The US Solar Market Is Now 1 Million Installations Strong

Sometime around the end of February, the millionth solar installation came on-line in the United States -- a milestone that says as much about where the solar industry is going as it does about how far the industry has come. “It took us 40 years to get to 1 million installations, and it will take us only two years to get to 2 million,” said Dan Whitten, vice president of communications at the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “This is a time to mark when the solar industry started to accelerate at warp speed.” At the end of 2015, the U.S. solar market hit a total capacity of 27 gigawatts. That represents just 1 percent of the current U.S. electricity mix, but it could triple to 3 percent by 2020. This year alone, the U.S. solar market is projected to grow 119 percent, which represents an additional 16 gigawatts of new installed capacity and more than double the record-breaking 7.3 gigawatts added in 2015. Over the coming weeks, SEIA will run a campaign called #MillionSolarStrong to raise awareness around the U.S. solar industry’s achievements to date. The campaign includes a social media “thunderclap” and a flagship event in Washington, D.C. on May 3.

Colorado solar company gets another Nasdaq delisting notice

Real Goods Solar Inc. said it's received another letter from the Nasdaq stock exchange, saying its shares could be delisted from the exchange. On Friday, the Louisville rooftop solar-power installation company said it received a letter saying that it doesn't meet the stock exchange's $2.5 million minimum shareholders' equity requirement. In Real Goods Solar's latest 10-K filing, it listed shareholders' equity of $1 million. The company said it has until the end of May to submit a plan of compliance to the stock exchange. It's not the first time this year that Nasdaq has threatened to delist the company: In January, Real Goods Solar was warned that its share price was trading below $1 for 30 straight days.

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."

Experts Discuss Solar Outlook In The Centennial State

Solar is strong in Colorado, but industry leaders are not resting. At the recent Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association’s (COSEIA) 2016 Solar Power Colorado conference, speakers talked about the achievements the industry made over the past year and noted that there are still some challenges. The conference, with the theme, “Developing New Markets: Solar Leads the Energy Transition,” ran from March 7 to 9 in Broomfield, north of Denver. Rebecca Cantwell, executive director of COSEIA, opened the conference with a review of 2015 victories. Among the national and local highlights were the following: The investment tax credit (ITC) was renewed, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) upheld net metering without changes, and the Colorado state legislature passed a measure that allows community solar garden subscribers to buy into projects located in adjacent counties. Also, Cantwell said, COSEIA launched the advocacy initiative Solar CitiSuns. She also showed a map of statewide photovoltaic systems. “There are 29,363 PV systems in the state,” she said. “We counted. They’re just about everywhere.” Mecom/AET id596 Former Interior Secretary and U.S. Senator Ken Salazar began his keynote address by praising the association’s work. “I have watched COSEIA grow, and now it’s in its third decade,” he said. “Solar is alive and vibrant, and the nation really watches what happens here in Colorado.” Salazar, quoting a figure from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, said that the industry expects to add 9.5 GW of solar capacity nationwide this year. There has been much progress, he said, but there are some flash points to watch. One is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, which the Supreme Court delayed with a stay in February. Another challenge, Salazar said, is rooftop solar and net-metering disputes with Xcel Energy and the costs of updating the grid. “This is an issue today that is not only important for Colorado, but also for the country,” he said. Other speakers noted that although the solar industry is pleased with the ITC extension, there are still issues that need attention nationwide and in Colorado. At the opening plenary session, “What’s Ahead for the Solar Industry,” Jesse Grossman, CEO of Soltage LLC, said the ITC extension answered the question of whether solar will continue its momentum. “The fight is on the state level,” he said. “Colorado was, for a period of time, in the top five states for solar deployments, and currently, Colorado is 14th in the nation. Conversations need to happen right now about lessons learned, [renewable energy certificate] markets, tariffs, solar carve-outs and to focus on what it takes for solar development to move on in a sustained manner.” Willie Mein, owner of Custom Solar in Boulder, Colo., talked about “surviving the solar coaster” and noted that the barriers to deployment are not technology, economics or demand. “It’s other market forces,” he said. “The utility is the gatekeeper watching the henhouse, with limiting capacity, arbitrary requirements and unnecessary processes.” For example, Xcel Energy’s Solar Rewards program limits the size of a customer’s rooftop solar array to produce no more than 120% of the customer’s annual kilowatt-hour consumption. At another session, “New Solar Policy for Colorado,” moderator John Bringenburg, president of the COSEIA board of directors, mentioned that Public Service Co. of Colorado, Xcel Energy’s utility in the state, recently filed its Phase II Electric Rate Case with the CPUC. The proposal includes a smart meter pilot, a reconsideration of the previously rejected Solar Connect program and “grid use charges” for PV customers. The proposal raises fixed rates to make up for lost revenue from customers’ reduced consumption, said Rick Gilliam, program director of distributed generation regulatory policy at Vote Solar. “That’s what has triggered many of these proposals,” he said. A better rate design would be time-of-use rates. The three large investor-owned utilities in California – Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric – are switching to time-of-use rates, which encourages consumers to shift their energy use to off-peak periods. “In terms of a success story, that’s the best one right now.” Cindy Z. Schonhaut, director of the Office of Consumer Counsel at the Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs, said the office, which represents the interest of consumers, is against Xcel’s proposal. “Without having some of the fixed costs recovered through usage charges, the consumer has less ability to lower their bill with more efficient appliances or using less,” she explained. “That’s to make the utility whole and reduce their risk. That’s not in the public interest just by itself.” Panelists also discussed the Clean Power Plan, which is on hold after the U.S. Supreme Court stopped its implementation. The plan is now under review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The delay leaves states wondering whether to continue working on meeting the carbon-reduction requirements. “We have had people say you should put your pencils down – don’t waste time and money having people do work that amounts to nothing,” said Chris Colclasure, deputy director of the air pollution control division at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “On the other hand, we don’t want to sit back and watch the pages of the calendar. We are trying to identify what we can do.” He said the only immediate result is the department will not have to ask for an extension of the plan’s now-obsolete first deadline, in September, for submitting a compliance plan. “We will continue planning to reduce carbon emissions,” he said. “We think it is prudent to place Colorado in the best position that we can.”

Let’s Bring the Public Into Planning Our Energy Future

Xcel Energy has launched major ratepayer-funded outreach on a series of proposals it refers to as "Our Energy Future.'' Xcel is stressing that these plans encourage choice and renewable energy, but the plans actually favor monopoly utility control to the detriment of customer choice. We believe Colorado's energy future needs to be determined by the citizens of the state, not just the utility. The renewable energy transformation in Colorado began at the ballot box when we became the first state in the nation to require renewable energy through a citizen initiative in 2004. And the future is too important to leave citizens out of the loop during this critical transition. Since 2004, more than 30,000 Coloradans have gone solar, using their own resources to put panels on their homes and businesses to take advantage of unlimited clean energy from the sun. Colorado now ranks 9th in the nation in installed solar capacity with 540 MW currently installed-- enough to power 103,000 homes. More than 400 solar companies employ more than 5,000 Coloradans across the state. Quickly ramping up much more solar energy -- which still only contributes about 1.5% to Xcel's Colorado energy mix-- is critical for reducing the threat of catastrophic climate change. Solar emits no carbon emissions and adding more of this clean energy is a key way to reduce energy use that relies on burning fossil fuels. We are disappointed that Xcel uses a zero cost of carbon in its assumptions about future rates and makes virtually no mention of the issue. The impact of future decisions on climate change must be central to decisions about our energy future. We are pleased Xcel is proposing to add significantly more solar to its energy mix. Unfortunately, however, the utility proposes in its recent filings with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to continue to manage and control all solar programs, while entering the market as a competitor. The complex filings, estimated to cost more than $2 million in ratepayer funds, will likely take more than a year to wend through the regulatory process. Here are some initial thoughts on those filed so far: Phase II Rate Case (16AL-0048E) Last year, Xcel was granted an overall rate increase, but this case parcels out who would pay how much for electricity. The utility is proposing rate redesign for all customers and the inclusion of a new fixed charge called a `grid use charge' for residential and small commercial customers. At the same time, Xcel proposes to lower the charges for the volume of energy consumed per kilowatt-hour. The net effect is to reduce incentives for energy conservation (because using less will reduce the bill less) and increase the burden for ratepayers on low and fixed incomes. The structure also would erode the value proposition of solar, which reduces demand for energy from the grid. Xcel has also stated a desire to start with a pilot of demand rates for residential customers and eventually move all customers to this structure. Demand rates on residential customers would further exacerbate the punitive effects on customers who pursue energy efficiency, conservation and solar. The rate structure would end up inhibiting customer choice and energy savings. The need for entirely new rate structures has not been demonstrated. In fact, after a two-year in-depth inquiry into net metering, involving discussion of both the cost and benefit of distributed solar generation , the PUC decided six months ago that no problem with the current rate structure had been demonstrated. The commission voted unanimously to leave retail net metering alone. However, Xcel now calculates in the new rate case the perceived costs of rooftop solar, but not once does it mention the benefits solar brings to its system and to customers. The plan also fails to account for the real risk and costs of carbon emissions. This is an issue of paramount importance that is likely to be taken up by Xcel shareholders as well as rate payers. If Colorado wants to explore advanced rates, pilots of several alternatives would produce more useful data. For example, Time of Use Rates charge more when energy costs more-- at peak times. A three or four part Time of Use Rate could encourage people to use energy-hogging appliances such as dishwashers when fewer people are using energy -- such as late at night. Time of Use rates also can reward solar generators for contributing clean renewable energy to the grid when usage rates are high, such as in the late afternoon and evening of hot summer days. But Xcel proposes to close the four existing commercial and industrial time of use rates to new customers. A reverse block rate with several tiers could be tested with no special metering equipment. Reverse Block rates -- charging more the more you use -- tend to ease the burden on low and moderate income ratepayers. An annual report could detail findings on costs and benefits of multiple rates and associated grid upgrades. 2017-2019 Renewable Energy Plan (16A-0139E) The Renewable Energy Plan(REP) describes Xcel's plans for the Solar Rewards, Windsource and Recycled Energy programs, which are part of Colorado Renewable Energy Standard plans. The basic rooftop residential solar program, known as the "small'' program, is proposed to stay at the same level as it's been since early 2015. Currently, on the first of the month, 2 MW are made available to solar developers-- and each month, the capacity is reserved in a few minutes. This is evidence that the supply nowhere near meets the demand. Xcel proposes no increase in the 2 MW monthly allotment for the next 3 years, but a decrease in the Renewable Energy Credit paid, to 1/2 cent per kWh. This program, which is run and controlled by Xcel, is not working for the growing solar market. Increasing numbers of solar installers and their customers are simply bypassing the cumbersome and inadequate process and choosing to install solar with Net Metering and Interconnection only. A fair solution would be to affirm the right to install unlimited numbers of small solar systems with a 20-year Interconnection Agreement, and to have the current rules grandfathered for customers choosing to invest in solar. Xcel proposes another option in the REP, but makes it contingent on approval of the rate case, which is certainly not determined. Assuming the outcome of one proceeding in another raises legal issues. We are pleased that the company is proposing a small increase in the commercial or Medium program - which sells out even faster than the residential program. However, going from 12MW per year to 18MW per year and reducing REC purchase prices to 3 cents per kWh, will continue to starve and frustrate the market. We applaud Xcel’s recommendation to bring back modest capacity for the Large program. But bold new initiatives are needed for Colorado to reclaim its slipping solar leadership. COSEIA recently proposed new initiatives to Xcel and still believe they are needed, including: 1. A stakeholder- supervised survey to study the business health of Colorado's solar market relative to other active markets. Such a study is needed to understand the Colorado market in relation to programs being used elsewhere to support solar deployment including REC purchase programs. 2. Low income solar programs including rooftop and community solar would reduce the need for subsidies and provide free electricity for decades to customers who have paid into the renewable energy fund. A consensus memo of recommendations from a variety of stakeholders organized by COSEIA was shared with Xcel Energy and state energy leaders. 3. Special programs to encourage solar on new homes would support the unique market needs of home builders, who now compete with retrofit installers. A Solar Builder program needs to be a separate program from other programs and should not reduce the available acquisition for the general public. 4. Virtual Net Metering works especially well for schools, local governments and businesses with many locations. The customer has a single large solar farm that offsets any meter under common account ownership. We would like an initial pilot program included in the next Renewable Energy Plan. 5. Transparent reporting on grid interconnection status would help solar developers and the utility. As seen in many other markets, the industry would like to see information posted which illustrates areas of the grid which are more or less available for added interconnection. Better planning for added solar capacity on the distribution grid is also badly needed, especially where such distributed generation would defer capital expenditures to upgrade the grid. Additionally, Colorado's popular solar gardens program could be improved in a variety of ways. It would benefit from a new bidding process for Community Solar Gardens that creates more transparency and efficiency. Clarity is needed to ensure that negative Renewable Energy Credit prices are not legal. And special programs with differential REC prices to encourage community projects on warehouses and usable rooftops, as well as to benefit low and moderate income ratepayers, would deploy more solar in desirable locations. We believe that the popularity of Solar Gardens is still in its infancy and this form of solar needs to be encouraged in many ways. Solar Connect (16A-0055E) The Public Utilities Commission unanimously rejected the first version of Solar Connect in 2014 after the staff and numerous stakeholders argued that it was clearly anti-competitive. The utility revised the proposal and has submitted a second request for approval of the program. Solar Connect would consist of a 50 MW solar farm that the utility would contract for and purchase power from. Shares would be sold to the public at a premium with Xcel allowed to make a 10 percent profit. The revised proposal is improved but still has significant issues: -The 50 MW size is 25 times bigger than the biggest solar gardens developers are allowed to build and thus has built-in economies of scale advantage, but would be sold at a profit. Why not use most of this capacity in other programs where more job development and industry support will result? Why let Xcel charge above- market rates for a product their own analysis claims will cost less to deliver than any competing systems? -Xcel controls all the marketing, all the information on customers and all the solar programs so it is hard to see how Solar Connect would not be anti-competitive. More business risk should lie with Xcel shareholders including 100% of the start- up costs, marketing, administration and operations. If Xcel wants to enter the retail solar market in competition with the private developers who assume all their risks, a much more even playing field needs to be established first. If Xcel wants to offer products that compete with private industry, the utility should do so by starting a private subsidiary as other utilities have done. Electric Resource Plan (to be filed in early June, 2016) and other dockets (Grid CPCN, Decoupling, Utility ownership of new utility-scale Renewable Energy) Xcel is planning to file a longer-term resource acquisition plan called the Electric Resource Plan this spring, as well as other plans. The utility is seeking full ratepayer compensation for all of its multi-million dollar costs. We think there needs to be a more equal playing field. Xcel Energy's net income from Colorado has grown from $211.4 million in 2005 to $466.8 million in 2015. Xcel is also seeking an accounting mechanism that would guarantee it would be able to collect the millions of dollars of expense related to these cases in the future and thus has no incentive to be efficient. Other parties intervening in these cases must generate all costs out of their own pockets. Such intervening parties should receive compensation to hire experts, conduct analysis and construct responsive proposals, as allowed in other states. It is also high time that Colorado appoint an independent renewable energy administrator rather than allowing the monopoly utility run all the programs, control all the customer information and have nearly unlimited ratepayer funding to support marketing of its arguments. We are also disappointed that Xcel is using a zero cost of carbon in its assumptions about future utility rates. With catastrophic climate change coming ever closer, the effects of electric generation on greenhouse gas emissions need to be considered in every utility decision. We certainly think that appropriate planning for the future must acknowledge that Xcel's coal-centric generation resources need to transition to clean sources of energy by attributing a reasonable cost to carbon. We think this transition needs to happen much more quickly than Xcel is proposing. But in this transition, we don't believe it is in the public interest for the utility to act as gatekeeper, manager, and competitor all at the same time.

Power to the people: An alternative energy non-profit charitable organization provides sustainability and economic security to some of Colorado’s rural areas

To witness the character of the western United States is to observe its rural communities. The West’s beauty is defined by its sprawling expanse, and that vastness gives home to some remote living circumstances. The seclusion is part of the area’s charm, to be sure. But that same seclusion can create difficulties in providing rural residents with utilities such as electricity. The situation is exacerbated when some of these residents live on limited incomes, and can spend up to 12 percent of their annual earnings just to power their homes. To combat this pricey cost-of-living expense, an alternative energy solutions company, GRID Alternatives (GRID), is working to build solar arrays that will provide sustainable power to five low-income communities throughout rural Colorado. The Colorado Energy Office (CEO) provided GRID with a $1.2 million grant in August 2015. CEO has been working with rural Colorado energy co-ops and municipal utilities to work toward Colorado’s new renewable energy standards under senate bills 13-252 and 15-254, which require investor-owned utilities such as Xcel energy to garner 30 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and for energy cooperatives to garner 20 percent. As it stands, low-income communities are often the last to see new technology as it becomes available. “Across the country there is a very specific demographic that tends to be left out of access. And that’s the population that we’re working with,” says Kristina Sickles, development director of GRID’s Colorado project. GRID is working with affordable housing agencies like Habitat for Humanity to reach out to individuals and families that qualify as low to moderate income, which is here defined as earning 80 percent or below of the area’s median income. According to Sickles, average income households spend about 4 percent of their annual income on energy costs. Taking a look at their low-to-moderate income counterparts, those expenditures rise up to 10 and 12 percent. “What we are attempting to do is make that expenditure more equitable across households,” she says. Sickles sees Colorado as the legislative and developmental birthplace of community solar projects. GRID has historical roots as a company installing individual rooftop solar arrays on homes in California. But here in Colorado, she says, the scope of sustainability has reached beyond rooftops — and beyond individual households. About 75 percent of the country couldn’t use rooftop solar if they wanted to; they either rent their homes or don’t have a viable rooftop for solar. GRID’s community solar model utilizes offsite solar arrays that power the entirety of the communities they service. Individual solar panels on the array are designated to specific households, and power is wired from the array to those homes. “There’s a lot of development right now in community solar focusing on making sure individual households have access to renewable energy whether or not they have a rooftop and a property that is appropriate for solar access,” says Sickles. The prospect of sustainable energy is attractive — clean, renewable power that weans our society from our reliance on diminishing fossil fuel resources. But expensive installation costs have kept many who would be willing to switch to solar from doing so. Tom Figel, the policy and regulatory manager for GRID’s community solar project, sees the fact that the brunt of efforts toward sustainability have been targeted toward the affluent as an economic justice issue. “If we’re going to be successful in a clean energy transition, which affects everyone and affects underserved, disadvantaged communities the most, we need to include everyone in the transition to be successful,” he says. Wally Shaw is a Grand Valley resident who is participating in GRID’s community solar program. In cooperation with GRID, the Grand Valley Power electric utility company installed a solar array that began to provide Wally’s community with power in summer 2015. The community was offered the opportunity to chip in on the project as well as wire into the new source of clean energy. “They had a big work day down there at Grand Valley Power, where all the ones that were getting the solar could help install the solar panels and get a hands-on experience on how the whole process worked,” Shaw says. Community solar is not the only sustainable energy solution available to communities like Shaw’s in Grand Valley. But it is the only affordable one. “A lot of the rural areas don’t have access to the low-cost solar because it was only available here through Xcel energy,” Shaw says. “I first had checked into that, getting solar panels, and I couldn’t afford the price.” Xcel was estimating a cost of $17,000 to install solar panels on Shaw’s property — a high number was not justifiable by the tax credit that the panels would provide. Many rural residents like Shaw don’t have the means to dish out so much money for the marginal return on their investment. GRID’s program is designed to help Coloradans like Shaw and their communities transition to clean energy solutions without requiring a bottom line of disposable income. Shaw says his connection to the community solar array can save him 45 percent on his electrical bill some months. Many of the rural communities GRID is operating within are transitioning coal economies, according to Figel. As the state of Colorado increasingly converts to renewable energy solutions, jobs provided by the coal industry dwindle. A part of GRID’s mission is to provide access to job training for the underserved communities they work in, which can help to combat job loss in communities that can least afford it. Their barn-raising installation model engages the community and its businesses in the construction of the solar arrays, and Shaw says that in Grand Valley, local businesses chipped in to help build the array that powers his community. With Colorado paving the way for sustainable energy on both the legislative and commercial fronts, community solar is an effort to include everyone in a conversation about technology that would previously be fiscally impossible for many folks. “Programs like these start to broaden access for everyone, and again I think that’s just essential to achieving a clean energy transition,” Figel says. Expanding access to the benefits of sustainable innovation is one of many steps in an ongoing process toward environmental equity in Colorado.

Colorado regulators reject Xcel’s proposal to add solar power

In an unusual move, state regulators on Wednesday verbally rejected a proposed agreement between Xcel Energy Inc. and three solar power developers that would have added up to 60 megawatts of “community solar” power plants in Colorado. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) typically approves settlement agreements reached by parties in a dispute. "It’s infrequent," PUC spokesman Terry Bote agreed. "But it’s based on whether the settlements are in the public interests or not, and in this situation, the commission felt it was not in the public interest." The PUC said in a statement that “the proposed agreement was not in the public interest because it was inconsistent with certain statutes, PUC rules and previous decisions, and it was likely to raise the cost of renewable energy to customers.” A written order detailing the objections of the PUC commissioners should be issued in a few weeks. “We are disappointed by the decision, but we will need to wait on the written order before providing further comment,” Xcel said in a statement after the PUC’s verbal decision on Wednesday. Community solar projects, also known as “solar gardens,” are medium-sized solar power stations in which businesses or individuals can buy or lease solar power panels and get credit off their monthly bill for the renewable energy produced by the panels. The 60 megawatts of solar power proposed in the agreement is enough to serve the needs of 9,840 homes, or nearly all of the 11,400 homes the U.S. Census counts in Brighton. Colorado was the first state in the nation to allow community solar systems on the grid. They’ve proven popular with customers who can’t or won’t put solar power on their own rooftops. Only about 25 percent of all the homes in the United States can support solar power arrays on their roofs, according to studies. The agreement, announced February 23, was intended to settle disputes over how much community solar Xcel (NYSE: XEL) would add to its Colorado portfolio for the years 2014 through 2016 via its Solar*Rewards Community program. Parties to the agreement were Xcel, and three businesses that develop community solar systems: Clean Energy Collective, Community Energy Inc. and SunShare LLC. “We’re disappointed with the PUC’s decision,” said SunShare’s spokeswoman, Kate Laursen. “The settlement between Xcel and the other developers was made with the ratepayers’ best interests in mind,” Laursen said. The three solar companies build and operate community solar gardens and were declared by Xcel to be the three winning bidders of the company’s 2015 competitive bidding process for 29.5 megawatts worth of community solar resources, the PUC said. The PUC previously had ordered Xcel to acquire between 19.5 megawatts and 90 megawatts of community solar power by the end of 2016 — and noted Wednesday that the requirement is still in place despite the rejection of the proposed settlement. The PUC, in its statement, said it had several problems with the proposal Xcel and the three companies filed. For instance, in the proposed agreement, the PUC noted that Xcel said it would pay the companies a flat 3 cents per kilowatt hour for the Renewable Energy Credits, or RECs, produced by the solar power arrays instead of the prices the companies had bid as part of the 2015 request for proposals. The PUC said that by agreeing to a 3 cents per REC payment, instead of the lower prices the companies offered in their bidding, the overall cost of building the solar power systems would rise “by hundreds of thousands of dollars per facility,” according to the commissioners’ statement. “Rather than utilize the commission-approved competitive process, the parties filed a settlement that is not in the public interest,” PUC Chairman Joshua Epel said. The commissioners also took issue with Xcel’s proposal for using an average number for the monthly bill credits for customers who buy or lease panels in a community solar system, rather than figuring out the credit for each individual panel and customer. Lastly, the proposed agreement included a provision in the agreement that Xcel could “participate in the ownership” of up to 4 megawatts of community solar, which would be reserved for low-income customers and non-profit, 501(c)(3) organizations. Typically, additions to Xcel’s power portfolio are formally proposed to the commissioners, who review and approve or reject the project. The commissioners said that including Xcel’s ownership of community solar megawatts in a settlement agreement was “inconsistent with statutes, PUC rules and previous PUC decisions.”

U.S. solar market to expand 119 percent in 2016

The U.S. solar energy market is expected to grow by an estimated 119 percent this year, according to a recent study by Massachusetts-based media company GTM Research. The firm’s U.S. Solar Market Report (2015 Year in Review), which was released this week via the Washington D.C.-based Solar Energy Industries Association, predicted that 16 gigawatts of solar arrays will be installed across the U.S. this year. That number more than doubles the previous record of 7.3 gigawatts annually, which was set in 2015. The report estimates that 74 percent of those installations will be attributed to the utilities market, but that the residential and commercial markets will also experience significant growth this year. The country has nearly installed one-million solar systems, according to the report. “This is a new energy paradigm and the solar industry officially has a seat at the table with the largest energy producers,” SEIA president and CEO Rhone Resch said March 9 in a news release announcing the report’s findings. “Because of the strong demand for solar energy nationwide, and smart public policies like the ITC and NEM, hundreds of thousands of well-paying solar jobs will be added in the next few years benefiting both America’s economy and the environment.” The SEIA attributes this year’s rapid rate of growth, at least partially, to the aspirations of developers aiming to take advantage of the federal government’s Investment Tax Credit program (30 percent tax incentives on all solar projects), which was originally scheduled to expire in December before recently receiving an extension through 2019. “Now, in 2016, state-level drivers and risks will move to the forefront and play even larger roles in the growth of both distributed and utility-scale solar,” according to the SEIA release. The report also cited new community solar programs, utility incentive programs and an ever-increasing interest in rooftop solar systems as key trends that will drive growth through the end of 2016. “In 2016, the rooftop solar economic outlook will depend not only on favorable outcomes to net energy metering debates, but customer-wide and solar-specific rate structure reforms that can impact savings due to solar as well,” GTM Research Senior Analyst Cory Honeyman said in the report. The report stated that non-residential community solar projects in Colorado, Massachusetts and Minnesota alone will collectively install more than 100 megawatts of photovoltaics in 2016.

Colorado Regulators Give Xcel Okay on Panasonic Demonstration Microgrid

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission yesterday approved plans by Xcel Energy and Panasonic to install a $10.3 million demonstration microgrid at the Denver International Airport. Public Service Company of Colorado, an Xcel subsidiary, applied for approval of the solar microgrid in October (Proceeding No. 15A-0847E ). The demonstration microgrid will be installed at an airport parking garage near a new commuter rail and across the street from the new Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company headquarters. The state regulatory agency also approved an investment by Xcel into a dozen batteries for both solar customers and energy management on the grid, in what is known as the Stapleton project. In all, the utility will invest $9.1 million for the two projects. For the microgrid, the utility plans to contribute $6.7 million, with an additional $3.6 million funded by Panasonic and the airport. Xcel will invest $4 million in the Stapleton battery project. The PUC approval came after Xcel signed a settlement that guaranteed the utility make project data public, vet costs in future rate proceedings and file milestone reports. The settlement was reached by the utility, PUC Staff, the Office of Consumer Counsel, the Colorado Energy Office, Western Resource Advocates, Sunrun and the Energy Freedom Coalition of America. The Panasonic microgrid will include 1.3 MW AC canopy solar installation and a 1 MW — 2 MWh lithium battery storage system. The batteries will serve the grid and provide back-up power for the building. Xcel will own the installation, and Panasonic will service it. It will be able to operate in both a grid-connected and island mode. For the Stapleton project, Xcel will install six batteries on the customer side of the meter at residences that already have rooftop solar. Another six batteries will be installed on an Xcel’s feeder line for peak load management. The utility plans to issue a request for proposals for the batteries. Xcel hopes to learn more about how it can use storage to manage high penetrations of solar on its distribution system feeder, as well as regulate voltage and reduce peak demand. The two projects are part of Xcel’s Innovative Clean Technology or ICT program. The utility has built two other projects through the program: a concentrating solar facility and community energy storage.

Xcel Energy’s Colorado Plans Have Major Focus On Solar

Xcel Energy has submitted its 2017 Colorado Renewable Energy Plan (REP), a three-year outline that covers several clean energy resources but includes a strong emphasis on solar power. In its filing with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Xcel Energy details plans to expand its renewable energy programs and ensure not only continued compliance with the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS), but also a continuation of its efforts to consistently exceed the RPS. The utility says it currently secures more that 22% of its energy needs from renewables and is on track to meet and exceed Colorado’s 30% by 2020 RPS. “We all share the goal of meeting Colorado’s energy needs in the most reliable, clean, safe and affordable way possible,” says David Eves, president of Public Service Co. of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company. “Our plan proposes a three-year roadmap to continue providing even more energy options our customers want and value, and it does so in an economical way while ensuring compliance with our state standards.” Key proposals in Xcel Energy’s plan include the following: Two customer options for the small Solar*Rewards program, the company’s rooftop solar program, which would add a total of up to 123 MW of small rooftop solar, for systems of 25 kW or less, through 2019. The two options still need to be approved by the CPUC as part of the company’s recently filed Phase II electric rate case; Expansion of the company’s medium-sized solar program, primarily for the business community, which would add up to 54 MW of solar over the next three years. The medium-sized program is for systems of more than 25 kW and 500 kW; Expansion of the large-sized solar program for systems of more than 500 kW. This program has not been offered since 2012 and would add up to 24 MW of solar through 2019; The addition of 90 MW of solar gardens through 2019. Notably, this request is separate from the recently announced 60 MW of community solar proposed for 2016; A decrease in the premium for the company’s long-standing Windsource Program by more than 30%, to $1.50 per block of 100 kW. Customers who support the Windsource program pay a premium over their monthly electric bill to support the development of additional wind facilities; and The offering up to 20 MW per year of recycled energy, made available in an open-offer program. This particular customer offering generally would appeal to large commercial and industrial customers by producing power from waste energy and would generally be sited at manufacturing facilities. “We know that our customers have different clean energy wants and needs; one size does not fit all. That’s why our plan offers a range of solutions that work well for both residential and business customers, homeowners and renters, non-profit organizations and a wide range of facilities,” state Eves.

PSEG Solar Source Acquires 36.3 MW Colorado Project

PSEG Solar Source has acquired a 36.3 MW solar energy facility from juwi Inc. The facility, to be called the PSEG Larimer Solar Energy Center, is located 25 miles north of Fort Collins, Colo., and this latest addition to PSEG Solar Source’s portfolio represents an investment of over $54 million. The Larimer Solar Energy Center has a 25-year power purchase agreement with the Platte River Power Authority (PRPA), a wholesale generation and transmission provider that originally called the project Rawhide Flats Solar. It will be built on a 290-acre site leased from the power authority and provide enough electricity to power 7,800 Colorado homes, according to PSEG Solar Source. juwi developed the project and is acting as its engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Construction is under way, and commercial operations are expected to begin by the end of the year. The facility will use approximately 117,000 polycrystalline panels. “Commencement of construction on this project was an important milestone for us, particularly since it represents the first utility-scale solar project that we successfully developed in our home state of Colorado,” says Michael Martin, president of juwi. “We are pleased to work with PSEG Solar Source to add another project to its portfolio and look forward to the day it will begin producing affordable and clean energy for the Platte River Power Authority and all of its owner communities.” With this acquisition, PSEG Solar Source now has 16 utility-scale projects in 12 states with a total capacity of 277 MW.

Colorado ranked 12th for solar capacity added in 2015

Colorado climbed one spot to 12th on the Solar Energy Industries Association’s ranking of states based on how much solar capacity was installed in each in 2015. And while the SEIA report noted that 87 percent of installed capacity in 2015 came in just the top 10 states, Colorado was one of just 13 states to install more than 100 megawatts. The SEIA released its 2015 report on Monday, noting that 7,286 megawatts of solar capacity was added nationwide. That’s up 17 percent from the year before, and is more than eight times as much as was installed just five years earlier. California remained in the top spot, followed by North Carolina, Nevada, Massachusetts and New York, respectively. Arizona, Utah, Georgia, Texas and New Jersey rounded out the top 10, with Maryland coming in 11th. Hawaii was one spot behind Colorado at 13th, after finishing ninth in 2014. Colorado saw 144 megawatts of new solar generation added in 2015, bringing its cumulative total over time to 542 megawatts. California, by comparison, saw 3,266 megawatts installed in 2015 alone, bringing its cumulative total to 13,243 megawatts. North Carolina added 1,160 megawatts in 2015 to bring its cumulative total to 2,113. For the first time ever, there was more solar capacity added than for natural gas, with 29.5 percent of all new electric generating capacity in the United States coming from solar in 2015. The residential solar market grew by 66 percent nationwide, while the utility-scale sector grew by 6 percent.

Why Colorado is so far ahead in meeting CPP goals

While many states are just beginning to lay out their plans to meet the ambitious goals of the Clean Power Plan, Colorado is already most of the way there, thanks in part to Xcel Energy's move away from coal-fired plants. According to an analysis by Western Resources Advocates, a Boulder-based environmental law and policy nonprofit, Colorado is up to 70% of the way toward meeting its 2030 final CPP goal, depending on how you measure it. "Xcel has been very successful in beginning this transition from a system that was mostly big coal plants," said John Nielsen, energy program director for Western Resources Advocates. "They have shown that you can begin to transition away from coal with some increased use of natural gas, but mostly with a lot of energy efficiency and renewables." The CPP aims to reduce power-sector carbon emissions in 2030 by 32 percent from 2005 levels. States can draft their own compliance plans and have until late 2018 to finish. "The CPP is reinforcement for our longstanding efforts in partnership with the state, but it's not really our leading motivation," said Jack Ihle, Xcel Energy's director for environmental policy in Colorado. "However, the CPP does validate our commitment to reducing carbon." The CPP gives states two ways of looking at those 2030 emission reduction targets. Colorado could seek to reduce by 28% its overall mass of emissions, or cut by 40% its rate of emissions per megawatt-hour generated. Both mass- and rate-based targets are calculated relative to the state's 2012 baseline. Colorado has yet to declare which type of goal it will pursue. Whichever type of CPP target they choose, states can count reductions that were implemented starting in 2012. For Colorado, this has made many projects originally planned to meet state legislative mandates a "twofer" toward CPP targets. Colorado's Clean Air Clean Jobs Act plays a significant role in this. Passed in 2010, the law directed utilities in Colorado to replace older, less efficient coal plants with cleaner sources of energy. The vast majority of projects resulting from this legislation have taken place since 2012, and many are still planned. Also, in 2004, Colorado passed the nation's first voter-led Renewable Energy Standard. Under this statute, by 2020 the two investor-owned utilities in Colorado (Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy) must generate 30% of their power from renewables, including 3% from distributed energy resources; and cooperative utilities must generate 20% of their power from renewables. "We've been a top wind energy producer for six years running," said Ihle. "There is 2,600 MW of wind generation in Colorado, including two new facilities that came online last year. Almost 1,000 MW of this capacity came online since 2012," said Ihle. "We buy nearly 100% of this wind power under long term contracts, so we count it as our own." Also, Colorado currently ranks ninth in the U.S. for installed solar capacity, with 430 MW of solar energy installed, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Xcel has a couple of utility-scale solar projects that came online in Colorado at the end of 2015, but because they were part of Xcel's 2011 resource plan, they don't count toward the state's CPP goal. While rooftop and other distributed solar abounds in Colorado, Xcel is closely eyeing future utility-scale solar projects. "Utility-scale solar has been a tremendous boon for carbon reduction," said Ihle. The company, in a recent update to its 2016-2030 Upper Midwest Resource Plan, proposed adding 1,800-MW of wind, including 800 MW by 2020, and 1,400 MW of large solar, including 400 MW by 2020. Wind is set to increase from 15% to 25% of its energy mix by 2030. On Jan. 25, the utility proposed several new projects, including a new solar choice program, Solar*Connect, which will allow customers to sign up to buy 100% solar power. The plan is to add a 50-MW solar farm to Xcel's existing 170 MW of solar generation in Colorado. Elsewhere, Colorado's Energy Efficiency Resource Standard, passed in 2007, requires investor-owned utilities to beef up demand response and adopt demand-side management programs with financial incentives for customers. Xcel is doing that but even before the legislation passed, it had begun increasing its energy efficiency offerings as part of a 2006 settlement to build the Comanche 3 coal plant near Pueblo, which began operation in 2010. Although Colorado has a strong lead on meeting its CPP goals, it still has a way to go. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (the state agency tasked with coordinating CPP compliance) is only just beginning the process of holding stakeholder meetings around the state. Although states were asked to submit CPP compliance plans by this September, CDPHE will be requesting an extension and probably filing Colorado's plan by the fall of 2017, said Chris Colclasure, planning and policy program manager for the agency. Xcel, based in Minneapolis, operates in eight states. Might its carbon reduction strategy in Colorado influence its CPP efforts elsewhere? "Our operating companies all work independently, but there are some strong similarities," said Ihle. "In Minnesota, Northern States Power has retired some older coal plants and added wind capacity. They also have a very ambitious demand side management program. And in Texas and New Mexico, Southwestern Public Service Co. has been moving into wind because it's very cheap there. However, those states haven't moved much into coal retirements yet." In a filing last month, Xcel called for $6 billion in wind and solar investment in its home state, as well as the retirement of two Minnesota coal-burning units, construction of a nearly $1 billion natural gas-fired generator and further investment to retain the carbon-free energy from its two nuclear power plants.

Five Low-Income Community Solar Projects Planned in CO

The Colorado Energy Office and GRID Alternatives plan five community solar projects to serve low-income households in western Colorado. Delta Montrose Electric Association, Gunnison County Electric Association, Holy Cross Energy, San Miguel Power Association and Yampa Valley Electric Association have volunteered to build low-income projects totaling 579 kW. Each project is designed to optimize the community solar model to reduce energy costs for the utilities' highest need customers - those who spend more than 4 percent of income on utility bills - in Colorado's rural communities. GRID received a $1.2 million Colorado Energy Office (CEO) grant in August 2015 to implement low-income community solar, and has played an instrumental role securing agreements from each utility partner.

Solar energy jobs double in 5 years

The number of solar jobs in the U.S. has more than doubled in five years. In fact, there are more people working in solar now than at oil rigs and in gas fields. The solar industry added 35,000 jobs in 2015, up 20% from the previous year, according to the Solar Foundation, a nonprofit in Washington D.C.. The group is not funded by solar companies. In contrast, oil and gas firms slashed nearly 17,000 extraction jobs in 2015 as energy prices continue to plummet. Oil prices are down a stunning 70% in the last 18 months and hovering just over $30 a barrel, a 12-year low. There are about 209,000 solar energy employees in the U.S. They include solar panel installers, designers, engineers, sales folks and managers. Today, the solar industry workforce is bigger than that of oil and gas construction, and nearly three times the size of the entire coal mining workforce. "The companies we're working with are begging to fill the [job] slots they have because they're growing so much," says Chris Gorrie, campus president of the Ecotech Institute, a for-profit job training center for solar and renewable energy in Aurora, Co. Americans overall are just starting to see wage growth pick up, but solar workers have already seen paychecks improve. In December, wages in the United States rose 2.5% compared to a year prior. Solar installers are making $21 an hour on average, up 5% from a year ago -- or double the national average, according to the Solar Foundation. Todd Valdez knows the money is good. He went to the Ecotech Institute in 2012 and started his own solar company, Sunkey Energy, two and a half years ago. His firm designs, installs and sells solar panels and employs 25 people, 15 of whom he hired just last year. Valdez pays most of his employees $22 to $25 an hour, and his master electricians north of $30 an hour. Two of his employees left the oil industry last year to work for him. He says the amount of solar power his company installs has tripled in volume between 2014 and 2015. "Our workload has definitely been rising tremendously," Valdez told CNNMoney by phone while on one of his work sites in Broomfield, Co. The solar industry is "a good place to go now if you're looking for a career change." Solar jobs -- particularly installers who work on roofs -- are not for everyone, Valdez cautions. It's lots of outdoor work, with heavy equipment. He's seen people quit "in hour one." Colorado is one of the hottest states for solar, Valdez says and California has the most solar energy jobs in the country. But it's not all sun drenched states either: No. 2 for solar jobs is Massachusetts, thanks to policies that have made it attractive for residents to install solar panels. Experts say solar technology is good enough now that panels don't require direct exposure to the sun to generate electricity. New York and Arizona are also top states for solar job seekers, according to the Solar Foundation. A few key developments are driving the job surge in solar. Businesses and homeowners are eligible for a 30% tax credit if they install solar panels on their property. That's been in place since 2006 but in December Congress renewed the tax credit for another six years. That lowers installation costs considerably. The climate change agreement in Paris and the global action plan to limit global warming is also a positive for the clean energy industry. And the Environmental Protection Agency released plans last year to force states to lower their carbon output. It also helps that solar equipment costs are down nearly 70% since 2010 too, according to Andrea Luecke, president of the Solar Foundation. Those declining costs are another incentive for homeowners to switch to solar, she says. Cheap oil and gas prices are creating a short-term headwind for solar, Luecke admits. A few years ago, solar was seen as a cheaper alternative to oil and gas. Now with oil and gas prices so low, it's hard to convince some consumers to switch to solar. "Natural gas is very, very inexpensive in many markets so it's hard to disagree with it," says Luecke. But she counters: "solar and clean energy are here to stay."

Colorado solar installer (Real Goods Solar formerly Syndicated Solar) faces stock delisting

Real Goods Solar Inc. says it has been warned by the Nasdaq Stock Market that it could be delisted because its stock price had closed below the minimum $1 per share requirement for the last 30 consecutive business days. Louisville-based Real Goods Solar, which does business as RGS Energy, is a rooftop solar-power installation company. The last time the firm faced a delisting by the Nasdaq, it conducted a reverse stock split to get back onto the stock market. RGS Energy (Nasdaq: RGSE) shares opened at 52 cents Friday. The share price last topped $1 in early November; shares topped $4 as recently as June. The company has until June 20 to regain compliance by getting its stock price to $1 per share or more for a minimum of 10 straight business days. RGS Energy, through its spokesman, Grant Stude, said that it intends to actively monitor the bid price for its common stock between now and June 20. “[We] will consider available options to resolve the deficiency and regain compliance with the Nasdaq minimum bid price requirement,” he said. In March, RGS announced it had "begun a process of reorganization and realignment" that included reducing its employee head count by 100 positions, or 30 percent of its staff, mostly in California.

Congress extends tax credit through 2018 to spur alternative energy

By Greg Ruland Wednesday, December 23, 2015 A retired cabinet maker on Grand Junction’s north side borrowed $30,000 to install a solar array atop his home workshop this fall, one of several moves the middle-aged man made this year to get his “ducks in a row” before age or happenstance prevents him from making decisions on his own. The retired craftsman said his choice to go solar was motivated by several factors, saving thousands of dollars in energy costs chief among them. Without the 30 percent investment tax credit currently available to offset the purchase, however, Mark Blair said he would have deferred. “We couldn’t have done it. It’s just too much money,” he said. Blair said he will apply the money he would normally pay to Grand Valley Power to pay off the loan through Atlasta. Blair borrowed through Atlasta. His return on investment is not expected before he repays the loan. Solar panel vendors across the country rejoiced last week when Congress extended through 2018 the 30 percent investment tax credit on solar energy installations. Starting in 2019, the credit will taper off in yearly increments of 10 percent through 2022, after which it will presumably expire, “Scientific American” reported Monday. The credit, which applies to both residential and commercial property, is a dollar-for-dollar write down on federal tax owed in the year the array is purchased, said Teddy Aegerter, a sales associate at Atlasta Solar Center, 1111 S. Seventh St. For Blair, that means a savings of $10,000 on his 2016 income tax. “With the federal tax credit set up to expire in 2016 ... people were really rushing to get it for 2015,” Aegerter said. “It actually increased our business because people wanted to take advantage of the tax credit (before it expired).” Business picked up dramatically at Atlasta starting in September. Sales have been strong through the fourth quarter, he said. “The credit is used when homeowners (like Blair) purchase solar systems outright and have them installed on their homes,” Aegerter said. For residential projects, homeowners like Blair apply the credit to reduce personal income tax. For commercial projects, the company which “installs, develops or finances” the solar arrays takes the tax credit. Atlasta works mostly with homeowners, he said. In another positive development, homeowners are enjoying a quicker return on their solar investment since the cost of materials for solar panel production has gone down in recent years. Cheaper systems have expanded the motivation of solar array buyers, who now see the purchase as a way to market their home. Financing is available through Atlasta from a Salt Lake City bank that specializes in home improvement loans, but there are many ways to pay. Wrapping the purchase into a mortgage refinance, for example, is another option, Aegerter said. “People are getting an average return on their investment (through savings on electricity) within six to 10 years,” he said. “It’s an added value. For every $18,000 you invest, you can expect a return of $20,000 when you sell.” Blair said he was skeptical he would see any return on his investment before 2027. Since the tax credit was introduced in 2006, the value of solar energy array transactions has grown 1,600 percent across the U.S., reflecting “a compound annual growth rate of 76 percent,” the Solar Energy Industries Association estimated. Projecting a rosy future, the association said investment the tax credit extension will: ■ Add 72 gigawatts of new capacity to the nation’s electrical grid by 2020. ■ Push net solar capacity to more than 100 gigawatts, or roughly 3.5 percent of all electricity produced in the U.S. ■ Increase investment in solar by $40 billion between 2016 and 2020. ■ Double the current number of jobs in the solar industry to 420,000. The move will also help states comply with the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, which launches in 2022 and requires a 32 percent cut in utility-sector carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, “Scientific American” reported. “Some states (will see) reduction requirements as high as 45 to 47 percent” as a result of the plan, the magazine said. The leader of the Colorado trade association representing solar was even more confident about the effects of the extension, predicting “$125 billion in new, private sector investment … and … a tripling of deployed solar by 2022.” “The extension will provide certainty to our industry,” Rebecca Cantwell, Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association executive director, said in a news release.

Colorado officials consider limiting solar energy’s access to farmland

In Weld County, not all energy production is created equal. If a proposed ordinance goes through, solar farms won’t enjoy the same access to agriculturally zoned land — which covers about 75 percent of the county — that oil and gas drilling and coal mining enjoy. The potential law requires all solar facilities sit on land zoned industrial, which is more expensive to lease. Early indications are the commissioners aren’t totally sold on the change. They took the proposal to the public for the first time during their meeting Monday morning. Residents will have two more chances to sound off on the issue before it can be adopted. Business owners and local farmers took this first opportunity to voice their complaints. SunShare, a small Denver-based solar company that works with Xcel Energy, has plans to install three small facilities in Weld in 2016, but that might change if the ordinance is approved. “This proposed ordinance kills solar,” said John Sullivan, a SunShare spokesman. “We’re not going to move to Weld County (if it gets approved).” The ordinance would restrict development on agricultural land. Now, there are few things people can do without getting special permission, called a use by right. For example, residents are allowed to build one house, raise crops and feed livestock. Some projects have to go through the use by special review process, such as oil and gas storage and coal mining. Related: A state-by-state look at renewable energy requirements Oil and gas drilling is considered a use by right, but the commissioners are considering a rule that requires a USR for all new facilities. The proposed rule would boot solar facilities from the list of USR uses on ag land and push them onto the list of industrial uses. The change in code — as it’s written now — would keep residents who own farmland from allowing companies to install small solar projects on their land, and it would keep solar companies from buying property to turn into solar facilities. Melinda McKey’s family recently bought 140 acres of dry land. This means the land is zoned for agriculture but doesn’t have irrigation access. She and her family, like many Weld farmers, struggle to make money on a farm with no water. “You’re very limited in the crop production,” she said. “We’d like to get more income from solar.” Richard Miller of Clean Energy Cooperative advocated for community solar farms. These smaller operations work like community gardens; they let people who don’t have the resources for solar panels — apartment dwellers or people with weak roofs — invest in off-site solar panels and have the money they raise knocked off their power bill. Community solar gardens typically span 6-9 acres and produce 1-2 megawatts of energy, enough to power about 190 houses, Miller said. Large commercial facilities produce from 10-150 MW and can cover hundreds of acres. While large power companies might be able to afford the more expensive industrial land, it’s harder for the little guys. “Community solar would be priced out of the market,” Miller said. The company offers its services to save customers money, he said, and raising the cost of production would make the product prohibitively expensive. SunShare’s Sullivan argued four benefits of small, commercial solar farms, which are generally the same size as community farms: They don’t take up much space; they pose no inconvenience to surrounding areas; they actually can help farmers; and they could raise more revenue for the county. SunShare has three projects slated to go up in Weld in 2016, and each of them would cover 12 acres or less. “We’re not going to coat Weld County with solar projects,” Sullivan said. Unlike many industrial facilities, solar farms have no on-site employees, he said. There are no lights at night, no emissions and no sound. Small facilities such as the ones SunShare is proposing stay for about 20 years, Sullivan said. The time can serve as a break for the soil to replenish. If one goes onto an operating farm, the farmer can use the water that would have irrigated those acres somewhere else. He said though the solar farms would be on ag land, they would pay property taxes as industrial operations, which are charged a much higher rate. The commissioners were split on the idea of allowing all solar farms, big and small, to set up shop on farmland. Commissioners Sean Conway and Julie Cozad praised the idea of energy diversity, and Cozad said she felt landowners have the right to decide how to use their land. She also pointed out that other types of energy production are allowed through the USR process. Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer pushed hard for solar’s industrial designation, saying solar facilities are industrial in nature and don’t fit on farmland, which should be used for farming. She said other energy production depends on natural resources specific to one area. For example, oil drilling has to take place where there is oil. “It’s a natural resource, and it is where it is,” she said. “You can’t really zone oil and gas.” Similarly, wind patterns dictate where wind turbines can go. And farmers can plant around the turbines. “They’re not covering up 16 or 110 acres (like solar farms do),” Kirkmeyer said. The group did agree to consider making a condition to the code change that would make an exception for the smaller and community solar farms, especially ones farmers use to make more money. “That actually would make sense in an agricultural area,” Kirkmeyer said.

Federal budget deal extends tax breaks for wind, solar

Wind and solar power advocates applauded the federal budget deal awaiting congressional approval that would extend federal tax credits for renewable power by five years. While the lifting of the crude oil ban received the lion’s share of the attention in the budget compromise, the bill also renews the federal production tax credit, or PTC, that benefits the growth of wind farms, and the investment tax credit, or ITC, that discounts the expansion of solar power. The tax credits were expiring, but still would have funded pending projects through 2016. Texas by far leads the nation in wind power and the Lone Star State is poised to see a lot more solar growth in the coming years, according to state projections. The American Wind Energy Association said the deal, if ultimately approved as expected, would provide several years of predictability to encourage more renewable power growth, especially with the nation’s electric grid soon requiring additional renewable power generation as more coal-fired power plants are retired. “If this passes, our industry will get a break from the repeated boom-bust cycles that we’ve had to weather for two decades of uncertain tax policies,” AWEA CEO Tom Kiernan said in a prepared statement. “AWEA has sought greater stability in the credit, with an extension for as long as possible. This plan will drive more development, and near-term prospects look strong – especially as utilities, major end-use customers, and municipalities seek more low-cost, emissions-free renewable energy.” Still, there is some concern about the tax credit being phased out. The extensions include 2015, so the five-year period only runs through 2019 and their values start getting reduced after 2016. The PTC currently provides for a tax credit of 2.3 cents for each kilowatt-hour generated over a 10-year period. According to the budget deal, the PTC and ITC are extended through 2016, but then continue at 80 percent of present value in 2017, 60 percent in 2018, and 40 percent in 2019. As before, the rules will allow wind and solar projects to qualify as long as they start construction before the end of the period. “The later years of this agreement will provide some challenges that the wind industry will work to overcome with our employees, partners and champions,” Kiernan added. Despite such concerns, the Solar Energy Industries Association touted the budget deal as well. “By extending the solar investment tax credit for five years with a commence construction provision and a gradual ramp down, bipartisan members in both Houses have reestablished America as the global leader in clean energy, which will boost our economy and create thousands of jobs across America,” Rhone Resch, SEIA president and CEO stated. Resch contended that U.S. solar power will triple by 2022, hitting 95 gigawatts. That’s enough to power 19 million homes and represents 3.5 percent of U.S. electricity generation, which is up from 0.1 percent in 2010.

Diversity of Colorado’s energy sector stays strong, says new report

Despite struggles among coal producers and oil and gas companies, Colorado’s energy sector as a whole remains strong, according to the seventh annual “Resource Rich Colorado” report from the Colorado Energy Coalition. The coalition is an affiliate of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. The report was shared with the Denver Business Journal on Tuesday and will be posted to the EDC’s “Resource Rich Colorado” website. “Colorado’s energy industry is a top-10 performer in about every category, it’s a unique story,” Scott Prestidge, who oversees the EDC’s efforts in the energy industry. “When you think of the resources that are here and the talented workforce that’s here, our research and development resources and the universities, plus the collaboration and the reach across the political aisle when it comes to policy and business-to-business — one of the key takeaways is that amazing diversity in Colorado’s energy sector and that we’re a top performer in every category,” Prestidge said. The sector’s strength and diversity, plus the seven-year track record that the report has under its belt, has allowed the EDC and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce to argue in favor of federal policies that will support both traditional fuel sources as well as the renewable sector, said Tom Clark, the EDC’s CEO. “For us to see energy as an industry, and present it as an industry in the last several years particularly to the legislature, it’s taken a lot of emotional tension out of the discussions by providing factual data — which was one of our goals,” Clark said. “The fight was always to steal one sides tax incentive for the other. Now it’s a balancing act, such as opening markets for us producers of oil but also giving certainty to the cleantech center with a long-term tax credits for wind and solar,” Clark said. In August, the EDC and the Denver chamber joined with the Colorado Competitive Council, a business group, on a letter to the state’s congressional delegation asking its members to support lifting the decades-old ban on crude oil exports and also to extend the federal Production Tax Credit for wind power for several years. “We look for opportunities where we can work together,” Prestidge said. According to the report, Colorado ranks: Seventh in oil and gas production; Sixth in natural gas production; 10th in coal production; 10th in the total wind capacity with 2,583 megawatts worth of wind turbines operating; Ninth in solar power capacity with 316 megawatts; And 10th in the number of alternative-fuel vehicles per capita. Over the years, the report has chronicled major changes across the state’s energy sector. Since 2009 the cost of wind power has dropped 56 percent and solar power costs have dropped 78 percent, according to the report. The report estimates there will be another 400 megawatts worth of wind turbines installed in Colorado during 2016, plus an additional 290 megawatts of utility-scale solar power farms. And the amount of oil and gas produced per drilling rig working has climbed six-fold for rigs working in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, an underground cache of natural gas and oil that sprawls north and east of Denver to the state lines. The report indicated that the state’s energy sector, including both fossil fuels and cleantech, directly employs 74,720 people, which support an additional 188,890 indirect jobs throughout the state. The industry’s total economic impact in Colorado was $17.2 billion in 2015, according to the report. One surprise in this year’s report is that the number of people classified as working in Colorado’s “fossil fuel” sector has remained steady, at nearly 50,000 people, compared to 2014. That’s despite the state’s Department of Labor and Employment office recording thousands of unemployment claims from the “mining” sector, which in Colorado is dominated by the oil and gas industry that’s experienced months of contraction nationwide due to low commodity prices. That’s possibly because the “fossil fuel” sector, according to the chamber’s report, includes people working in the utility sector — including those working at power plants and on power line and related engineering projects — as well as employees working in the coal, oil and gas sectors.

Five Colorado firms get $4.35M in grants for research, infrastructure

Five of six applicants for state funds to support their infrastructure have won $4.35 million in grants, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade said Monday. The money comes from the Advanced Industry Accelerator Grant Program, a state program that has doled out about $18 million to more than 50 companies since its 2013 inception. "This is about helping them accelerate their growth so they can stay in Colorado," said Katie Woslager, the grant's manager. Only six groups applied for the infrastructure grant, which must be used to invest in programs, equipment or other capital. Applicants must also contribute twice the amount themselves or through a third party. For every dollar the state puts in, the applicant must put in $2, Woslager said. Boulder-based Manufacturer's Edge, for example, received $2.5 million from the state to build a 3-D metals printing research center. It's also getting $5 million from Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Fauston Tool and the Colorado School of Mines. In a separate application, Manufacturer's Edge won another $300,000 to create a pilot program with the Small Business Development Center to support manufacturers and help them expand. Barber-Nichols, an Arvada designer of rotating machinery equipment, was the only applicant to not get funded. The agency's other program grants are much more popular. The Early Stage Capital grant and the Proof of Concept grant had 93 applicants in the latest round last month. Other infrastructure grant recipients included: • Cyber and Space Operations Center, $750,000: a new research lab at the Catalyst Campus in Colorado Springs. • Southwest Innovation Corridor, $300,000: an effort by the Telluride Foundation and Fort Lewis Collage to spur high-tech innovation in southwest Colorado. • Solar Technology Acceleration Center ( SolarTAC), $500,000: a 74-acre test site for solar technology near Denver International Airport.

Solar Power Colorado 2016

Solar Power Colorado is not only the largest solar conference in the Rocky Mountain region, but it is known nationally for the exceptional quality of speakers, panels and business opportunities. As the solar industry faces an uncertain future with the scheduled scale down of the Investment Tax Credit at the end of 2016, it is especially critical that we come together and forge the path ahead. At Solar Power Colorado 2016, you will find top national experts addressing all the hottest issues in solar, from the fight to extend the ITC to the growth of battery storage, and from the debates about the future of Solar*Rewards to the challenges of new electric code provisions. COSEIA’s annual gathering is the year’s largest business-to-business opportunity for networking with solar industry executives, identifying new market opportunities, gaining insight into the latest thinking on policy and technology, and learning about exciting new solar products at the Expo Hall. When: 7th March 2016 - 9th March 2016 Where: Broomfield, Colorado, US http://coseia.org/conference/

Viewpoint: Clean Power Plan means more Colorado clean energy jobs

Long days outside while growing up on a Pennsylvania dairy farm instilled in me respect for the power of two of our planet’s most fundamental natural forces – the sun and wind. Here in Colorado – where we have the potential for renewable sources of energy to power our entire state 200 times over our current needs – the sun and wind are powerful economic forces, too. Colorado has been a leader in harnessing these valuable resources. Through commonsense state-level policies like our Renewable Portfolio Standard – which was enacted under a Republican governor in 2004 and ensures we generate a share of our energy from renewable sources – we’ve expanded our economy, created thousands of good, high-paying jobs and helped protect the fragile environment our tourism and recreation industries depend on by reducing the harmful carbon emissions that exacerbate climate change. More recently, a new federal policy finalized this summer will help expand Colorado’s clean energy economy even further. This policy – the Clean Power Plan – sets the first-ever carbon emissions standards on our nation’s power plants. At a pair of public listening sessions downtown on Wynkoop Street this week – the only Clean Power Plan listening sessions west of the Mississippi – representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be on hand to hear what people from across our region have to say. Here’s what I and other Colorado business leaders will tell the EPA: By sending a strong, clear market signal to the private sector to invest in low-carbon energy technologies like solar, wind and energy efficiency, the Clean Power Plan will help expand our state’s already strong clean economy. Colorado’s booming wind energy industry alone has created between 6,000 and 7,000 jobs across the state at more than 20 manufacturing plants and nearly 30 wind farms. All told, Colorado’s wind industry employs nearly 10 percent of the entire U.S. wind industry workforce. Wind has also attracted nearly $5 billion in investment capital to our state and saved Colorado more than $20 million in fuel costs. In rural counties like Logan, Prowers, Weld and Lincoln, wind farms have created a much-needed new revenue stream for farmers and ranchers. Because of small, unobtrusive wind turbine footprints, these farmers and ranchers can continue to work their land for agricultural purposes while simultaneously raking in lease payments. Combined, Colorado’s wind industry generates nearly $8 million annually in lease payments to farmers, ranchers and other landowners. These wind turbine lease payments – essentially a valuable new cash crop – help boost school district budgets so they can hire more teachers and buy more books. Solar energy is also growing Colorado’s economy. Thanks in part to ongoing construction in Pueblo at what will be the state’s largest solar farm, Colorado ranked in the Top 10 for the fifth consecutive quarter in the latest clean energy jobs rankings published by the national nonpartisan business group Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). Across the state, about 4,200 people work in Colorado’s solar industry, and they’ve helped install enough solar capacity in the state to power more than 76,000 homes – a number that rises each day. Energy efficiency also has a big role to play in cutting our carbon emissions while growing our economy. In fact, using energy smarter in our homes, business and schools is the cheapest, cleanest and fastest way for states like Colorado to meet the Clean Power Plan’s carbon pollution standards. Scaling up efficiency to help meet Colorado’s power plant emission-reduction target could save $4.8 billion and help create nearly 7,000 jobs over the next decade, according to another recent report from E2 and Golden-based Energy Efficiency Business Coalition. Despite opposition to the Clean Power Plan by Attorney General Cynthia Coffman and some of her peers – who together recently filed a lawsuit that rests on extremely shaky legal ground given previous rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court – Colorado remains well-positioned to strongly implement the plan. Doing so would grow our economy, create good jobs and attract to our state more businesses and their much-needed investment capital. When EPA representatives are in town this week, that’s the message they need to hear.

Solar educators at Talking Green event

Butcherknife Brewing Company co-owner Nate Johansing is so supportive of solar energy that he’s bringing the beer to encourage other locals to show up and learn more about solar installation opportunities. #The brewmaster is part of a team of local business sponsors working together to present a Yampa Valley Sustainability Council Talking Green educational event about the latest technology, grants, federal tax credits and local success stories for solar-powered electricity. #The YVSC Talking Green event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 17 at Moots Cycles at 2545 Copper Ridge Drive, which has its own 42-panel solar electric system. Speakers will include representatives from two local solar installation companies, who will discuss residential and commercial systems, and from Louisville-based Clean Energy Collective that built the Craig solar array, which has 20 percent remaining for sale. #Johansing and co-owner Mark Fitzgerald will purchase a 12.3-kilowatt solar system for their beer-making headquarters to be installed by the end of this year. Johansing said the project is made possible by a $18,662 USDA Rural Energy for America Program grant, a 30-percent federal tax credit and a small business loan from Yampa Valley Bank. #“We are really excited. We wrote it in our mission statement to be environmental advocates,” said Johansing, whose brewery opened in June 2014 on Elk River Road. “The movement in the craft brewing industry to be extremely aware of what is around us and to do as much as we can to use locally.” #The brewmaster has a history of promoting environmental stewardship, such as work with a local biodiesel co-op. His company sources up to 70 percent of brewery hops from southern Colorado and 40 percent of its yeast from Woodland Park. The spent hop plants are sent up the road to Yampa Valley Farms for pig feed. #With the heat produced from making beer and the new building’s tight envelope, the brewery owners rarely needed to turn on the room heating system last winter. Conduit was installed during initial construction in preparation for a later solar electric system, which is expected to cover 20 percent of the electricity needs, said Susan Holland, with solar installer Emerald Mountain Energy in Steamboat Springs. #The system will include 44 solar electric modules made by SolarWorld. #Johansing said installing solar power is another step toward collective sustainability efforts in the local community to prepare for the future when fossil fuels are more expensive. #“Renewable energy really needs to be part of modern-day entrepreneurship,” Johansing said. “It’s really not that expensive, and you are building more equity into your building as an investment in those assets. If we do it all together in small steps, down the road it will create a much better framework to make bigger changes.” #According to the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, Colorado ranks ninth in the country for installed solar capacity at 430 megawatts, or the equivalent of power for 82,000 homes. #Some $212 million was invested on solar installations in Colorado in 2014, and average installed residential and commercial photovoltaic system prices in the state have fallen by 24 percent in the past year, according to CoSEIA.

Xcel wants to test battery storage for solar power in Denver

Xcel Energy Inc. is asking state regulators to approve a test of adding massive batteries to its system to store renewable energy and send the power to customers when they need it. Xcel is proposing to add the batteries to its grid system for commercial customers at the planned Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Co. development near Denver International Airport. The second test would support residential customers in the Stapleton neighborhood in Denver that has a lot of solar power panels on the homes. The tests could be launched as soon as 2016 or 2017, according to Xcel. "Our goal is to use these demonstration projects as a foundation for how to efficiently manage renewable energy on our Colorado system, and to continue to provide our customers with insight into the energy choices they want and value," said David Eves, president of Public Service Co. of Colorado, Xcel's subsidiary in the state. Most people think of battery storage systems to provide back up power for solar power installations, but they can do more, Eves said.

Colorado Coal

Colorado coal production in 2015 continues to fall after dropping to a 20-year low last year, state data shows. Much of the drop can be attributed to mining cutbacks at Peabody Energy’s Twentymile (Foidel Creek) Mine in Routt County and to a lesser degree at Bowie Resource Partners’ Bowie No. 2 Mine in Delta County. Statewide, 2015 production through August totaled 13.9 million tons, down from 15.5 million tons for the first eight months of last year. Production totaled nearly 40 million tons in 2004 and just under 23 million tons last year. Twentymile production fell to 2.5 million tons through August, from 4.9 million for the same period last year, according to the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety. The Bowie mine produced about 1.4 million tons, down from 1.8 million. Peabody Energy didn’t return requests for comment about the slowdown at Twentymile. The Steamboat Today newspaper in Steamboat Springs early this year quoted a Peabody spokesman as saying falling production at the mine was from declining demand from utilities because of moderate temperatures and constrained rail service. The state says Twentymile employs about 300 miners. It employed nearly 390 miners at the end of 2013. Bowie last year announced the layoffs of about 150 people after losing a contract to sell to the Tennessee Valley Authority. The TVA has been cutting back on its use of coal for power generation as a result of a 2011 agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency and other entities. TVA also has been sourcing coal from mines back East at a lower price because of cheaper transportation costs. In September, Bowie said it plans to lay off nearly 100 more people at the mine, leaving it with about 100 miners. It said it was making the cutbacks as it idles its underground longwall mining operation and takes an estimated year or so to prepare a new longwall panel for mining. But it has warned the layoffs could be permanent, as it continues to evaluate the market for the mine’s coal. That market has been challenging in Colorado and nationally because of everything from federal and state regulatory measures to competition from natural gas. The latest threat to coal comes from the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which targets carbon emissions from power plants. Jeremy Nichols, with the environmental group WildEarth Guardians, noted that while a federal judge ruled in cases brought by the group that federal agencies failed to disclose air-pollution and
 climate-change impacts in approving expansions at three Colorado mines, production at those mines subsequently has risen. One of the lawsuits involved Arch Coal’s West Elk Mine and pertained to an area it had leased but not yet expanded into. The mine’s production is up slightly so far this year, at 4.1 million tons compared to 3.95 million for the first eight months of last year. Arch Coal recently said it continues to have success selling the higher-quality coal produced by the mine. However, Arch Coal has been struggling overall financially, losing $168 million in the second quarter of the year alone. The Colowyo Coal Mine between Craig and Meeker so far this year has produced 1.9 million tons, up from 1.6 million over the same period last year. The Trapper Mine near Craig produced nearly 1.5 million tons through August, compared to about 1.27 million tons for the first eight months of last year. The two mines supply the coal burned at Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s Craig Station power plant. A court ruling involving those two mines found fault with previous approvals of expansions by the mines based on Wild-
Earth Guardians’ concerns, and the ruling left the mines’ continued operations in question. The Interior Department recently cleared the way for Colowyo’s continued operations after a recently completed review of the expansion there, and Trapper has been able to keep mining while another such review begins. The Deserado Mine near Rangely produced 1.7 million tons through August, up from 1.1 million tons over the first eight months of 2014. The mine supplies the coal burned by Deseret Power Electric Cooperative’s Bonanza Power Plant in northeastern Utah. The future of that plant, and the mine, which is owned by Deseret and has no other customer, would be secured for the short term but left in doubt for the long term under a recent settlement proposal involving WildEarth Guardians, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Protection Agency. The environmental groups have agreed to drop challenges of an EPA permit issued for the plant in exchange for new pollution controls at the plant. The deal also places a lifetime coal-consumption cap on the plant unless it commits later to further pollution-control investments, a provision that could lead to the plant’s closure around 2030, Nichols estimates. The EPA has the settlement proposal out for public comment. WildEarth Guardians wants to see an eventual end to the federal government’s coal-leasing program because of the climate-change impacts. Nichols praised the federal government’s recent grants of $50,000 to Moffat County and some $1.2 million to the Montrose-based Region 10 League of Economics Assistance and Planning to work on diversifying their region’s economies so they’re less reliant on coal jobs. “We have an obligation to step up, to make sure that communities that are very dependent on coal can transition to be prosperous and sustainable as they lose that economic base,” Nichols said. Said Stuart Sanderson, president of the Colorado Mining Association, “It’s a sad commentary if the day arises that these self-reliant communities would have to rely on assistance from the very entity, government, responsible for those job losses and production declines in the first place.” He pointed to government policies like Colorado’s Clean Air Clean Jobs Act, which has resulted in more use of natural gas in power plants, and mandates in Colorado and elsewhere to produce some electricity from renewable sources. Renewables don’t pay royalties, unlike the coal industry, Sanderson said. The coal industry in Colorado paid nearly $41 million in federal and state royalties in 2014, and that’s money that goes to public schools, he said. The state puts total Colorado coal mine employment at about 1,450 people. Nichols said that according to news reports, just one wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas, employs about 3,000 people statewide, and overall, the wind industry in the state employs about twice that number. Sanderson said the National Mining Association estimated in 2012 that coal is responsible for about 21,000 jobs in the state, when associated manufacturing, transportation, utility and service jobs are counted. Sanderson said coal workers received an average of $122,000 in pay and benefits. “Can renewables equal that in rural Colorado?” Sanderson asked. But Nichols believe the costs of coal jobs and revenues are too high, with emissions from Colorado coal resulting in tens of millions of tons of climate pollution each year. That doesn’t even count the methane that is vented during coal mining. Methane is considered more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to climate change. In 2013, Nichols said, the EPA estimated that methane pollution from just three mines in the North Fork Valley resulted in the equivalent of 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution.

Xcel Energy: Leading the Way in Reducing Emissions

In a changing utilities marketplace, Xcel Energy continues to lead the way among U.S. utilities in reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Xcel Energy has achieved a significant milestone as the first U.S. utility to verify and register all of its greenhouse gas emissions data for seven consecutive years with The Climate Registry (TCR), a nonprofit organization that designs and operates voluntary and compliance-related greenhouse gas reporting programs throughout the world. "Xcel Energy has tangibly demonstrated its leadership and accountability over the years through its rigorous and high-quality greenhouse gas reporting,'' said David Rosenheim, executive director of TCR. "As countries from around the world gear up for the next U.N. climate conference in November, and the U.S. embarks on measures such as the Clean Power Plan, Xcel Energy should be commended for its vision and foresight in addressing climate and energy issues." Measuring carbon dioxide is complicated. Emissions can be measured at the power plant stack with monitoring equipment, but there are also emissions associated with other operations. "Xcel Energy pledged to begin reducing emissions in 2005, well before many other utilities in the country. Setting a standard to accurately measure these emissions was the first step in fulfilling our commitment," said Frank Prager, vice president, policy and federal affairs for Xcel Energy. Xcel Energy became a member of TCR in 2007 and worked collaboratively to establish consistent, transparent standards for calculating, verifying and publicly reporting all greenhouse gas emissions. "As a founding member of The Climate Registry, we contributed significant expertise and helped develop the protocol for counting emissions in the electric power sector, which ultimately helped us verify that we are meeting our goals," Prager said. Xcel Energy set a new clean energy record Xcel Energy set a new clean energy record Oct. 2 when wind energy supplied 54.3 percent of the power delivered to Colorado customers. This was the first time the company served more than 50 percent of customer daily load with wind for an entire day. ((Photo courtesy of Xcel Energy)) Xcel Energy uses TCR's protocol to annually report all of its greenhouse gas emissions, of which carbon dioxide makes up over 99 percent. The company has Climate Registered status for successfully measuring and reporting emissions from 2005 to 2011. It continues to work with TCR to verify and register emissions for 2012 to 2014. The emissions that Xcel Energy reports are comprehensive, including direct emissions from power plants, indirect emissions from the electricity purchased, and emissions from other parts of operations that are considered optional for reporting. All operations are covered, from supply chain to customers. Data is verified by third parties and reported on TCR's website. Reporting under TCR began as a voluntary effort. Xcel Energy now reports greenhouse gas emissions under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's mandatory reporting rule, as well as to local and state entities. It also publishes emissions in its annual carbon dioxide worksheet and corporate responsibility report and through CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project. All reporting is based on data reported to TCR. Carbon-free energy With measurement comes management. Implementing a clean energy strategy, Xcel Energy is providing more carbon-free energy by modernizing power plants and energy delivery systems to reduce emissions including carbon dioxide. The company is midway through executing a major project for Colorado's Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act, passed in 2010. When complete, more than half of the company's coal-fueled generation in Colorado will be retired, replaced or retrofitted. This includes seven coal units since 2010, and in 2017, a fourth coal unit at Cherokee Plant in Adams County and the coal unit at Valmont Plant in Boulder County. Xcel Energy is set next year to more than triple its large solar capacity. Xcel Energy is set next year to more than triple its large solar capacity. This includes an agreement to purchase all the energy from the Comanche solar project in Pueblo, Colorado, which broke ground in August. It is the largest solar power plant east of the Rocky Mountains. ((Photo courtesy of Xcel Energy)) As of 2014, Xcel Energy's carbon dioxide emissions in Colorado are down 26 percent from 2005 levels and expected to fall to 35 percent by 2020. Companywide, Xcel Energy is ahead of what the EPA wants to achieve under the Clean Power Plan. Its early actions will help Colorado meet the Clean Power Plan requirements. "Reflecting on our clean energy efforts over the last decade, I am particularly proud of our ability to make this kind of progress and change, while keeping our prices competitive," said David Eves, president of Public Service Company of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company. Under the approved 2015-2017 electric rate plan, which includes recovery of nearly $1 billion of investments in the Clean Air-Clean Jobs project alone, overall rates are increasing about 1 percent each year on average. Renewable options Through its clean energy strategy, Xcel Energy is also providing a portfolio of clean energy options that customers want and value. As the largest utility wind energy provider in the nation, Xcel Energy has added vast amounts of wind energy and kept prices affordable and competitive. The company set a new clean energy record Oct. 2 when wind energy supplied 54.3 percent of the power delivered to Colorado customers. This was the first time the company served more than 50 percent of customer daily load with wind for an entire day. In addition to the wind power in the energy supply, the company offers customers the option to choose more wind energy for their homes or businesses through its Windsource program. About 41,000 residences and businesses participate statewide. Boulder accounts for around 14 percent of Colorado participation. Solar energy is growing in prominence as a renewable source. Xcel Energy continues to be a top utility for solar power capacity and this year is among the top 10 U.S. utilities in this category (Solar Electric Power Association). The company is adding economical, large solar projects to its energy mix, often referred to as utility-scale solar, while offering other solar solutions as well. "We are committed to solar energy and support a range of choices to meet different customer needs and interests," Eves said. Xcel Energy is set next year to more than triple its large solar capacity. This includes an agreement to purchase all the energy from the Comanche solar project in Pueblo, Colorado, which broke ground in August. It is the largest solar power plant east of the Rocky Mountains. It will produce more than 300 gigawatt-hours of energy a year - enough to supply the energy needs of about 30,000 Colorado homes and avoid the emission of more than 478 million pounds of carbon dioxide. The company's Solar*Rewards program continues to see strong participation. There are around 25,000 rooftop and business-sited systems statewide. Boulder accounts for about 13 percent of Colorado participation. And Xcel Energy's Solar*Rewards Community program, or solar gardens, which began here in Colorado, is growing. Solar gardens offer an alternative to rooftop solar panels, allowing neighbors, nonprofits and businesses to share access to a centrally-located community solar installation. Last month, Xcel Energy announced the winning bids for nearly 30 megawatts of solar projects - including a new 500-kilowatt project in Boulder County by garden developer Clean Energy Collective and a partnership with the city of Boulder, Boulder County and Boulder affordable housing providers. This is in addition to two, 500-kW Boulder County community solar gardens currently installed. "We know customers have many expectations today, not only of cost and reliability, but also of having more options, more control, more convenience and more opportunities to communicate with their energy provider," Eves said. "The utility industry is changing, and adapting to those changes is a key area of focus for Xcel Energy."