Colorado PUC defers Xcel community-solar solicitation amid credit dispute

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday directed Public Service Company of Colorado, Xcel Energy’s subsidiary serving most of the state, to defer a community-solar request for proposals while parties respond to a dispute over transmission-credit calculations.

The action applies to docket 24A-0442E, the commission’s Just Transition Solicitation proceeding. Public Service had planned to issue the RFP Aug. 12 using its proposed methodology, but the commission told the company to wait “until further order of the Commission,” according to the Aug. 12 commission meeting record.

Developers cannot submit projects under the solicitation while the RFP is deferred. Because the solicitation is intended to identify new generation projects, the delay could postpone project selection and development. The record does not quantify how many projects or customers could be affected.

The dispute concerns how to estimate transmission-system costs and benefits for different energy and storage projects. The Coalition for Community Solar Access challenged Public Service’s proposed revision, identified at the meeting as “option B,” saying it conflicted with the commission’s earlier decision and raised due-process concerns. CCSA also argued that revised values under the initial methodology, or “option A,” did not match that decision.

The framework was established in the commission’s Phase One decision in docket 24A-0442E. Public Service proposed a $191-per-kilowatt credit for bids interconnecting within or west of the Denver Metro Constraint, based on modeled transmission-cost differences between two portfolios and changes in modeled distributed-energy capacity.

CCSA argued that the calculation should exclude distributed-energy resources assumed to be outside the constraint. That would raise the proposed Denver Metro credit to about $210 per kilowatt, according to the Phase One record. CCSA also sought a broader, stackable credit for distribution-connected resources, including a proposed $263-per-kilowatt base credit across Public Service’s system.

The commission previously approved a $69-per-kilowatt-year credit for resources connecting to eligible constrained distribution circuits, while rejecting CCSA’s request for an additional systemwide credit because the record did not adequately support it. It also required Public Service to notify parties and allow responses before changing approved credits.

The credit methodology could affect the modeled competitiveness of bids based on project location and resource type. The available record does not establish a specific effect on project counts, customer rates or customer access. Community solar can give customers who cannot install rooftop systems, including renters and apartment residents, access to bill credits from shared solar projects, Energy Outreach Colorado says.

Parties’ responses are due Friday, Aug. 14. The commission’s adviser said the issue was complex but “fairly narrow” and could potentially be resolved within one or two weeks. No date was set for the commission to reconsider the solicitation, which remains deferred pending further action.