MORE SUN AND WIND THAN EXPECTED

Xcel Energy is not only ready to take on more New Energy projects (150 megawatts of wind and 25 megawatts of solar), it is ready to push wind and solar to the next level by taking on wind and solar projects with storage capabilities.

This is further evidence of how policy drives corporate action.

Xcel’s increase in New Energy capacity followed from a 2004 Colorado ballot measure establishing minimum New Energy requirements for state utilities and a 2006 legislative initiative doubling those requirements.

1,100 megawatts of Xcel’s Colorado 7,715 megawatt system is now wind. Wind and solar make up 10% of the utility’s total mix and it expects to be at 20% by 2015, 5 years ahead of the policy requirement.

Stan Lewandowski, general manager of Intermountain Rural Electric Association (Colorado’s biggest rural electric coop), remains a skeptic about New Energy due to its intermittency.

Mark Stutz, spokesman, Xcel: "That's a fair assessment…Wind and solar still remain, as of today, intermittent generating resources that require some degree of backup generation that's fossil fuel."

The truth is that all forms of electricity generation are at times interrupted and require back-up but fossil fuel and nuclear sources’ unpredictable interruptions occasionally cause massive blackouts while wind and solar intermittencies are predictable and manageable by planners.

In response to skeptics like Lewandowski, Xcel is doing a study on the costs of integrating wind onto the grid.

And is developing sources that have storage capability.

click to enlarge

Wind, solar bids surpass expectations; Developers give Xcel plans for 2,800 megawatts
Greg Chakrabarty, November 4, 2008 (Rocky Mountain News)

WHO
Xcel Energy (Mark Stutz, spokesman); Colorado Public Utilities Commission; Leslie Glustrom, founder, Clean Energy Action

WHAT
Planning to expand its New Energy capacity, Xcel asked for up to 150 megawatts of wind projects and got bids for 2,400 megawatts. It asked for 25 megawatts of solar projects and got bids for 400 megawatts.

Xcel is one of the leading U.S. utilities in solar energy development. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
- Xcel is presently negotiating with bidders and will choose its projects within months.
- Xcel wants the projects to be in operation by the last day of 2012.

WHERE
- Xcel Energy is the biggest utility in Colorado.
- Xcel Energy is based in Minnesota and serves many states throughout the Midwest and Mountain West.

WHY
- Xcel received the 2,400 megawatts of acceptable wind project bids from 16 developers.
- 400 megawatts of wind project bids were rejected for various reasons.
- Xcel received the 400 megawatts of solar project bids from 18 developers.
- After Xcel selects the projects it wants, the state’s PUC must approve the contracts.
- Factors affecting project choice: Cost, location, access to transmission and the record of the developer.
- Future plans include wind and solar projects with storage capability such as solar power plants.
- Rule of thumb: 1 megawatt of solar or wind capacity serves 250-to-300 houses.

Xcel is also one of the leading U.S. utilities in wind energy development. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
Leslie Glustrom, founder, Clean Energy Action: "What this bidding information tells us is what we know: Companies are ready to take advantage of Colorado's wind and solar resources, and they are putting solid bids on the table…This is the new energy economy, this is where our jobs will be, and we will build the state's economy around it…"