Xcel Energy: More wind, less cost
The following is the text of an advertisement placed by Xcel Energy in yesterday's Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera. It concerns changes in Windsource, the voluntary green power option that Xcel offers customers. Xcel has previously commented publicly on its ability to acquire wind energy at low cost.
More wind, less cost
We're changing Windsource® to make it easier and cheaper for our Colorado customers to choose wind power for up to 100 percent of the electricity they use.
Our plan is to expand Windsource 400 percent, while cutting its price in half for residential and small business customers. We would also create a new long-term option for large businesses. These proposals depend on approval from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
A typical household—using 632 kilowatt hours of electricity a month—could purchase 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources for less than $7 per month extra, with no long-term contract.
And, the new Windsource Long-Term Contract program—designed for large businesses—would be priced at just 1.2 cents per kilowatt hour, with a minimum annual purchase of 120,000 kilowatt hours, for at Jeast five years. Businesses could offset possible increases in the price of fossil fuel-generated energy and claim the renewable energy credits from the wind power they purchase.
All Windsource participants help improve Colorado's environment. The wind energy from these programs is above and beyond that which we count to meet the state's 30 percent renewable energy standard.
There's no other renewable energy program in the country offering features like the new Windsource. Windsource is consistently ranked among the nation's leading voluntary green energy pricing programs, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Xcel Energy is the number one wind energy provider in the country, says the American Wind Energy Association. Plus, we're ranked in the top 10 for solar energy capacity by the Solar Energy Power Association.
We don't just talk about renewable energy. We're actually creating a clean energy future at a reasonable cost for our customers.
