|
New Xcel Plan Proposes Huge Energy Boost
The future of Colorado’s energy mix in the next decade will be shaped by a giant proceeding recently launched at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
The Just Transition Plan calls for more new power generation than ever in Colorado, with a stated need of 10-14,000 Megawatts as the utility plans to shut down the rest of its coal plants to meet the goal of reducing emissions 80% by 2030.
The plan ``begins a challenge unlike any other in the energy transition to date,” wrote Xcel executive Jack Ihle in testimony. `` We need to balance increasing loads, emissions reduction policy, economic development policy, the realities of low- or zero-emission advanced technology availability, and the physics of the provision of electricity to determine a path forward to 2031.’’
The plan will seek to make coal transition communities whole which will likely give preference to projects in Pueblo, Routt and Morgan counties.
Many interested groups will get involved in the large and complex plan as state regulators consider a variety of issues over the next several months. The Colorado Renewable Energy Society and Physicians for Social Responsibility are jointly intervening and seeking to explore issues including:
• Load growth estimates, including hourly and seasonal features of different sources of
load growth.
• Renewable availability, including hourly and seasonal features specific to wind and PV.
• Reliability issues with highly-renewable portfolios.
• Lowest-cost integration of highly-renewable portfolios.
• Costs and strategic use of renewable curtailment in a low-cost portfolio.
All the documents related to the case can be found here: Proceeding Detail
| 
