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With so much going on in the world, not enough people are paying attention to Xcel Energy and the Electric Resource Plan/Clean Energy Plan. This plan aims to reduce carbon emissions and stop the use of coal burning plants. As a part of this plan, Xcel has committed to working with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to ensure a fair and sensible transition to clean energy.
Unfortunately, some of the requests Xcel has made as a part of this transition plan are problematic, and I am concerned about what this may mean for Colorado.
Xcel’s official filing, known as the Just Transition Solicitation (JTS), makes huge demands from the PUC. One of the most troubling elements is the Strategic Resilience Reserve Fund (SRRF).
This plan would put Xcel ratepayers on the hook for significant spending in the amount of $500 million dollars. With this money, Xcel would purchase equipment such as gas turbines in advance of a definite energy plan for replacing coal plants. This request from Xcel reportedly exceeds what the PUC allows from utility providers.
Also concerning is that Xcel would be able to sell back assets purchased with the SRRF without returning any profit made to the ratepayers who funded the initial purchases. This is a betrayal of the economic relationship and trust Coloradans should be able to have in their utility provider. It could cost Colorado families thousands of dollars with no practical benefit.
It’s important that Xcel is looking to the future of the energy industry, but ratepayers should not be forced to cover the costs of uncertain solutions. Additionally, it is disappointing to see Xcel remain open to natural gas and nuclear, when renewable options are cost-effective and readily available.
Xcel is a for-profit company with a monopoly over energy in our state. Xcel provides a valuable service for the people of Colorado, but it is not altruistic. The PUC must provide oversight to ensure that our communities, not profit-making, are the priority in our energy future.
This is an opportunity for the PUC to keep consumers and the environment safe from speculative business practices.
Bending to Xcel’s requests would cause undue financial burden, further empower an energy monopoly, potentially damage the environment, and put ratepayers on the hook for unreasonable and speculative spending.
This is a matter both of consumer and environmental protection. The PUC has an important and precedent-setting decision to make.
Sara Loflin is the Executive Director of ProgressNow Colorado and former Mayor Pro Tem of Erie.
