The Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday granted Xcel Energy Colorado another month to figure out what generation sources will meet future electricity demand.
But the commission warned that the request, the second since the April 10 deadline, would be the last provided.
In December, Xcel received the lowest bids to date nationally for renewable energy. Developers offered wind power plus storage at a much lower cost than existing coal generation. Several solar projects also priced below coal, which will allow Xcel to close two coal plants in Pueblo as part of a larger compromise.
The bids, however, will provide a bounty of electrical generation that Xcel must figure out how to bring to market on its transmission grid. Some of the lowest-cost wind projects are concentrated in rural northeastern Colorado, where the company is building its own massive 300-turbine, $1 billion Rush Creek Wind Project, mostly in Elbert County.
“The company does not make this request lightly,” Xcel assistant general counsel Christopher Irby said in a . “…we encountered unanticipated modeling complexity associated with the interaction of low cost renewable bids and our system.”
The company initially had 120 days or until April 10 to file its plan. That was extended to May 6 and now to June 6. The plan, once filed, will be submitted for independent review, public discussion and a ruling by the commission, which is now slated for Sept. 4.
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