The Colorado Public Utilities Fee on Wednesday scaled again Xcel Vitality’s formidable and costly plan to construct $15 billion in new era and transmission, suspending some initiatives and trimming about $3 billion.
“Delaying a few of the new era would permit us to higher perceive the fee, worth, timing and wish for the brand new transmission earlier than we’re dedicated to constructing it,” PUC Chairman Eric Clean stated.
Xcel Vitality, the state’s largest electrical energy supplier with 1.6 million electrical clients, had proposed a plan to construct 7,100 megawatts of recent era, primarily wind, photo voltaic and storage, plus practically $3 billion in new transmission traces.
The choice portfolio of initiatives accredited by the PUC features a little greater than 5,800 MW of recent era and far much less transmission.
Underneath Xcel Vitality’s plan, two-thirds of the era capability would have been owned by Xcel Vitality and paid for by clients. Within the different plan, the possession is nearer to a 50-50 cut up between the corporate and unbiased energy producers, or IPPs.
Impartial energy producers construct their very own energy crops, wind farms and photo voltaic arrays and promote electrical energy to Xcel Vitality underneath contract.
“We’re nonetheless approving on this case virtually 6,000 megawatts of recent era,” Clean stated, “… representing over $12 billion in invested capital with extra prone to shortly comply with up.”
Xcel Vitality is scheduled to supply one other solicitation for initiatives subsequent summer time.
The PUC additionally adopted a efficiency incentive mechanism, which is able to maintain Xcel Vitality to the estimated value for its initiatives.
“We admire the commissioners’ measured method,” stated Cindy Schonhaut, director of the Colorado Workplace of Utility Shopper Advocate. “They tilted in favor of completion and treating the corporate extra prefer it was an IPP.”
“That is favorable to customers,” Schonhaut stated.
The corporate’s electrical useful resource plan should display how the utility will meet demand over the subsequent 4 years.
As well as this yr a part of the proposal was a clear power plan displaying the way it reduce greenhouse fuel emission 80% over 2005 ranges. Each the corporate’s plan and the PUC plan meet that purpose largely counting on the closure of three coal-fired crops.
“We admire the dialogue on the fee and its verbal approval of components of our proposed clear power plan,” Xcel Vitality stated in an announcement.
“Whereas the accredited plan will increase renewable power to 77% of our power portfolio by 2030, our up to date most well-liked plan provides higher advantages for patrons by including extra renewables (83% of our power portfolio by 2030), capturing extra federal tax {dollars}, decreasing extra carbon emissions over time and is healthier for our union coworkers,” Xcel Vitality stated.
One of many massive issues was the fee and time of the proposed $3 billion in new transmission traces, which was necessitated by Xcel Vitality increasing its plan within the final yr to permit it to seize $10 billion in federal tax credit.
The worth tag was six instances increased than the corporate’s authentic estimate for transmission. “We have been all shocked,” Commissioner Tom Plant stated.
“We now have plenty of transmission the place we’re liberating up capability by way of closures, and I want to see how we will greatest make the most of that capability earlier than we begin constructing new capability,” Plant stated.
The opposite problem the fee had with transmission was the timing of constructing traces relative to the development of wind and photo voltaic services. If the traces are delayed, era might be stranded or curtailed.
In Xcel Vitality’s most well-liked plan, modeling projected a 15% curtailment price. Within the PUC plan, it’s 5%.
“The up to date most well-liked plan had excessive ranges of curtailment,” Commissioner Megan Gilman stated. “Ratepayers pay for that, you already know, and so I feel it’s vital to us and it’s our precedence to make sure that the cash that we’re seeing invested on behalf of the ratepayers is spent as properly as attainable.”
“A few of our neighbors are already struggling to pay their utility payments,” Gilman stated. “I can’t say that’s a very good use of their cash.”
Clean stated that every one the era proposed by Xcel Vitality will finally be wanted, and he stated that the useful resource plan is just one factor that shall be driving charges.
“I’d wish to ask the corporate to supply us with a complete long-term price evaluation that absolutely consists of the entire investments that the corporate is claiming to the monetary group that it’s going to make in Colorado,” Clean stated.
Among the many potential bills that would impression charges, Clean stated, are new distribution traces, wildfire mitigation, upgrades to transmission traces and calls for created as transportation goes electrical, extra buildings convert heating to electrical energy and extra distributed renewable era, reminiscent of rooftop photo voltaic and photo voltaic gardens, is constructed.