Xcel Energy customers can now specify their preference for wind and solar energy by signing up for “Renewable Connect.” Xcel’s Kevin Schwain there’s a fee for choosing renewable energy — about five percent more currently — but customers also receive a credit on the fuel charge for conventional energy sources. Schwain says, “By subscribing to this program, we’re basically gonna charge you for the renewable energy that’s dedicated to this program, but give you a credit for those other sources of energy that the rest of the customers are utilizing.”
Schwain says customers can specify renewables on a month-to-month basis — but he says commercial users in particular should consider the option to lock in their energy price for five or ten years. He says with instability in prices of fuel that conventional power plants use, the lock-in option might make sense in the long run.
Schwain says Xcel can offer a fixed price on renewable energy for five or ten years, but can’t do the same for conventional energy sources. The reason: “Some local renewable energy sources that we have locked into contract, and so we know what those prices are gonna be for the next 20 years, but we really can’t say with certainty what the market for natural gas will be next year even.” Schwain notes that commercial customers in particular want price certainty.
More information in this interview with MNN’s Bill Werner:
Here’s part of Xcel’s press release on the program:
Minnesotans now have a new option for powering their homes and businesses with renewable energy with today’s debut of Renewable*Connect®. The program allows customers to subscribe to a portion or all of their energy from a blend of local wind and solar projects from the Odell Wind Farm in southern Minnesota and the North Star Solar project in central Minnesota. Customers can select month-to-month contracts or longer five-and ten-year options.
“As a renewable energy leader, we want to provide our customers the clean energy options they want at an affordable price,” said Chris Clark, president, Xcel Energy-Minnesota. “Renewable*Connect delivers an easy way to use renewable energy and provides a new way for customers to achieve their sustainability goals.”
Enrollment details
Residential customers can sign up for the program at xcelenergy.com/RenewableConnect and businesses can sign up at xcelenergy.com/RenewableConnectBusiness. Customers can select the subscription that works for them, including the amount of energy they want from the program. There are no up-front costs and prices are known at the start. A Renewable*Connect charge will replace the variable fuel charge on customers’ bills, providing some price certainty over the life of the selected subscription term.
Business and residential customers are both eligible for this program. Customers can participate up to 100 percent of their total energy use. No single customer can sign up for more than 10 percent of the available energy produced by the dedicated resources, which total 75 MW.
Meeting customer sustainability goals
Many business customers have expressed interest in the program, which provides a way to verify they are using renewable energy to power their operations via Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). Xcel Energy will retire the Green-e Energy certified RECs on customers’ behalf.
Powering the State Capitol with renewable energy
A portion of the newly renovated Minnesota state capitol complex will be powered by solar and wind through the Renewable*Connect Government program. Xcel Energy partnered with the Minnesota Department of Administration and Gov. Dayton to provide a long-term program that could deliver renewable energy for the state capitol complex following its multi-year renovation. Other local governments may be able to use this program in the future if the program is expanded using the state’s contract as a template for a long-term agreement.