Xcel Energy unveils ambitious Colorado solar, wind power plan

To help meet Colorado’s renewable portfolio standard, Xcel Energy plans to add 700 megawatts of wind power and 350MW of utility-scale solar power by 2015, Recharge learns. As part of its plan filed with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, a regulatory body, Xcel Energy hopes to obtain an additional 257MW of solar power through a program in which it buys renewable energy credits from customers who install solar power systems. Taken together, the acquisition plan for renewable energy is among the most ambitious for any electric utility in the US. Colorado’s RPS requires large investor-owned utilities to produce 20% of their energy from renewable resources by 2020, four percent of which must come from “solar-electric technologies.”

Colorado renewable energy bill gets call for veto from GOP lawmakers

About a dozen Republican legislators met on the steps of the state Capitol on Thursday to call for a veto on the rural renewable energy bill, arguing that it, along with gun-control bills passed earlier this year, are an attack on rural Colorado. Senate Bill 252, which passed May 1, requires the state's rural-based nonprofit energy cooperatives to increase the amount of renewable energy offered to 20 percent by 2020. It's a requirement that, according to opponents, places an unfair burden on the state's rural communities, which get much of their power from cheaper coal. "We have ranchers and farmers all across the state who right now are also nonprofit, and they've been nonprofit for the last five years," said Sen. Steve King, R-Grand Junction. "They are just barely hanging on." Gov. John Hickenlooper told The Denver Post on Thursday that he was still reviewing the legislation and speaking with lawmakers on both sides, as well as with executives from the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association energy cooperative. The governor said the new legislative requirements would, if applied in Colorado, put the state in the middle of the range of renewable energy consumption compared to rural cooperatives from surrounding states. The governor has until June 7 to either sign the bill, veto it or do nothing, in which case it will become law. A contested aspect of the bill is a 2 percent limit on billing increases for affected consumers. Proponents say the fee cap ensures that consumers won't be hit with increases they can't afford, but opponents say the cap forces energy companies to simply shift the cost elsewhere. "They try to build caps in, but you cannot cap the cost of compliance," said Sean Paige, deputy state director for Americans for Prosperity Colorado, the news conference's organizer. "Costs are real, and the costs are paid by somebody," he said. "To say we're going to cap the costs just forces utility providers into dishonest bookkeeping." Senate President John Morse, who sponsored the bill, said the cap instead protects the cooperatives from being forced to comply with the bill if the costs are prohibitive. "The bill says very explicitly and clearly you don't have to spend that extra dollar to get that extra percent (increase)," Morse said. "Read the bill, look at what it says and does, and these arguments will fall on their face," he said. Read more: Colorado renewable energy bill gets call for veto from GOP lawmakers - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_23209615/colorado-renewable-energy-bill-gets-call-veto-from#ixzz2U5FEpRwY Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse Follow us: @Denverpost on Twitter | Denverpost on Facebook

Colorado House Passes Clean Technologies Act

Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA) announced the passing of House Bill 13 – 1001, the Advanced Industries Acceleration Act by the General Assembly and awaits the Governor’s signature. The bill provides for annual allocations of several million per year for the next decade including over $12 million next year in grants supporting seven advanced industries driving the Colorado economy including energy and natural resources. Through this act, the Colorado Office of Economic Development will provide grants for clean technology projects based on the existing funding stream within the Clean Technology Discovery Evaluation Grant Program starting in 2014. The goal of the act is to grow the most promising technology sectors in Colorado by providing grant opportunities to energy and natural resources; advanced manufacturing; aerospace; bioscience; electronics; engineering; and information technology. The Advanced Industries Acceleration Act absorbed an existing clean technology grant program that is set to begin disbursing funds in spring 2014. Companies that qualify will now be eligible for proof-of-concept grants (capped at $150,000), early stage capital and retention grants (capped at $250,000), and infrastructure grants (capped at $500,000). All three types of grants have a required matching component. Additionally, if a grantee qualifies for a “preference,” there are no caps on grant amounts. Additional bills CCIA worked to pass this legislative session include: SB 13 – 126, HOA, Condo, Apartment Barriers, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations: SB 13 – 186, Updating Requirements – New Building Technologies: This bill makes it easier for certified roofing contractors and electricians to oversee new solar shingle installations. SB 13 – 212, Commercial PACE: This bill allows commercial real estate owners to enter into an optional financing agreement with a financial institution to install renewable energy and energy efficient upgrades and repay the improvements through property taxes. SB 13 – 252, Increasing the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) & Coal Mine and Landfill Methane: This bill increases the RES for rural and generation co-operatives to 20% by 2020, an increase from the current 10%. Additionally, the bill includes coalmine and landfill methane capture towards the RES and increases the Distributed Generation requirement. CCIA’s government affairs team is dedicated to supporting cleantech companies by testifying on behalf of its members and constituents in supporting or opposing appropriate bills during each State Legislative session. CCIA also writes legislation and actively lobbies lawmakers and the administration to benefit the Colorado cleantech ecosystem.

Bill to Expand Renewables in Rural Colorado Awaits Governor's Signature

It looks like Colorado is set to expand the amount of renewable energy in the state once again now that Colorado Senate Bill 252 passed Colorado’s House of Representatives. The bill passed through the House on Monday, April 30 and was passed again by the Senate. It now heads to Gov. John Hickenlooper’s (D) desk. The bill would expand the amount of renewable energy like solar, wind and geothermal that the state’s large rural co-operative and municipal utilities must have in their electric generating portfolio to 20 percent by 2020. Colorado has had one the nation’s highest renewable energy standards or renewable portfolio standards since 2010 (only California and Hawaii have higher RPSs), when then Gov. Bill Ritter (D) signed legislation expanding the RPS to 30 percent for the state’s investor-owned utilities (IOUs), Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy. But rural and municipal utilities were only required to source 10 percent of their electric from renewable resources thus far. While the IOUs provide power for most of Colorado’s residents, the municipal and rural co-ops cover more of Colorado geographically. The RPS has led to thousands of new jobs in the solar and wind industries across the state, and despite the expansion of renewables, the state’s electric rates remain lower than in much of the nation — at 9.43 cents per kilowatt hour across all sectors in February 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Upon the bill's passage through the House, Conservation Colorado Executive Director Pete Maysmith said, “We congratulate our Colorado Representatives and Senators who have championed nation-leading legislation to expand clean wind and solar energy to all of Colorado. With the House passing SB 252, Colorado is once again at the forefront of diversifying our energy sources and encouraging investment in clean and innovative energy to power our future.” He added, “This legislation will protect Colorado consumers by preventing price spikes on their electricity bills; and give more Coloradans access to clean wind and solar energy.” The bill moved relatively quickly through the legislative process. It was introduced less than a month ago, but it didn’t pass through unscathed. The bill originally called for expanding the amount of renewables in rural electric co-op’s and municipal utility's generating portfolios to 25 percent. However, in effort to appease some of the bill’s opponents like Tri-State Generation, a co-op utility that provides much of the generation capacity for Colorado’s rural co-ops, the House lowered the requirement, says Chris Arend, a spokesperson for Conservation Colorado. He adds that Tri-State still opposed the amended version of the bill. Part of the reason the SB 252 was originally set to expand the co-ops portfolio to 25 percent rather than 30 percent is because of the shortened time-frame that the rural co-ops and municipalities will have to add in more solar and wind, Colorado Renewable Energy Society CEO Lorrie McAllister, formerly said. But despite the lower requirement, Tri-State still opposed the bill, Arend says. Now that the bill eked through the legislature (the session closes next week), Gov. Hickenlooper is expected to sign the bill into law later this month.

Supporters Hail Passage of Rural Renewable Energy Legislation

Proponents say Senate Bill 252 will increase opportunities for rural economic development and reduce pollution across Colorado, but the initiative was criticized by the electrical co-op industry in the state, who claim it will raise rates. “Increasing Colorado’s renewable energy standards for rural electric co-ops offers rural Coloradans what they want: more solar, less pollution, more energy security and diversity, and more rural Colorado jobs,” said Lou Villaire, co-owner of Atlasta Solar which has provided service to Grand Valley Power Coop members for 35 years. The legislation will double the Renewable Energy Standard, from 10 percent to 20 percent for Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the wholesale energy provider to most Colorado electric co-ops, and Intermountain Rural Electric Association, the largest distribution cooperative in Colorado. “The passage of SB 252 shows that the Colorado state legislature understands the importance of continuing to develop our clean, local and affordable energy resources like solar and wind across the state. As the Governor also supports clean energy development, we hope he responds promptly and signs the bill into law,” said Jeanne Bassett, Senior Associate with Environment Colorado. By 2020, these large energy providers will be asked to come closer to the 30 percent Renewable Energy Standard that Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy are well on their way to meeting. The legislation includes the same 2 percent cap on rate increases applied to Xcel – a rate impact that, if realized, the Colorado Energy Office estimates would cost the average family about $2 a month. Members of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association [1] who live in co-op territory are enthusiastic about the positive impacts they foresee. “As a resident and business owner within a co-op territory, I strongly feel that Senate Bill 252 would be a tremendous boost to the local economy,” said Josh Fabian, President of solar installer Dynamic Integration, LLC in Montrose, an area served by Delta Montrose Electric Association. “Not only would companies like mine be able to work closer to their home office, leading to less consumption of fuel, lower overheard and increased efficiency, but we would also have the opportunity to hire and train additional installers who would be The bill is expected to create new opportunities for renewable energy businesses by increasing the Renewable Energy Standard. Additionally, the legislation will create opportunities in rural Colorado through the Distributed Generation carve-out. Under this bill, distribution cooperatives with more than 10,000 meters will have a carve-out of 1 percent of total retail electric sales, and smaller co-ops will have a 0.75 percent DG carve-out. Senate Bill 252 was sponsored by Senate President John Morse and House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, along with Senator Gail Schwartz and Representative Crisanta Duran. It is headed to Gov. John Hickenlooper for his signature. “Rural Coloradans have already voted, and we have voted for more solar,” said Villaire. “Requiring Colorado rural Electric Co-ops to generate more electricity from solar at a minimal cost is not a hardship but rather an opportunity to increase jobs, reduce pollution, and lower electricity bills over the long-term for rural Colorado coop members.”

Xcel Energy to seek Solar*Rewards Continuation

DENVER - In order to avoid possible disruption to the Solar*Rewards program for small­sized solar installations in Colorado, Xcel Energy, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) jointly propose an increase in program capacity for 2013. Solar*Rewards encourages the growth of solar energy and offers customers incentives to install solar panels electric systems on their homes and businesses. As part of a compliance plan approved by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in 2012, 9.6 megawatts of generating capacity were available to Xcel Energy residential customers in Colorado in each of the two years (2012 and 2013), for systems of up to 10.0 kilowatts each, allowing for solar installations on approximately 2,000 homes. Capacity in the small­sized solar installation program has now been fully subscribed. Without commission approval to expand the capacity of this program, incentives for installation of systems of 10.0 kilowatts or less of electricity would be suspended statewide for the remainder of the year, until a new compliance plan is approved for 2014 and beyond. The company's Solar*Rewards program is funded through a rider on all Xcel Energy customer bills, totaling 2 percent of each total monthly electric bill. Colorado voters approved a state Renewable Energy Standard (RES) in 2004, which included provisions for the support of customer­sited solar installations. The RES has since been amended twice by the Colorado General Assembly. Coloradans have continued to show interest in on­site solar installations. We believe it is important to keep this program available to the market for the remainder of 2013, by moving forward capacity that was planned for next year," said David Eves, president and CEO of Public Service Co. of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company. "It is also important to continue to reduce our program incentive levels and provide transparency as solar energy costs decline and these installations become more prevalent." Xcel Energy, SEIA and COSEIA continue to work on details for the agreed upon proposal, which will be filed for expedited approval with the CPUC and after consultation with other interested parties. The parties to the agreement look forward to working with statewide stakeholders at the commission on this plan. Initially, however, the settlement would propose to allow additional solar generation capacity to be available to the market in 2013 and the beginning of 2014, with the declining Solar*Rewards incentives previously approved by the CPUC, which also would have otherwise been available in 2014 and beyond. "Colorado's solar leadership is really something to be proud of. Our homes and businesses are going solar in record numbers, and that investment is putting people to work all across the state. This proposal will allow us to keep building on that success by adding enough solar energy to power thousands of homes," said Edward Stern, executive director of COSEIA. "We appreciate the willingness of Xcel Energy to work with the solar industry to find a solution. This proposal will help the Colorado solar industry avoid falling off a cliff, and it will allow Coloradans to continue working," said Sara Birmingham, director of state affairs at SEIA. "In 2012, installed solar capacity grew 76 percent throughout the nation, and Colorado ranks fifth among states for the most cumulative installed solar capacity. Expanding the Solar*Rewards program will allow Colorado to maintain its leadership position within such a rapidly­growing industry. As noted and with prior Solar*Rewards offerings, this proposal will include performance­based incentives - which are reduced in a predictable manner as capacity is filled - for both customer­owned and third­party owned small solar systems. The Solar*Rewards program will continue to accept applications through this process, but the company must wait for commission approval of the settlement agreement before it can begin providing these incentives.