June 2021 PUC Update
Clean Energy Action Board Member Marguerite Behringer works for E9 Insight and part of her work is to compile summaries of Colorado Public Utilities Commission activities. E9 Insight has given CEA permission to publish the items that we think our readers might find useful. If you have questions about the content, please contact hello@e9insight.com.
Note: Xcel Energy does business in Colorado as Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo).
Note: PUC refers to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
Business Models: Moneymaking, Programs, and Regional Impacts
21AL-0317E Xcel 2022 Rate Case
While its temporary rate case to recover costs from the February 2021 storm was still pending, in July 2021 Xcel filed a request to increase its rates by $469 million (with a net increase of $343 million after certain cost shifts) starting in April 2022 or later depending on later filings. Xcel proposed to file an updated advice letter in September 2021 to reflect a new Class Cost of Service Study, rate design, and other features to be decided in docket no. 20AL-0432E. Approximately 65% of the investment driving the rate proposal were described as projects previously approved by the PUC, including its AMI deployment and other upgrades. Xcel also requested to add a new resiliency service tariff for C&I customers and to revise various other riders.
21AL-0295E: Xcel Energy Affordability Program Adjustment
In June 2021, Xcel filed an advice letter for an alternative form of notice to modify its Electric Affordability Program rates, which support the fixed bill option for qualified customers. The revised EAP rates reflect an EAP total funding increase of $4.5 million over the 2021-2022 program year funding levels, with no net effect on the Company’s annual revenues. The rate increase was described as necessary to address the increase in EAP participants, especially due to the anticipated increase in participants from the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the auto-enrollment of eligible Low-income Energy Assistance Program (“LEAP”) participants. Xcel calculated a 0.09-0.16% increase per rate class per month was necessary. The EAP is charged as an adder to the customer’s monthly Service and Facility (“S&F”) charge for all rate classes in the company’s tariff. Note that Xcel files many other rate adjustments like these that are not covered in this report.
Resource Planning: Your Power, Your Community
19R-0096E Rulemaking on ERPs, RES, NEM
In response to the Colorado PUC’s decision to close the two-year rulemaking without further changes, several advocacy parties and the Colorado Energy Office filed requests for the commission to not only address the ERP rules but to “put Colorado’s resource planning on a solid foundation to plan for decarbonizing the state’s electric sector.” The absence of new rules “puts at risk the near-term approach of aligning resource planning with the 2025 and 2030 greenhouse gas reduction goals.” The commission reviewed the history of the current rule making and determined that the PUC should develop a new rulemaking procedure that reflects consensus reached in this proceeding. The new rulemaking will take into account lessons from the adjudicated reviews of the Clean Energy Plans and the new energy statutes from the 2021 legislative session. Notably, Xcel’s Clean Energy Plan currently reflects the proposed ERP rules which were not formally adopted in this procedure, leaving utilities and other stakeholders “unsure of their ongoing responsibilities.”
20A-0528E Tri-State 2020 Electric Resource Plan
On June 2, the PUC issued an interim decision which ruled Tri-State’s ERP as “complete.” The decision granted in part the motion of Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Western Colorado Alliance, which requested that Tri-State revise its application to reflect additional scenarios. Tri-State met with the advocates and other parties through May 2021, and submitted a second uncontested conferral report on May 21 which committed Tri-State to modeling the following scenarios:
i. Intervenors’ Modified 80pct CR V4 Portfolio Scenario
ii. Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap Scenario
iii. Coal Retirement Scenario (Springerville 3 and Craig 3)
iv. Low Coal Utilization Scenario
v. Updated SCC Scenario/No New Combined Cycle
The parties agreed to extend the proceeding to allow the additional modeling and to meet for a hearing date in several months. The additional modeling may reveal new economic scenarios for the cooperative to pursue.
21A-0141E Xcel 2021 Clean Energy Plan
On June 9, the PUC issued an order which granted certain Xcel requests for confidential information. The decision also outlined several topics for Xcel to discuss at the June 18 technical conference, which may influence Supplemental Direct Testimony topics to be discussed further in the proceeding. Topics included vehicle-to-grid integration; modeling an extreme, widespread weather event in the summer of 2030; and the impacts of a scenario in which the system peak shifts to earlier or later in the day. Notably, the system peak topic is one which was discussed in CEA supporter Ron Sinton’s June comments. Ron’s comments also include model data which demonstrates Xcel’s net demand during hours of the day using EIA data, demonstrating the economic importance of an increasingly renewable system. Thanks Ron!
Distribution: Technology for Energy Delivery
21A-0279E Xcel Petition to Amend AGIS CPCN
In response to stakeholder concerns and commission orders in docket no. 16A-0588E, PSCo filed an application to amend its Advanced Grid Intelligence and Security (AGIS) CPCN to reflect the utilization of Distributed Intelligence (DI) capabilities by its smart meters. The order also described HAN connectivity.