Public Service Company of Colorado

The Ultimate CEOs: Wayne H. Brunetti, Xcel Energy

The CEO Power Forum: Not all utility CEOs are created equal...

“People have approached us to outsource our call centers to India. I’m just not going to do that. To me the face of our company is our call centers. That’s our principle contact with our customers.”

Transactions (May 2013)

Dominion agreed to buy three merchant power plants from Energy Capital Partners; First Solar acquired the 150 MW Solar Gen 2 project; Dynegy subsidiary Illinois Power Holdings will acquire Ameren Energy Resources and three subsidiaries; and others ...

Colorado Denies SmartGridCity Cost Recovery

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) upheld an initial decision by an administrative law judge (ALJ) issued in January, which had recommended that Xcel Energy subsidiary Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCC) be denied any further rate recovery of SmartGridCity costs. The commission said the utility had been given ample opportunity to prove the prudence of the rising costs of the project but that the company had failed to do so.

Franchise Fracas

Will Boulder be the last city to go muni? Don’t bet on it.

When the goals of a utility and its host community aren’t in sync, breakups happen.

Hedging Under Scrutiny

Planning ahead in a low-cost gas market.

IIt’s ironic that in today’s market, as the cost of hedging against commodity price increases has declined, support for utility hedging programs has sunk to a historic low. The ideal time to hedge is when prices are low and markets are relatively calm, because that’s when hedging costs and risks are the lowest. Conversely, waiting until prices rise and markets become volatile will expose customers to higher costs. Convincing regulators to approve hedging programs now will require a collaborative approach to educating and enlisting support from stakeholders.

Vendor Neutral

(July 2011) Williams Partners L.P. expands Transco transmission lines; Google to provide fiber optic Internet service for Kansas City, Mo.; Constellation Energy picks Lynxspring Inc.; plus contracts and developments involving Servidyne, EnerNOC, Siemens Energy and others.

Seeing Green

Renewables attract utility investment dollars.

New federal policies have opened the gates to utility investments in renewable generating plants. Some states, however, still make it difficult for utilities to put such assets into the rate base. Executives at Duke, OG&E, PG&E and Xcel Energy discuss challenges and opportunities affecting their renewable investment strategies.

Green Price Stability

New approaches account for the economic benefits of renewables.

Many green power customers benefit from long-term fixed prices. The most effective programs recognize the value of this price hedge—and fairly exempt customers from fuel cost adders in utility rates.

Back to Gas

Utility turbines bridge the capacity gap.

Utilities are turning to natural gas as a bridge fuel, and to support non-dispatchable renewables.