What the pilot rate is
Xcel's standard time-of-use rate with two winter changes, October through May: the monthly service charge rises from $7.10 to $20.00, and off-peak power drops from 6.79 to 4.09 cents per kWh. Summer is unchanged.
Xcel's PUC filing found heat pump homes use about 315 kWh (56 percent) more per month in winter. Lawmakers told Xcel to test a heating rate that other customers do not subsidize. A higher fixed charge and a lower per-kWh price is how it squared that: homes that use a lot of off-peak power win, homes that use little lose.
Who can enroll
Xcel residential customers who received an Xcel heat pump rebate between January 1, 2022 and May 31, 2026, have an advanced meter, and do not have net metering. Solar homes are out.
Enrollment happens only in windows Xcel opens; the late-August email was one. Service starts around October 1, 2026. A rebate that posted after May 31 does not qualify yet.
The charges side by side
Base rates from tariff sheets 108 to 108B. Riders are added on top of each.
- Winter charge (Oct 1 to May 31)
- Service and facility, per month
- Standard RE-TOU
- $7.10
- Pilot R-ESH
- $20.00
- Winter charge (Oct 1 to May 31)
- Off-peak energy, per kWh
- Standard RE-TOU
- $0.06792
- Pilot R-ESH
- $0.04090
- Winter charge (Oct 1 to May 31)
- On-peak energy, per kWh (weekdays 5 to 9 pm)
- Standard RE-TOU
- $0.18331
- Pilot R-ESH
- $0.18331
On-peak is unchanged, so weekday 5 to 9 pm use does not enter the decision. The trade is $12.90 more in fixed charges against 2.702 cents less on every off-peak kWh.
The breakeven, and a calculator
$12.90 divided by $0.02702 is about 477 off-peak kWh a month. Above that the pilot is cheaper; below it costs you. Off-peak kWh is its own line on any winter bill.
Pilot Rate Breakeven
From a January or February bill, the off-peak line.
On-peak costs the same on both rates, so it does not change the result.
Base-rate difference, each winter month
Saves $0.61
About $4.88 saved over the eight winter months if each one used this much; real months vary, so run January and April separately. Breakeven is 477 off-peak kWh.
Base rates only. Riders on your bill scale with energy use, so the real saving at the same kWh is larger: Xcel's own example at 763 off-peak kWh shows $7.71 on base rates and $18.22 on the total bill.
Xcel's example (example, bills vary): 763 off-peak kWh saves $7.71 on base rates and $18.22 on the total bill, because riders scale with the energy charges. So 477 is conservative. Across its load study Xcel estimated about $19 a month in winter, with a wide spread.
Who comes out behind
Low winter use. A small, tight house can sit under 477 kWh in a mild month, and most homes do in October and May. The $12.90 lands every month regardless.
Heavy on-peak use. The discount applies only to off-peak hours. Moving setpoint changes to before 5 pm helps on either rate.
Solar, by rule.
Dual-fuel homes
Eligibility is by rebate receipt, not system type, so a dual-fuel home qualifies. Its off-peak kWh runs lower, because the furnace carries heating below the changeover temperature (about 25°F in the systems we set up, and an operating-cost setting, not a limit of the heat pump). Many will still clear 477 in January; some will not.
Cheaper off-peak power also lowers the temperature at which gas becomes the cheaper fuel, and gas rates rise 8.6 percent on October 6, 2026. If you enroll, revisit the changeover with our operating cost comparison.
How to opt in, and out
Use the link in Xcel's email while the window is open; Xcel's customer line is 800-895-4999. Opt out any time on 30 days' notice and you return to RE-TOU. If a winter bill on the pilot comes in higher than the same month last year, compare the off-peak line items, not the total: base electric rates also rose 4.77 percent on August 29, 2026.
Planning a heat pump and want the rebates handled?
We size for Denver heating loads, file Xcel and the state discount, and set the dual-fuel changeover for your rates.
What happens in 2027
Xcel must file a permanent electric heating rate by August 1, 2027, using pilot data and, it says, gas-bill savings. Homes with rebates after May 2026 would be addressed there. Until then this pilot is the only heat pump rate, and the window is Xcel's to open.
