Xcel under fire for solar proposal

August 6, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

Renewable energy advocates, businesses and environmental groups joined together to urge the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to reject a new proposal from Xcel Energy that the advocates say would discourage rooftop solar growth in its territory.

Credit: Tom Gray, National Park Service/Wikimedia Commons

Xcel's 2014 Renewable Energy Standard compliance plan proposal "takes aim at net metering" and does not "fairly value" the benefits of rooftop solar, according to the advocate groups, including Advanced Energy Economy, Clean Energy Action, Clean Power Finance, COSEIA (Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association), EnergyShouldBe.org, Environment Colorado, SEIA, Sierra Club, and Vote Solar. Several solar manufacturers are also part of the opposition.

Xcel told The Denver Post that it Xcel has not proposed the way in which it wants to change the net metering credit, but is raising the issue for a full and transparent discussion on costs and benefits.

In a filing to the (CPUC), Xcel calculated that while homeowners with rooftop solar receive 10.5 cents for every kilowatt-hour they put on the grid (equal of the base rate charged to residential customers) they are only providing 4.6 cents of benefits, according to The Denver Post.

According to the groups, the calculations are based on a contested study that has not undergone public or commission review. They cite their own studies as a better standard.

"To increase energy self-reliance, clean our air, and fight climate disruption, Coloradans know solar energy represents a better path forward," said Bryce Carter with the Sierra Club Colorado Beyond Coal Campaign. "In fact, a poll we conducted earlier this year showed a majority -- nearly 60 percent -- of Colorado voters agrees (sic) it's important to have clean energy powering their homes. We encourage the Public Utilities Commission to act in the interest of its citizens and not a monopoly utility when considering Xcel's proposal."

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