By Tor ‘Solar Fred’ Valenza
January 6, 2012 | 4 Comments

Boulder, Colorado has been on my solar radar for a number of years. It’s one of the cities that I covered in 2009 when part of my job was tracking solar rebates. They were generous then—around $3/watt… less so now. But those generous rebates and other factors have created a beautiful and inspiring solar community, although it’s not a perfect solar world. Read the rest of this entry »

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By Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission today denied Xcel Energy’s request for an interim rate increase of $100 million.

Xcel had estimated that it would suffer at least a $50 million revenue gap if an interim electricity-rate increase was not approved by the commission.

The commission said Xcel failed to demonstrate that it would be adversely impacted by maintaining current rates during the six-month period while its request for a $141.9 million rate increase is fully reviewed. Read the rest of this entry »

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Consumer advocates, some of Colorado’s biggest companies, senior citizens and utility regulators are opposing Xcel Energy’s bid for a no-hearing, interim $100 million electricity-rate hike.
The challenges — in filings with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission — contend that Xcel has failed to prove the financial necessity of the increase and that the figure is too high.
Xcel, with 1.3 million customers the state’s largest utility, is seeking a $142 million rate increase, a process that will take months.
But citing a 2010 law, Xcel wants the utilities commission to rule in January on an interim hike without public hearings. Read the rest of this entry »

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ALAMOSA — Alamosa’s recreation center will soon be partially powered by the sun.

Custom Solar completed a 101-killowatt solar project this week that will provide a portion of the power needs for the rec center. Custom Solar Owner Willie Mein, PE, said the system would be turned on in about a week, on January 6.

The approximately $360,000 project employed many local individuals and companies while under construction in the last month, and Mein said he was impressed by the quality of workmanship afforded locally. Read the rest of this entry »

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Company’s PUC filing outlines lessons learned
By Laura Snider Camera Staff Writer
Posted: 12/25/2011 11:34:31 PM MST

Corrections and clarifications: The original version of this story misreported the number of minutes of outages that have been avoided thanks to the installation of the smart grid. The actual number is 28,000 minutes per feeder, and one feeder serves about 2,500 customers. The original version of this story also attributed a statement to former city councilman Steve Pomerance that was incorrect because the reporter gave Pomerance the wrong figure for customer minutes out. Read the rest of this entry »

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By Mark Jaffe
The Denver Post

Xcel Energy wants to raise an extra $142 million next year, with the money coming from another $4 a month on the average family bill and $5 on small businesses.

So that’s where the money would come from; the question is, where would it go?

That rate increase will cover costs such costs as $3.1 million for new equipment on power plants to curb mercury pollution, $400,000 for an employee-recognition fund and salary increases of 2.5 percent to 4 percent for workers. Read the rest of this entry »

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By Mark Jaffe
The Denver Post

A Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association team today received a $491,000 federal grant to develop a system that will cut red tape and cost for solar panel installations.

“Every municipality has been going about trying to set standards in a piecemeal fashion and that has added to cost,” said Neal Lurie, executive director of the Colorado solar association. Read the rest of this entry »

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- Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy Represents More than 13,000 Solar Jobs Across U.S. -

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE) announced today that dozens more new companies have joined the coalition in the last week, ahead of a vote at the International Trade Commission, to urge policymakers to quickly find an equitable resolution to the SolarWorld anti-trade complaint. In its first week since its founding on November 8, CASE grew from 25 companies to 52 companies. In its second week, CASE doubled again to about 100 companies. Read the rest of this entry »

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by Martin LaMonica November 28, 2011 4:00 AM PST

ALAMOSA, Colo.–The San Luis Valley in southern Colorado is an ideal location for capturing solar energy. But like so many communities, people of this mountain basin will only embrace a future of renewable energy if it fits comfortable with its past.

One of six counties in this high-desert valley surrounded by majestic mountains, Alamosa officials are eager to develop solar for much-needed revenue and to diversify the economy. The county welcomed a group of journalists earlier this month as part of a fellowship organized by the Institutes for Journalism & Natural Resources. Read the rest of this entry »

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By SunShare
Published: Monday, Nov. 28, 2011 – 9:03 am

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Nov. 28, 2011 — /PRNewswire/ — Governor John Hickenlooper will be in Colorado Springs Tuesday, November 29, for the official Groundbreaking of Colorado Springs’ first Community Solar Garden. The event will take place at Venetucci Farm, located at 5210 S. U.S. Highway 85 at 10:30 a.m. Use Venetucci website or call for directions. Read the rest of this entry »

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