On Tuesday, September 19, 2023, Clean Energy Action Board Member Leslie Glustrom and Robert Kenney, President of Public Service Company of Colorado, better known as Xcel Energy, met for an open and respectful discussion concerning Colorado’s energy.

Glustrom is a trained biochemist who has spent more than three decades in a variety of roles, many of which relate to environmental issues. Kenney has over 30 years of regulatory, legal, governmental, and public affairs and is responsible for the overall utilities of Xcel Energy.

After the “Xcel energy bills skyrocket, leaving consumers stunned” story in the September 14 issue of The Mountain-Ear, readers wanted to know more not only about the skyrocketing fees but also what’s being done to find a solution or, at the very least, how is hope being instilled in Colorado’s residents.

The conversation was hosted by Empower Our Future as one of its Empower Hour informative sessions. It’s worthy to note that Colorado is home to PSCO’s largest operating company.

The first question addressed was whether or not Xcel’s profits are justified. Kenney did not deny the company’s increased profits over time, as it is a capital-intensive business, also claiming for every dollar the company earns, it puts approximately $3 back into customers and communities in the form of investments.

Kenney shared, “We have to raise capital by either issuing debt or issuing equity,” also sharing that Xcel can do either cheaply due to its credit rating. Glustrom questioned Xcel’s affordability, placing attention to the many Xcel customers who have found alternate providers at a lower cost.

The second question: Is Xcel’s ongoing commitment to fossil fuels appropriate? There’s no denying Xcel’s attempts and steps to improve Colorado’s energy. The question is the pace. Is it moving fast enough to make a difference?

Kenney stated Xcel has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to decreasing its commitment to fossil fuels, as evidenced by the clean energy plan filed on the same day of this season.

The plan’s result is a net decrease of about 700 megawatts of natural gas. The company is allowing roughly 1300 megawatts of natural gas contracts to expire, replacing them with 600 megawatts of natural gas strategically placed, running less than 5% of the time, according to Kenney.

The goal of said energy plan is to retire Xcel’s coal plant, which had the backing of the Public Utilities Commission, by the end of 2030, which was due to retire in 2070. Though it is a step in the right direction, more concerns arise.

If the Pueblo Unit 3 Coal Plant (PU3CP) continues to run, there will continue to be between 2-4 million tons of CO2 released yearly, staying in the air virtually forever. Nearly two pounds of mercury a week, arsenic, lead chromium, particulates, and acid gasses will continue to pollute Colorado’s air, affecting the health of residents. Not to mention the millions of gallons of water used every day and the over $100 million a year it costs to operate such a plant.

Xcel plans to spend $2.5 billion on natural gas in the next five years. Does that mean Xcel isn’t as committed to the transition from fossil fuels as it should be? Can we, customers and companies, move away from PU3CP faster?

What about wind, solar, and storage resources options? Xcel’s president shares that the company’s clean energy plan has more renewable and storage relative to what it had expected to achieve in phase 1 or the change.

“The company will most likely meet and exceed the company and the state’s goal of an 80% carbon reduction from 2005 levels by 2030 by adding 3400 megawatts of new wind, almost 2000 megawatts of solar, and nearly 1200 megawatts of battery storage,” says Kenney.

He continued, “We’re adding natural gas, but we’re retiring more than we are adding. We are doing everything in our power to take advantage of wind, solar, and storage resources. We can transition due to investments Xcel made earlier, making resources as economical as they are now.”

Xcel is testing new long-duration storage resources like the battery project in Pueblo, which is 100-hour storage, allowing Xcel to “manage the system in a more dynamic way than ever before.”

By 2028, Xcel will see 82% renewable energy, with 58% wind power and 24% solar. In the meantime, PU3CP will run on limited operation, reducing its energy use every year until the end of 2030. This was due to be retired.

Xcel recognizes the need to accelerate the retirement of the Pueblo plant but must simultaneously maintain reliability and affordability. Kenney confesses it’s challenging to provide “safe, reliable, affordable, and increasingly green electricity at the pace at which Xcel is doing so.”

Is the price of transition from coal to more sustainable energy too high? Can we move beyond coal sooner than later? When is it too late? What will happen to the coal plants? Will they be transformed into new Xcel environmentally friendly structures?

What’s important here, leaving a livable planet for future generations or making money for a progressive world? Is there a balance?

To learn more about Clean Energy Action, Boulder, Empower Our Future, and Colorado’s Xcel Energy, visit the following websites https:// www.cleanenergyaction.org/, https:// empowerourfuture.org/, and https:// co.my.xcelenergy.com/s/.