Colorado PUC: Xcel Solar Garden Deal Not In Public Interest

DENVER (AP) - Colorado regulators say an Xcel Energy deal for power from community solar gardens is not in the public's interest.

The Denver Post reported Thursday that the Public Utilities Commission said the deal would cost rate payers hundreds of thousands of dollars per garden and that Xcel should go through competitive bidding.

Xcel had agreed to pay a renewable energy credit of 0.3 cents per kilowatt hour for power to its grid from new gardens developed by SunShare, Clean Energy Collective and Community Energy. SunShare chief of staff Karen Gados told the Post the deal would be either cost-neutral for rate payers or save them money. The Post reports that in competitive bidding before the deal was reached, the developers had offered to pay Xcel rather than the other way around.