Solar garden backers may seek bill to improve accessibility

Solar energy advocates may pursue a legislative fix after the Colorado Public Utilities Commission released written details on why it rejected a settlement agreement that community solar garden developers reached with Xcel Energy in February. "We were surprised by the PUC ruling that seems to be restricting more consumer access to solar gardens," said Rep. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, who sponsored a bill last year to allow solar gardens to operate across county lines. Winter said she has requested a legal opinion on whether another bill is needed to permit the kind of rate structure laid out in the settlement. The state's largest utility agreed to pay a renewable energy credit, or REC, of 0.3 cents per kilowatt hour for the power coming onto the grid. Last fall, those same solar developers, in competitive bids, agreed to "negative" RECs, meaning they would pay Xcel Energy instead of the other way around. Solar developers said negative credits can work when solar garden owners are commercial users, but not when they are residential. "The agreement we offered would allow access to a broader base of consumers, particularly low-income and residential consumers," said Karen Gados, chief of staff with SunShare, a solar garden developer. The PUC notes that ratepayers will have to cover the REC costs, and that Xcel Energy already has enough of them to cover its renewable energy obligations through 2020. In its written ruling, the PUC said its interpretation of the community solar garden statute doesn't allow for rates based on class averages as the settlement proposes. Supporters argue using average rates improves the economics in favor of residential participation. When the General Assembly updated the original community solar garden law last year in two separate bills, it didn't change that language. "Given that the General Assembly is presumed to know the pre-existing law, and the interpretations thereof, when it amends or clarifies that law, it is significant that the General Assembly did not amend or clarify this language," the PUC said in its written ruling. Winter counters that the intent of legislators has been and remains increasing constituent access to community solar gardens. "They want more access to renewables and community solar gardens," she said. Gados said unless the disagreement on renewable energy credits is resolved, 60 megawatts of community solar garden capacity that Xcel wants to pursue can't move forward. "SunShare can't subscribe finance and build our system until we have clarity around negative RECs and what the bill credit is," she said. SunShare would prefer residential customers claim half to 80 percent of its solar garden capacity in Colorado versus the current 15 percent. An exception is Colorado Springs. More than half of SunShare's Colorado solar garden customers are based there, due to a more favorable REC structure. Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz said the written decision didn't offer any big surprises. "Xcel Energy continues to support the settlement agreement on community solar gardens," he said, "and we will ask the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to reconsider its decision."