Xcel Energy Wants More Wind Energy In Colorado

Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL), has asked the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to approve a request to purchase 200 MW of wind energy.

The wind energy would be purchased from NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) through its subsidiary, NextEra Energy Resources, and would be generated at the Limon Wind Energy Center II, in Lincoln County, CO.

CPUC approved a similar request in June 2011. Xcel signed a power purchase agreement with NextEra to purchase 200 MW of wind from Limon Wind Energy Center I. Construction on the first phase of the Limon Wind Energy Center, which will span 35,000 acres and employ 125 turbines, is slated to begin early 2012 and is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

If the Commission approves this additional wind energy purchase by Xcel, construction on Limon WInd Energy Center II will also break ground early 2012 and finish late the same year.

Xcel says the "proposed purchase contains the lowest-cost wind energy we’ve seen, making it competitive with other energy sources.”

Xcel is using the wind energy as part of its Windsource program which the company launched in 1998. The program makes wind energy available to Xcel's customers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Mexico and Colorado.

In Colorado, residential customers can pay an additional premium in 100 kilowatt hour blocks for $2.16 or choose to have 100% of their electricity needs provided by wind energy for, on average, an additional $20 a month. Company wide, 61,000 residential customers and 1,300 businesses purchased renewable energy through Windsource in 2010. Xcel claims the voluntary program is one of the largest of its kind in the U.S.

Commenting on the opportunity that exists for Xcel's Colorado customer base, David Eves, president and CEO of Public Service Co. of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company, said:  “Even though Xcel Energy is ahead of schedule to meet Colorado’s 30 percent renewable energy standard by 2020, we can take advantage of historically low wind prices to give our customers more choice in the energy powering their home and businesses.”

Image Credit: OakleyOriginals via Flickr