[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: RE: 3 energy articles of interest

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Weaver, Sam

Craig,
 
A few things come to mind when you compare Xcel/PSCo to Austin Energy and assert that the two entities are similar in rates, reliability, and emissions/renewables.  Below are some salient points, references are at the end of this email.
 
RATES: On rates, I find it interesting that you think Xcel/PSCo and Austin Energy are similar. They are not similar at all.
 
Austin Energy's bills for a 500 kWh winter use, is $45.30 including taxes and service fees.  Xcel/PSCo electricity supplied in the winter at 500kWh will produce a bill around $64.55 (similar to my personal bill).
 
So on bills for the lowest winter tier, Xcel/PSCo costs 43% more than Austin Energy.  Half of the difference is pre-tax corporate profits.  Hardly comparable on rates.
 
For 1000 kWh summer, Austin Energy is at $98.68, while Xcel/PSCo will charge a Boulder resident $127.63 for the same, both including all taxes and surcharges.
 
So on bills for a moderate summer usage, Xcel PSCo costs 29% more than Austin Energy.  Almost half of the difference is pre-tax corporate profits.  Again, hardly comparable on rates.
 
RELIABILITY: How about reliability?  Austin Energy outage durations (SAIDI) for 2012 were 61 minutes.  Xcel/PSCo outages in 2012 in Boulder were 77 minutes.  So Xcel had 26% more minutes of outages in Boulder than Austin Energy did.
 
EMISSIONS/RENEWABLES: What about emissions of CO2?  Austin Energy is at 0.95 pounds CO2 emitted per kWh delivered.  Xcel/PSCo is at 1.7 pounds per kWh delivered (2011 ERP estimate for 2012).  So Xcel/PSCo emits 80% more CO2 per kWh than Austin Energy.  And
 Austin will certainly be ahead of the Xcel/PSCo renewables compliance goals when they are at 35% renewables in Q4 of 2015.  And at least Austin is trying to get completely off of coal in my lifetime, while Xcel is committed to coal through 2069. 

 
NEXT STEPS: So again, I do hope that Xcel/PSCo comes forward with some very progressive, creative, and concrete proposals as alternatives to Boulder pursuing a municipal utility.  When we look around at the most progressive munis in the country, it looks
 like they do a lot better than Xcel/PSCO regarding rates, reliability, carbon emissions and renewables penetration.  Not only should Xcel/PSCo consider those important metrics in its proposals, but also other community values around energy such as local input
 to utility governance, high penetrations of distributed generation, and improved reliability/resilience through micro-grid enhancements.
 
All the best,

 

Sam Weaver
Member of Boulder City Council
weavers at bouldercolorado.gov
Phone: 303-416-6130
 
Sources:
 
http://austinenergy.com/wps/portal/ae/Residential/Rates/ (Austin
 Energy rates)
 
http://www.xcelenergy.com/staticfiles/xe/Regulatory/Regulatory%20PDFs/rates/CO/psco_elec_entire_tariff.pdf (Xcel/PSCo
 rates)
 
https://my.austinenergy.com/wps/wcm/connect/8a6066f4-d774-490f-8ebd-e3de513b5745/2012AnnualPerformanceReport.pdf?MOD=AJPERES (see
 page 41 for Austin Energy reliability)
 
https://www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/Xcel_Energy_Qaulity_of_Service_Plan_2012_Annual_Report-1-201307031043.pdf (see
 page 30 for Boulder reliability)
 
-----
 
From: Eicher, Craig L [Craig.L.Eicher at xcelenergy.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2014 12:35 PM
To: Weaver, Sam
Cc: HOTLINE; Council
Subject: RE: 3 energy articles of interest








Hello, Sam,

 
I’ve been following Austin Energy and they appear to be quite similar to PSCo. Their rates are in line with ours and their percentage
 of renewables is similar to where we are and where we are heading. Wisely, like us, they took full advantage of the substantial cost reductions afforded by the federal production tax credit, which has since expired. Incidentally, they did recently announce
 plans to add 800 megawatts of new natural gas generation and customers are now reacting to news the utility is backing off its plan to retire its portion of a coal plant because it could raise rates from 5% to 25%:
 
Then there’s this: the hard-coal reality
 “The long road to moving ‘Austin Beyond
 Coal,’ as the Sierra Club slogan goes, just got longer and more complicated. On Tuesday, utility officials delivered the grim news to the City Council Com­mittee on Austin Energy that severing the city's marriage to the coal-fired Fayette Power Project would
 carry a cost-prohibitive price tag.”
http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2014-02-07/then-theres-this-hard-coal-reality/
 
Like Austin, Xcel Energy is also ahead of schedule to reach our goal for 30 percent renewable energy by 2020; in fact we’re on track to go beyond 30 percent.
 Just as important, we are also on track to reduce our CO2 emissions by 31 percent by 2020. We’re doing that by retiring nearly 600 megawatts of coal generation and switching to natural gas, adding modern emissions controls to 950 megawatts of coal, adding
 170 megawatts of central solar, and reaching nearly 2700 megawatts of wind energy in Colorado. All while keeping our prices competitive.

 
All of this is to say that any existing well-managed utility – muni or IOU, faces the reality of cost when responsibly choosing how to deliver reliable, safe,
 and increasingly clean energy to its customers.
 
After years of swimming against deregulation tide, Austin mulls more oversight

“Still, Austin and San Antonio -- the other major Texas locale with a city-owned power utility
 -- face many of the same realities as other electric providers in a landscape of evolving technology, infrastructure needs and consumer demand.”
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059994256

 
All the best to you as well,
 




Craig Eicher

Xcel Energy | Responsible By Nature


Area Manager, Boulder Region


2655 N 63rd St  
 Boulder, CO 80301


P: 303-245-2254   
 C: 303-827-4943    F:
 303-245-2292


E:
craig.l.eicher at xcelenergy.com


________________________________________________________
XcelEnergy.com  

Facebook.com/XcelEnergy   
Twitter.com/XcelEnergy



 









From: Weaver, Sam [mailto:WeaverS at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2014 5:22 PM
To: Eicher, Craig L
Cc: HOTLINE
Subject: RE: 3 energy articles of interest

 

Craig,
 
Thanks for sharing your information.  Since your email list is not available to me, perhaps you can forward along the following post to it.  I am
 including Hotline on this email so that as many of those local community leaders and interested citizens can see the good news about the Austin municipal electric utility achieving a high penetration of renewables ahead of schedule and below expected costs. 
 I am certain that Boulder could follow that model were it to have the opportunity.  Hopefully Xcel can find a way to make some proposals in the near term that meet with the majority of the Boulder community's Energy Future goals.
 
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/03/austin-texas-approves-wind-power-agreement-to-achieve-renewables-goal-four-years-early?cmpid=BioNL-Tuesday-March4-2014
 
The Austin, Texas, City Council approved a wind power contract Feb. 27 that enables Austin Energy to achieve its goal of delivering 35 percent of
 all of its electricity from renewable sources four years ahead of its goal, the utility said in a news release.

 

The contract with Lincoln Renewable Energy calls for Austin Energy to buy up to 300 MW of wind power for 18 years for $31 million a year. The price
 for the wind power is in the $26-to-$36/MWh price range, making it the least expensive wind purchase Austin Energy has ever entered into since it began contracting for wind power in the late 1990s.
 
The price is also lower than the $32/MWh average cost for all power in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas in 2013 and will not increase customer
 bills, the utility said.
 
The new wind project consisting of 160 wind turbines will be built in Castro County, Texas and is projected to come online in the fourth quarter of
 2015.
 
All the best,


 

Sam Weaver
Member of Boulder City Council
weavers at bouldercolorado.gov
Phone: 303-416-6130







From:
 Eicher, Craig L [Craig.L.Eicher at xcelenergy.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2014 4:57 PM
To: Eicher, Craig L
Subject: 3 energy articles of interest



Hello community leaders in Boulder County,

 
I’d like to share three articles with you today. The first reports on Xcel Energy’s announcement we have contracted to add 120 megawatts
 of central solar energy to our Colorado system. This is only two months after gaining PUC approval to add a total of 170 megawatts of central solar in Colorado.

 
Xcel approves $200 million solar power project in Pueblo County
The project will make-up the largest part of a 170 megawatt
 portfolio of solar generation approved by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission in December, 2013,
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_25271720/xcel-approves-200-million-solar-power-project-pueblo

 
The second article reports on the City of Philadelphia’s struggle to maintain its municipal gas utility.

 
Philadelphia
 mayor strikes deal to sell gas utility
 
The mayor told reporters that having the city own such a utility may have made sense at one time but "stopped
 making a lot of sense back in the '90s," since PGW can't expand its customer base outside the city and isn't as well positioned as a private company to take advantages of new opportunities.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/248204091.html

 
And, as I’ve reported in the past, Vero Beach, FL, is close to selling its electric utility to the neighboring investor-owned utility
 because of rate shock.
 
FPL proposes way to close
Vero Beach electric sale in January
 
The disparity between FPL and Vero electric rates amounts to roughly
 $20 million per year. FPL rates, which are the lowest in Florida, are a full 24 percent lower than Vero.
http://www.veronews.com/news/vero_beach/utilities/fpl-proposes-way-to-close-vero-beach-electric-sale-in/article_101f48b0-9a71-11e3-8482-0017a43b2370.html

 
As always, please let me know if you prefer to be left off my list for these updates. Thank you for reading,

 



Craig Eicher

Xcel Energy | Responsible By Nature


Area Manager, Boulder Region


2655 N 63rd St  
 Boulder, CO 80301


P: 303-245-2254   
 C: 303-827-4943    F:
 303-245-2292


E:
craig.l.eicher at xcelenergy.com


________________________________________________________
XcelEnergy.com  

Facebook.com/XcelEnergy   
Twitter.com/XcelEnergy