Denver-based Xcel Energy has filed with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for changes to its Windsource program in Colorado that will allow the program to grow.
The company is proposing to roll Windsource generation into its existing renewable energy portfolio, which also includes solar power and biomass.
Windsource customers will still pay a slight premium to purchase more of their energy from renewable wind energy sources. That premium would be credited back to the existing renewable energy standard account to allow for bulk purchases of more renewable energy generating sources.
‘The cost of adding new wind power has substantially risen in recent years,’ says Roy Palmer, managing director of government and regulatory affairs at Xcel. ‘This new program will allow our customers to continue to purchase wind energy. We will now be able to offer this service to all the customers that want to participate in the Windsource program.’
Purchased power agreements still in effect and the Ponnequin Wind Farm, which has been part of the Windsource program, would be rolled into the renewable energy portfolio. Xcel Energy is asking for the new program to be in effect by January 1, 2009.
SOURCE: Xcel Energy
