The Denver Business Journal
3:18 PM MDT Wednesday
A study released Wednesday by a trade association representing companies invested in the wind energy industry says Colorado customers of Xcel Energy Inc. are expected to save about $251 million in energy costs over the next 20 years through the use of wind energy vs. natural gas-fired power plants.
"It's a great hedge against natural gas and coal prices; it's a stable energy source," said Craig Cox, spokesman for the Interwest Energy Alliance, which paid $4,500 for the study.
The study also said that consumers could have saved an additional $186 million if all the wind projects Xcel pursued had come to fruition.
Several wind projects have fallen by the wayside in recent years due to a number of factors, ranging from higher costs of steel poles to support the turbines to difficulties negotiating agreements between developers and the utility.
But Xcel (NYSE: XEL), based in Minneapolis and Colorado's largest provider of electricity and natural gas, is among the nation's leaders in wind energy.
Colorado has about 282 megawatts of wind-generated power on its system today and another 775 megawatts of wind power are expected to be online by Dec. 31, 2007.
"We're very proud of what we've added to our system in terms of wind," said Xcel spokesman Tom Henley. "We're the No. 1 utility in the country in terms of wind, and we'll continue to grow our lead with the addition of the 775 megawatts slated for Colorado."
One megawatt of power, generated from coal or natural gas, typically serves up to 1,000 homes. A megawatt of power generated from wind serves less than that because the wind doesn't always blow at a steady pace.
Authors of the study were Jane Pater, who has worked on energy and environmental issues, and Ron Binz, former head of the Colorado Consumer Counsel's office.
The study also repeated the need for additional transmission lines, essentially highways for shipping electricity from rural and remote power plants to urban consumers.
"More transmission from Colorado's eastern plains wind resources would help struggling rural communities reap economic benefits from investment and jobs in wind plants, while Front Range consumers would have access to cleaner, more secure and lower cost electricity," said Ron Lehr, attorney and a former chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, in a statement. Lehr now represents the wind industry.
"It's time to 'connect the dots,' get transmission planned and built, and bring wind power benefits to the whole state," Lehr said in the statement.
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