When it comes to Xcel, where do hundreds of millions of dollars come from?
By Cortney Crouch On April 12, 2016, the Denver Business Journal published an article, “Xcel, Vestas to build Colorado’s biggest wind farm,” in which David Eves, the President and CEO of Public Service Company of Colorado, stated that the newly announced 600-MW wind farm that PSCo would be building in partnership with Vestas would mean […]
March 3 Colorado Energy Cheat Sheet: EPA’s McCarthy ‘good news about Gold King’; a Tesla will improve your ‘quality of life’
March 3 Colorado Energy Cheat Sheet
Sputtering Wind Energy Prompts Transmission Cost Concerns from Xcel
Growing transmission costs for wind-generated electricity have prompted Xcel Energy to seek approval for rate hikes to smaller utilities using Xcel’s transmission lines to reach their consumers: Xcel wants the utilities to pay for its costs associated with having supplies of reserve power ready to go in case the wind suddenly dies, said Terri Eaton, […]
The Great Solar Rip-Off: By the Numbers
According to Xcel Energy’s regulatory filings, the utility spent $275 million in ratepayer subsidies for customer-sited solar panel systems from 2008-2012.* That breaks down to: $196 Cost of these solar subsidies for each of Xcel Energy’s 1.4 million Colorado customers. .7% Percentage of Xcel Energy customers (approximately 9,200) that benefit from lower electricity rates by […]
Eco-left prepares to double down on renewable mandate
By Peter Blake This column appeared originally on Complete Colorado Page 2. When the runners are closing in on the finish line, move the tape farther back. That’s the usual strategy employed by greens when it comes to establishing renewable energy standards for electricity production. It’s a marathon that never ends, and the added cost […]
Don’t Trust Studies Written by Wind Energy Lobbyists
Colorado is home to 5,000 wind energy jobs, according to a new, totally unbiased report from the American Wind Energy Association, this country’s premier wind energy lobby. Of course, the study is bogus. I wish I could tell you how the books were cooked. Unfortunately, I can’t read the report, because the AWEA put it […]
Gross Dereliction of Duty at the PUC
Under Colorado’s green energy production quota, also known as a Renewable Electricity Standard, the cost of acquiring renewable energy like wind and solar power is limited to 2 percent of annual electricity sales. The rules are very clear on this matter. According to the Public Utilities Commission’s Rule 3661(h)iv, “to the extent the RES plan […]
In 2011, the New Energy Economy Will Cost Coloradans…
For all the ink that Colorado’s public officials have spilled on the subject of the New Energy Economy, there’s been little discussion of its cost. Ex-Governor Bill Ritter, for example, recently took to the pages of the New York Times to brag about his energy legacy. While he made an unsubstantiated claim about creating “thousands […]
Xcel’s Green Energy Accounting: Even Worse than I First Thought
In a recent post, I explained how Xcel maneuvers around the 2 percent annual rate cap on green energy spending. In a nutshell, the utility avoids the rate cap with accounting tricks that function to underestimate the cost of renewable energy and overestimate the cost convention energy. Thus, Xcel suppresses the annual “incremental cost” of […]
Fact of the Day: Xcel’s Projected Revenues Far Exceed Projected Sales
Through 2020, Xcel projects energy sales to increase an average of 1.1 percent annually, but it projects sales revenue to increase 4.7 percent annually, according to its 2009 Renewable Electricity Standard compliance plan. Why would revenue outpace sales by such a significant margin? The answer, of course, is that green energy costs more than conventional […]
In Addition to Being Cost-Ineffective, Xcel’s Solar*Rewards Subsidy Is Regressive
In addition to being cost-effective—even by solar power’s expensive standards—Xcel’s controversial Solar*Rewards subsidy program is also regressive. That is, it’s a subsidy for the rich, borne disproportionately by the poor. Elsewhere, I discuss how Solar*Rewards program, a far-too-generous subsidy for the installation of solar photovoltaic panels, became a political hot potato in Colorado (for a […]
Preview of PUC Deliberations on Solar*Rewards Program
At 11:00 AM this morning, the PUC will take up Docket No. 11A-135E, “In the Matter of the Application of Public Service Company of Colorado for Approval of a Reduction in the Standard Rebate Offer.” In less lawyerly terms, the hearing is on Xcel’s request to lower solar subsidies. The issue is a political hot-potato […]
