Michael Giberson
I’m having trouble following the logic of the utility regulatory staff in Colorado on the issue of wind power, at least as described in the Denver Post article. Xcel Energy has a popular program through which they sell windpower at a premium to some of their customers — “more than 34,000 Colorado participants and a waiting list of about 1,000” paying a premium that averages about $6/month. Over the next year, Xcel will open several new wind farms and expanding its total wind power capability from 60 MW to 1000 MW.
So what does the staff at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission want to do? Abolish the wind power program and roll the costs of wind power into everyone’s bill.
Let’s see: a popular wind power program leads to company expanding supply … therefore regulators want to abolish the program and mandate purchase of wind power. What logic connects the dots here?