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Xcel Energy applied for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) as suggested in my blog a few months ago. Xcel is attempting to recoup SmartGrid costs that are now about three times the original budget estimate (the original budget was $15.3M, and costs are estimated at $44.8M). A rate increase was requested in 2009. Approval of the CPCN is necessary to move on the rate increase for SmartGrid.
I think it is time to stop throwing good money after bad. Xcel has shown they cannot deliver on the promise of SmartGrid. Only 43% of the meters in Boulder are converted to the Landis and Gyr (L&G) Focus meter, and customers have found that real-time energy data is not readily available through the Xcel “My Account” website.
Xcel officials claim the extent of the costs could not be fully known before contruction began on the first large scale test of its kind! However, they could have asked or performed some due diligence.
Let’s hope the PUC catches on.

The Sunday Boulder Camera (Feb 21) published a pointed commentary by Anne Butterfield about Xcel’s Smart Grid City. I agree with Anne and the PUC that a certificate of public convenience and necessity is needed to convey to the public if there is some substance to all the SGC hype.
I attended two presentations by Xcel that provided much hype for a smart grid system, but delivered little insight into deliverables. Most of the presentation was pie in the sky talk about shaving peaks with electric vehicle battery storage, and controlling a customer’s thermostat. The only realistic near-term advantage of the SGC is that of monitoring voltage at the customer’s service and locating outages without relying on telephone messages from the customer. This is a huge advantage for Xcel – reduce truck rolls for outages or problems on the customer’s side of the meter.
I worked for Xcel for 8 years on their control and data acquisition systems (SCADA), and in planning department. I have a pretty good idea what is driving them. Xcel management realizes they can use this SGC hype to get money for capital investments for their needs, and worry about deliverables later. However, the “cutting edge technology” excuse for delay and cost overrun is getting thin.
I have 7 smart monitoring systems online and operating, compared to 8 for Xcel! My systems cost only a few thousand dollars instead of millions, but I don’t have the hype!

Xcel announced the REC portion of the renewable energy rebate has decreased from $1.50 to $.85 effective December 2, 2009.
The total rebate and REC from Xcel is now $2.85 per watt ($2.00 rebate and $0.85 REC). The reasons behind the decrease is the small (<10 kw) program has filled up, and prices for equipment (i.e. PV panels) has decreased significantly in the past few months.
This means that the total rebate and REC for a 10kw system decreases from $35,000 to $28,500.

Xcel offers Rollover Credit for Excess Energy
The good news from Xcel’s meeting with COSEIA last week is the announcement of a rollover option for Solar electric customers. Customers can sign up for this plan in September, and roll over any excess energy generated by the end of the year (December 31) into 2010. This means instead of selling the excess to Xcel a the end of the year for about 4.8 cents/kwh, customers can use this excess energy in January and February when solar generation does not meet usage. Using energy at 9.7 cents per kwh instead of selling at 4.8 cents per kwh makes financial sense to customers keen on system payback.

Xcel recently announced it would increase the Renewable Energy Standard Adjustement (RESA) component of the electric bill to fund the renewable energy program. Xcel also filed a rate case increase for GRSA – the general rate schedule adjustment component of your electric bill. GRSA is the component of Xcel’s revenue that applies to Service and Facility – money used for capital and O&M costs. The increase is substantial – from 12.7% to 32.5%. They call this a 19.8% increase! Would someone enlighten me on that calculation?
For the average customer with monthly usage of 625 kWh, they project the increase will be $5.13 per month or 8.39%.
On the bright side, this increase adds value to those of us with solar electric systems, and provides more incentive for residential and commercial customers to install solar electric systems.

A few weeks ago Xcel decreased the renewable energy rebate from $4.50 per watt to $3.50 per watt. That adjustment was based on the increase of the ITC (federal investment tax credit).
Yesterday, Xcel announced it will increase RESA – the electric bill component used to fund their renewable energy program. They did not provide a specific reason for this increase. Xcel did estimate the increase will amount to about 33 cents on the average residential bill.
Presently RESA is six tenths of one percent (0.6 %) of the total electric bill before taxes. A $100 electric utility bill includes about 60 cents for RESA.
I would like to hear more about Xcel’s plan for the increased revenue!

Following approval of the PV system and installation, the customer signs the “Solar*Rewards contract” with Xcel Energy. The terms and conditions of the contract allow Xcel Energy to purchase from the customer all Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) generated by the PV system for a term of 20 years.
The price for the RECs includes two components – the “standard rebate” based on installation, and a payment based on Xcel Energy’s receipt of all RECs generated by the PV system.
The total price for the RECs is $2.00 per watt for the installation, and $1.50 per watt for the RECs.
The customer is responsible to maintain the PV system for the term of the contract. If the customer breaches the contract during the 20 year term, the customer is liable for liquidated damages limited to the prorated amount of the rebate.