Although the Democrats and Republicans cannot yet find a way to extend credits for renewable energy, both want to make headlines as renewable energy supporters. Perhaps that’s why both the upcoming Republican and Democratic conventions in Minneapolis-Saint Paul and Denver, respectively, will get part of their power from renewable energy.
Xcel Energy is one of the nation’s leading providers of renewable energy and the country’s largest provider of wind power. It will use its facilities close to Denver and Minneapolis-Saint Paul to power each convention. Most of the renewable power will come from wind. Xcel Energy expects that power through its Windsource program will offset the estimated 3,000 megawatt-hours of energy both conventions will use.
Wind power for the Republican convention will come from an Xcel Energy facility on southwestern Minnesota’s Buffalo Ridge. The Democratic convention will receive its wind energy from a wind farm near the Colorado-Wyoming border. Xcel will also tap into the excess energy generated from solar photovoltaic arrays from its commercial customers. In Denver, Xcel will use energy from the 10-kilowatt solar array on top of the Pepsi Center in Denver where their convention will be held. In Minneapolis-Saint Paul, solar power will come from a 10-kilowatt installation at the High Bridge Generating Station in Saint Paul.
We’re sure that as the conventions near we’ll hear more from their planners on how much carbon emissions are offset through the alternative energy power sources.
By the way the Democrats have announced other “green plans” for their convention; they hope to make their convention the greenest-ever. Plans include recognizing delegates who offset their travel emissions; partnering with Native Energy for carbon emission offsets; and providing a fleet of bicycles for delegates to borrow for quick trips between hotels and the Pepsi Center. Molson-Coors will donate $40,000 worth of E85, an ethanol-gasoline fuel blend made from waste beer lost during packaging or rejected for quality reasons from the company’s plant in Golden, Colorado. The fuel will power the flex-fuel vehicles from General Motors used to shuttle delegates and supplies. Convention planners also want to go paperless, challenging their staff to complete transactions, communications, and bookings electronically.
Not to be overshadowed, Republicans have “green plans” as well. Republicans, too, hope to have the greenest convention their party has ever hosted. And General Motors is the Official Vehicle Provider for the Republicans supplying over 300 hybrid fuel vans and cars for delegates and staff. The Republican Convention will showcase an energy-efficient office, complete with recycled furnishings. Planners have also directed staff and committees to reduce the amount of paper used in planning, printing, and booking reservations.
June 12, 2008
Boulder, Colorado won’t be going off-grid or relying on 100% solar energy anytime soon, instead it is pioneering the nation’s first fully integrated digital technology system to manage its electrical grid. Xcel Energy, one of the nation’s leaders in supporting aggressive renewable energy programs, selected Boulder to test its Smart Grid technology. The system will track power loads from devices installed on homes and businesses around the city so that supply can be met from all its power sources, including wind farms and solar installations.
Working with the City of Boulder and sharing funding with a consortium of technology vendors, Xcel plans to spend $100 million over the next 2-years to install 50,000 smart meters on buildings throughout the city. Xcel expects to switch on the system this August.
Boulder’s abundant sunshine and commitment to carbon-neutrality helped make it the winning recipient of Xcel’s pilot (in 2006, Boulder was the first US city to pass a local carbon tax).
Cooler Planet applauds Xcel and Boulder for taking on a truly cool project. We look forward to hearing about its results.
May 15, 2008
Colorado is another state that makes Home Power magazine’s April/May 2008 Top Ten list. The State has a long history supporting solar energy. In the late 1970s, Former President Jimmy Carter helped fund legislation to support the growth of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. It makes sense since Colorado has, on a statewide average, 5.8 peak solar sun-hours per day – making it, according to Governor Bill Ritter, the sixth sunniest state in the union.
Residents have long known the sun is worth tapping into. In 2004, Colorado voters – rather than the state legislature – passed an initiative that builds a renewable energy infrastructure. The 2004 amendment requires utilities to provide their customers with specified percentages of electricity generated from renewable energy sources and in 2007 Colorado strengthened its goals further by requiring large private utilities to generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.
As a result, Xcel Energy, one of the State’s largest utilities, offers its residential customers a rebate of $2.00 per watt, and will purchase the initial renewable energy certificates (REC) for the size of the PV system installed. The one-time REC purchase typically equals $2.50 per watt.
Colorado also continues to push legislation to streamline solar energy policy. Earlier this month, the legislature passed a bill that will standardize net metering across the state and will likely be signed by the governor in the coming weeks. Current policy requires that larger utilities must offer net metering on systems that are up to 2-megawatt in size. The net excess rolls over each month as credit on homeowner’s bill and at the end of the year the utility pays the customer for any additional surplus based on the utility’s average yearly rate. This bill complements the state’s broader commitment toward renewable energy set forth in Colorado’s Climate Action Plan.
Colorado’s efforts to take advantage of its sixth-sunniest-state-status help all of us grow our solar energy infrastructure.
March 28, 2008
