Xcel Energy Gets OK to Build Colorado's Largest Windfarm

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Public Service Company of Colorado (Denver, Colorado), a power utility unit of Xcel Energy Incorporated (NYSE:XEL) (Minneapolis, Minnesota), received the green light from state regulators on September 30 for a 600-megawatt (MW) windfarm in eastern Colorado. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) (Denver, Colorado) capped the cost of the Rush Creek Windfarm at $1.096 billion.

The Rush Creek Windfarm consists of two 300-MW phases. Construction of Phase I is expected to begin in 2017 and to finish in late 2018. Construction of Phase II is expected to begin in 2018 and to be complete by 2019. The Rush Creek project includes about 90 miles of 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission.

A unit of Invenergy LLC (Chicago, Illinois) is serving as project manager for the windfarm, which is expected to utilize 300 Vestas V110 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 2 MW. Invenergy is scheduled to release requests for proposals (RFPs) for equipment and an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm in early 2017.

Regulators also approved on September 30 an expedited construction start for the Pawnee-Daniels Park Transmission Project, a separate, 345-kV transmission line that will carry some of the output of the Rush Creek windfarm to other parts of the state. The Pawnee-Daniels project is a double-circuit line between Xcel Energy's Pawnee Substation near Brush, Colorado, and the Daniels Park Substation south of the Denver metro-area. The project area includes Arapahoe and Douglas counties, the city of Aurora and town of Parker.

Xcel Energy said the 125-mile Pawnee-Daniels project is a critical component of its Colorado long-range transmission plan. The project will allow for the interconnection and delivery of new generation resources--including renewable energy--to Front Range customers, to meet increased customer demand for electricity and to improve system reliability.

"I'm very pleased that almost 20 parties could join together and support a comprehensive settlement that significantly increases renewable energy in the state, will be a driver of economic development in rural Colorado, and helps sustain the renewable energy supply chain that has matured in Colorado," CPUC Chairman Joshua Epel said in a statement. "I am especially pleased that a high-voltage transmission line that provides access to energy resource zones is part of the settlement."

In an earlier statement, made September 6 after Xcel Energy reached a settlement agreement with numerous parties on the project, David Ewes, president of Xcel Energy - Colorado, said: "We believe the settlement announced today ... is a 'no regrets' step towards more renewable energy for Xcel Energy customers and the state of Colorado. Rush Creek will provide low-cost energy to our customers, and it adds a clean, renewable generation resource to the state that will help us meet potential federal and state air quality mandates."

The settlement needed to be approved by the CPUC before Xcel Energy could move forward with the project.

For more on the Rush Creek project and Xcel Energy's growing investment in renewable energy, see July 6, 2016, article - Developers Hope 2016 is the Year Clarity Comes to Transmission Planning in the West and March 22, 2016, article - Xcel Energy Plans Five-Year, $15 Billion Capital Program.

"Xcel Energy has been a leader among U.S. utilities in responding to customer requests by installing renewable energy," said Britt Burt, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the global Power Industry. "Wind power accounted for about 19% of Xcel's Colorado electric generating capacity in 2015, and when Rush Creek is completed, that percentage is expected to go higher."

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