Austin Energy unveiled its first commercial rooftop solar installation under the Solar Standard Offer program on December 3, 2025, marking a significant step in the city’s clean energy expansion as Texas faces unprecedented electricity demand growth.
The 812-panel installation on a northeast Austin warehouse rooftop can generate nearly 660,000 kilowatt-hours of solar power annually, enough to power approximately 60 homes for a full year.
Solar Standard Offer Program
The program, announced in November 2024, allows commercial property owners to either host solar panels on their rooftops or lease their roof space to third-party solar developers at no upfront cost. Property owners generate passive income while the energy produced is sold to Austin Energy and fed directly into the city’s grid.
“This first-of-its-kind approach empowers property owners, solar developers and the Austin community to work together toward a carbon-free future,” said Richard Genece, Austin Energy Vice President for Customer Energy Solutions.
Solar system owner Radial Power and contractor Axis Solar completed the inaugural project. Austin Energy compensates solar panel owners based on electricity production, with rates of $0.1124 per kilowatt-hour for systems under 1 megawatt and $0.0841 per kilowatt-hour for larger systems.
Growing Electricity Demand
The solar expansion comes as ERCOT tracks approximately 226 gigawatts of large loads seeking grid interconnection, with data centers accounting for 73 percent of requests. ERCOT has received 225 new large load interconnection requests in 2025, representing a 270 percent increase in megawatt demand since January.
“We have an incredible amount of rooftop solar potential here in Austin—thousands of megawatts—but most of it has been unutilized because of the financial barrier for actually getting that solar installed,” Austin City Councilmember Jose “Chito” Vela noted.
2035 Climate Plan
The Solar Standard Offer program supports Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2035, unanimously adopted by Austin City Council in December 2024. The plan aims to reach 405 megawatts of installed local solar capacity by 2035, including 160 megawatts of existing capacity.
The plan provides a path toward 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2035 while incorporating reliability, affordability, environmental sustainability, and energy equity priorities.
