Xcel Energy’s plan to boost renewables was approved by Colorado regulators Monday.
As The Denver Post reports, Xcel Energy Colorado plans to boost the share of power it gets from wind and solar and retire a third of its coal generation.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission voted 2 to 1 in support of Xcel’s Colorado Energy Plan, which the company says will increase its renewable energy sources to 55 percent within the next eight years.
Xcel says the plan will also result in a nearly 60 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions because Xcel will retire two-coal fired units in Pueblo by 2025. It will also add about 1,100 megawatts of wind, 700 megawatts of solar, 275 megawatts of battery storage and 380 megawatts of existing natural gas resources.
Xcel says the plan will also save customers $213 million because of the declining costs of renewable energy. But critics say those savings won’t be realized for 15 to 20 years or longer.
