Xcel Energy told state regulators Tuesday it will be expensive to comply with a voter-approved requirement that some of its energy come from solar power.
Company officials told the Public Utilities Commission they’re concerned because of a cap on the costs that can be passed on to customers.
“This is really perceived by the company as an opportunity,” said Bob Hix of Xcel, noting that the Minneapolis-based utility is the country’s second-largest buyer of wind energy.
But he said Xcel is worried about costs and is concerned that it will be forced to reveal proprietary information when detailing its compliance with the law.
Xcel raised the cost concerns last fall, before voters approved Amendment 37 in November. A coalition of rural electric cooperatives also opposed the initiative.
“They’re having a hard time accepting that it’s been passed,” Tiffani Lennon, an Environment Colorado attorney, said of Xcel.
Amendment 37 requires utilities with at least 40,000 customers to produce 3 percent of their electricity from renewable energy by 2007. The requirement rises to 6 percent in 2011 and 10 percent in 2015.
Solar power would have to generate at least 4 percent of the renewable energy.
Colorado voters were the first in the nation to impose renewable-energy requirements. Other states have enacted such standards through their legislatures or regulations.
Renewable-energy advocates, utilities and others met during the summer to come up with rules to implement Amendment 37.
Earlier this year, the Legislature approved a bill putting the renewable energy standards in place. The PUC is holding hearings on the standards through Thursday and will approve the rules implementing the law.
PUC spokesman Terry Bote said commissioners likely will vote on the rules sometime in September.
Xcel objects to a rule endorsed by renewable energy advocates that would require an independent administrator to oversee utilities’ compliance with the law.
— On the Net: PUC’s Amendment 37 page: AP-WS-08-30-05 1833EDT
