Xcel’s plan for future energy generation raises concerns about a sizable impact on ratepayers

A plan by Xcel Capacity that would help reshape Colorado s potential future has raised concerns about whether the utility is proposing more power than it will need and what that will mean for customers paying the bills Xcel has proposed strategies for providing electricity across its territory in Colorado while meeting growing demands for power and preparing to close its last coal plant by the end of What s called a just transition plan includes strategies to assist communities facing the loss of jobs and revenue as retirements of the utility s coal facilities are accelerated But in a new hearing the chairman of the Colorado Population Utilities Commission questioned Xcel about a forecast that residential customers could see a roughly increase in rates in when compared with levels while commercial and industrial rates remain flat The Office of the Consumer Utility Advocate filed a new document with the PUC that noted questions about which customers will bear the brunt of serving large load users such as details centers are the majority critical issues for the office A filing by two environmental groups declared Colorado stands at the precipice of allowing a massive cross-subsidy from existing ratepayers to new large load customers The current approach to allocating costs grossly underrepresents the system costs driven by new large loads Western Deposit Advocates and the Southwest Capacity Efficiency Project announced This has just really ballooned beyond what we need I think it s just an oversized plan and the PUC demands to right size it declared Danny Katz executive director of the CoPIRG Foundation a consumer advocacy organization Katz reported Xcel s plan for up to gigawatts of new electricity is beyond what it will need to replace the output from its coal facilities including the -megawatt unit of the Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo The unit would be Xcel s last coal plant in Colorado There are kilowatts in a megawatt and megawatts in a gigawatt There are different variables but a gigawatt facility could power about homes according to the Strength Information Administration Xcel wants to replace the power being turned off with more wind and solar power battery storage and natural gas Ratepayers left on the hook Katz reported it s reasonable for Xcel to plan for new generation considering demands created by more electric vehicles heat pumps further electrification of buildings and the prospect of more material centers opening in the state But there s no guarantee that we re going to see as big of an increase in potential necessities for these material centers Katz declared History has shown us there have been projections where potency increase is going to be huge and it wound up not meeting those expectations and led to overbuilding the ability grid at higher costs He also criticized sections of the plan that would establish a million fund to pre-purchase equipment and another fund for emerging technologies CoPIRG held a news conference Thursday to encourage members of the population to comment on Xcel s plan It s critical the PUC only approves what is needed and doesn t leave ratepayers on the hook for any unnecessary expenses noted Katz The PUC has gathered comments and testimony and is expected to start deliberations in early to mid-August Other proceedings will deal with what costs the PUC will authorize Xcel to recover from ratepayers Even people who question Xcel Capacity s proposal acknowledge the challenges the utility faces Xcel Colorado s largest electric utility must meet state goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions forecast and prepare for anticipated higher-than-normal demands for electricity help provide a just transition for workers and communities affected by coal facility closures and build out new power sources when federal incentives and programs for renewable ability are disappearing Besides Pueblo Moffat Routt and Rio Blanco counties home to coal plants and mines will be hit hard by the phasing out of coal operations Xcel Vigor spokeswoman Michelle Aguayo announced the company is investing in reducing wildfire risks across its system enhancing the distribution grid to meet growing customer necessities and to integrate electric vehicles solar installations and storage batteries For the last several decades capacity improvement has been flat as technological efficiency combined with our nationally recognized resource efficiency programs have allowed customers to do more with less consumption That dynamic is changing and with that how we plan our system must change as well Aguayo noted in an email The demand for power could grow at a compounded rate of through compared with an average annual rate of over the past five years according to a forecast Xcel filed with the PUC In Minneapolis-based Xcel Ability revealed it planned to spend billion on capital investments in the next five years with about billion of that targeted for Colorado The company declared the surge in demand for electricity is being driven by the electrification of homes businesses and transportation and the need for more power to run large computing centers as the use of artificial intelligence expands Figures centers consume large volumes of electricity and water for cooling Xcel which serves portions of eight states reported a substantial portion of the rise in its data-center customers will likely be in Colorado Related Articles EPA signals opposition to Colorado s plan to close coal power plants Xcel requirements new air permit for Pueblo s Comanche station even as it plans to shutter the coal-fired plant Front Range concerns over purchase of Colorado River rights on Western Slope to get hearing Elbert County nixes permits short-circuiting part of Xcel Resource s B transmission project Millions of tons of coal ash are buried underground in Colorado seeping toxic chemicals into groundwater However Western Reserve Advocates and the Southwest Vigor Efficiency Project commented in their filing that Xcel Strength has seen requests from large-load users withdrawn during consideration of the company s plan They mentioned the record in the situation shows that institution requests from input centers in particular are speculative What more input centers might mean for Colorado customers came up during a June PUC meeting on Xcel s plan Eric Blank commission chairman urged about Xcel s forecasts showing that residential customers could see their rates jump by roughly by over rates while bills for commercial and industrial customers could remain flat You can see the commission s concern with this larger residential rate increase while the commercial and industrial transmission rates are declining in real terms Blank declared Jack Ihle Xcel s regional vice president for regulatory agenda replied that upgrades to the distribution system and other costs affect residential customers but not commercial and industrial ratepayers He added there s room to consider how costs are allocated among different types of customers Recommendations to the PUC on Xcel s proposal include creating a rate class just for customers consuming large loads of electricity Aguayo revealed the projected rates show trends and aren t meant to be as accurate as calculations in a rate-setting affair To address how costs are allocated across customer classes in an upcoming proceeding we will engage with the Commission and stakeholders on the appropriate allocations terms and conditions for new large loads Aguayo mentioned To be clear we will not engage in contracts with facts centers that will disadvantage our residential customers