May 2022 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.
Misc. Updates
Off the record, commissioners expressed concerns about the costs and methods of financing coal closures and clean-ups. The revised settlement agreement in Xcel’s Clean Energy Plan included more than $1 billion to support shutting down five coal units, the bulk of which is attributed to Xcel’s newest and most problematic plant, Comanche 3. Comanche 3 accounts for $732 million of the retirement budget, and cost $1.3 billion to develop just 12 years ago. Further actions and opportunities to engage with this case are pending.
Also, as a result of an Environmental Protection Agency inquiry into coal ash storage (a coal byproduct that frequently pollutes air and waterways), Xcel agreed to pay a $925,000 fine and increase its monitoring and data gathering at the Comanche plant.
Distribution: Technology for Energy Delivery
22A-0189E: Xcel 2022 Distribution System Plan Phase I
This important update was also described in CEA’s March/April blog post.
Public Service Co. of Colorado filed Phase I of its first Distribution System Plan in May 2022, submitted alongside a non-wires alternatives (NWAs) service agreement and model RFP to fulfill five potential NWA needs (upgrades estimated to exceed $2 million). While the NWA RFP is technology-agnostic, anticipated projects include demand response programs, energy efficiency programs, energy storage services, distributed generation, or some combination thereof. Xcel requested a new proposed shared savings performance incentive mechanism for NWAs. The DSP also proposed a Feeder Relay and Protection Improvement Plan pilot to proactively upgrade substation equipment to integrate additional distributed solar capacity at lower interconnection costs; a Demand Response Management System (DRMS) pilot to control and aggregate distributed energy resources (DER); more granular and frequent hosting capacity analysis to help inform customers’ siting of DER; and a Secure Web Portal to allow stakeholders to access more granular information to help better inform DER siting and interconnection-related decisions.
The DSP also discussed the value of the company's pre-existing AMI and distributed intelligence investments, ADMS implementation, the Parasonic and Community Resiliency Initiative microgrid projects, storage pilots, Voltage Supervisory Reclosing technology, and vehicle-to-grid transportation electrification projects.
Resource Planning: Your Power, Your Community
21A-0096E Xcel Power Pathway Transmission Project
The Colorado PUC released its decision approving Xcel’s proposed $1.7 billion transmission loop around the Eastern plains of Colorado. The PUC gave conditional approval to a 90-mile extension in southeast Colorado, pending more information that is expected early next year. The transmission line, called the “Power Pathway,” was framed as a key investment to facilitate the interconnection of 5.5 GW of renewable energy (outlined in Xcel’s Clean Energy Plan). Xcel intends to complete the first phase of investments by 2025, and the line will be in service by 2027.
22M-0200E Voluntary Clean Energy Plan GHGs
In April 2022, the Air Pollution Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment submitted a petition for a Commissioner’s Informational Meeting and new “M” Docket to provide the discuss GHG emissions reductions associated with voluntarily filed Clean Energy Plans. The Division requested that the Commission schedule a one-hour Commissioner Information Meeting to present the evaluation and verification process and address Commissioners’ questions concerning the Division’s verification of the Voluntary CEPs submitted by Holy Cross Energy, Platte River Power Authority, and Colorado Springs Utilities.
Business Models: Moneymaking, Programs, and Regional Impacts
22M-0228E Xcel Bill Design
In May 2022, Xcel requested that the Commission open a miscellaneous proceeding as a repository for comments regarding 1) the Company’s current bill design; and 2) ways in which the Company could potentially improve the bill design. The proceeding will also house the results of customer surveys and focus group activities. Further filings are pending, but this docket could lead to bill re-design, new tools for customers, and other transparency-related outcomes.
The docket and customer survey analysis were ordered in Decision No. C22-0178, which approved the settlement agreement in Xcel's 2022 rate case (docket no. 21AL-0317E).