Xcel Energy has asked regulators to increase the amount the utility can charge consumers to help recover the cost of renewable-power generation.
Xcel is seeking to raise the so-called Renewable Energy Standard Adjustment, a fee tacked onto electric bills, to 2 percent of what consumers would pay for conventional energy, the maximum allowed under Colorado law. The current standard adjustment is 1.46 percent.
The increase, if approved, would be effective Jan. 1 and boost typical residential bills by 33 cents a month. Typical small-business bills would increase by 52 cents a month.
In 2004, Colorado voters passed a measure that required some utilities to generate 10 percent of their power through renewable sources such as wind and solar. The state legislature later raised the requirement to 20 percent by 2020.
"As we move toward meeting the state mandates for renewable energy in 2009 and beyond, we will need to bring full funding to those efforts, particularly for the solar component that Colorado voters have approved," Roy Palmer, Xcel Energy managing director for government and regulatory affairs, said in a statement.
