Is Xcel solar fee idea a mega what?
| July 27, 2009 | 6:01 AM
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This might get you charged up.
Xcel Energy is thinking about zapping customers with a fee when they don’t use electricity.
You read that right. The company is considering slapping a monthly connectivity fee on customers who install solar panels on their homes after April of next year. It would have to be paid even for months when a solar customer didn’t use any electricity. (Some months, solar customers even produce more electricity than they use, putting power back on the grid.)
Apparently Xcel isn’t just trying to generate consumer response by adding the fee.
Connectivity fees pay for the distribution and transmission of energy. Right now, customers who own solar panels don’t pay the fee, even when they do use power from the company. Xcel says the proposal would be more equitable for customers without solar panels who pay the fee every month.
The company says the proposal would cover the expense of providing “backup” capacity on the grid for solar customers if they need it. But critics say the idea could help short-circuit Colorado’s vision of being a leader in a “new energy economy” — especially since no similar move appears to be on tap elsewhere in the country.
Whether you think Xcel is within its power or has its wires crossed, the Public Utilities Commission has scheduled a hearing on the proposal. You can try to transform things between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Aug. 5.
Read more at the Daily Camera.
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