Xcel's Electric Resource Plan Heads to Public Utilities Commission
After months of judicial proceedings involving thousands of pages of testimony, Xcel Energy's proposed Electric Resource Plan (Proceeding 21A-0141E) is coming to a head, with Colorado's response to climate change playing a key role.
In November, the utility filed a proposed settlement that has the support of Denver, Boulder, the Colorado Solar and Storage Association, labor groups and others. But conservation groups including the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Colorado Renewable Energy Society do not endorse the settlement. Nor do some independent power producers and large power consumers.
Key disagreements are over issues such as how much longer Xcel should be permitted to burn coal, which is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas pollution, and whether to build new natural gas plants, or work harder to use renewables when the most power is needed. Some are also concerned that the commission does not have adequate information to assure that emissions reductions that are promised will actually happen under the new proposals.
At a hearing December 2, dozens of members of the public questioned whether the proposal is in the public interest. Many argued that Xcel should bear some of the cost of past poor decisions such as building the ill-performing Pueblo Unit 3 coal plant, rather than expect ratepayers to bear all the costs. Another major issue is how to ramp down the Pueblo Unit 3 plant before retirement.
The three members of the Public Utilities Commission will make a final determination after a hearing that is scheduled from December 8 until 17, if necessary.
