Xcel Energy may be discriminating against Colorado solar panel owners, and state regulators want answers
The utility giant’s delay of smart meter technology could cost solar homeowners money, and a pointed staff request asks commissioners to judge
Colorado Sun
Olivia Sun/The Colorado Sun via Report for America
Those speaking for tens of thousands of Colorado solar panel owners found it blindingly unfair that Xcel Energy could charge customers 17 cents a kilowatt hour for electricity at the same time it was paying solar homeowners only 8 cents an hour to generate it.
Staff at the Public Utilities Commission thought so, too.
Now the PUC staff is asking the commissioners this week to declare whether Xcel has the right to keep delaying installation of the smart meters solar owners need to get paid or charged fairly, and whether Xcel should be compensating the homeowners for any money they lose in the years-long wait.
The detailed 21-page request by the PUC staff warns the state could lose ground promoting more clean solar generation if potential customers are wary of Xcel and “know the proverbial rug might be pulled out from under them due to problems over which they have no control.”
Read more at ColoradoSun.com.
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