlines as the ITC goes away and efforts to advance projects before that incentive goes away. In 2025, the governor directed the public utility commission (PUC) to do an accelerated procurement that was called the near-term procurement to take advantage of these tax credits, and that's happening now. Coal plants are also closing, and the PUC ordered a new docket, called the resource adequacy proceeding, which is basically asking: With these coal plant closures, is Xcel — the largest IOU in the state — ready with short-term procurements that can meet immediate shortfalls? We are active in that proceeding, and they're looking at resources that can really come online by 2027 or 2028 to address coal plant closures.
How does your legislative background shape how you're working with policymakers and moving the organization forward?
I believe a lot of solutions could lie in the legislature, but sometimes it's much easier to do something through the PUC or to work collaboratively with local governments. We are exploring all those avenues. For the first time, COSSA is really trying to put a briefing book together. A new governor will be elected in November, and we think that new administration is going to be curious about solar and storage. In the brief, we are including our asks, which are often just that we want a governor's office to hold utilities to account for the laws that are already on the books and help as we have implementation challenges.
Data centers, of course, are a hot topic. As Colorado starts to consider data center legislation, COSSA is looking to advocate that data centers help with the distribution system and incentivizing distributed energy. There's been legislation introduced for the last two years around data centers, trying to put guardrails in place for their development. Including, are they allowed to do behind-the-meter gas? What is their requirement in terms of renewable energy? Around water? One thing that we saw versions of in past bills, and want to see this coming year, is money set aside from data center coalitions that support more distribution-system-level renewable energy and battery storage support.
How do organizations like Solaris fit into COSSA's vision for the future of solar production and growth in Colorado?
There's going to be an ongoing need for companies like Solaris to participate in financing, in helping us as we make a transition to 100% renewable, affordable energy. We're continuing to see a lot of policy evolution on renewable energy, whether it's at the local government, at the PUC, or in the state legislature. We would love to see more opportunities, particularly for C&I. We know that there's going to be more opportunities for Dispatchable Distributed Generation (DDG) in Colorado — we passed legislation a couple of years ago and we had a docket at the PUC last year — but again, as we get more interest and pressure from legislators who are curious about how we do more in an urban landscape, we're going to have to learn how to innovate and make that a more successful program here.
There's going to be an ongoing need for companies like Solaris to participate in financing, in helping us as we make a transition to 100% renewable, affordable energy.
When companies like Solaris bring us their ideas about what’s important to work on, it really bolsters our direction and energy. Generally, there’s a lot of support for renewable energy in Colorado, and we know that there's going to be policy moves we need to make to keep it friendly for that sector. We think that Colorado is a sunny place to be when it comes to the future for renewable energy.
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