Monday, February 28, 2011

Xcel slashes solar subsidies

It's all contingent on whether the Colorado Public Utilities Commission lets them do it, but the solar companies (allegedly 400+ of them in Colorado) and greenies are squealing.

Currently, apparently, Xcel subsidizes solar installations for homes and business to the tune of $2.35 per watt. According to the hated, money-grubbing, reader-alienating Post, the cut would be to $1.25 a watt. The Examiner article, though, says Xcel has already cut the subsidy to $2.01 per watt; the further reduction, it says, would take it down to 25 cents. Must be a typo, but it's been up since Friday and nobody's corrected them.

Xcel made the move, a spokesgink said, because solar prices have been coming down and Xcel now covers about 75 percent of the cost, rather than the 50 percent they originally covered. They want the money, which naturally comes from a two-percent add-on to utility bills, to "go further," so don't hold your breath waiting for a rate reduction.

The Colorado legislature, by the way, has mandated that 30 percent of Colorado's energy come from "renewables" by 2020.

No comments: