Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Wind power rate rejected

Wind power rate rejected

Apr 05, 2007 - 04:07:39 CDT

By DALE WETZEL
Associated Press Writer

North Dakota's Public Service Commission rejected Xcel Energy's request to charge a special rate for wind power, saying it was too expensive and could mislead customers about the cost of wind-generated electricity.

"Why should people who really support wind have to pay significantly more for that resource than others?" asked Susan Wefald, the PSC's president.

Xcel Energy's Windsource program, which it already offers in Minnesota, Colorado and New Mexico, sells wind energy by 100 kilowatt-hour "blocks" to customers who want assurances they are using environmentally friendly power.

The Minneapolis utility asked the PSC for permission to charge North Dakota customers a premium of $2.50 per 100 kilowatt-hours for a supply of wind energy. A typical residential customer uses about 750 kwh each month.

Xcel has about 85,000 electric customers in North Dakota, most of whom live in Fargo, West Fargo, Minot and Grand Forks.

Wefald and Commissioners Tony Clark and Kevin Cramer unanimously voted to reject Xcel Energy's proposed wind-power price on Wednesday, saying it was too expensive. The proposed North Dakota price was more than double what Xcel charges Colorado customers for the same program, Cramer said.

Clark said special rates for wind power, which may have been justified a decade ago, look dated in an era that now considers wind energy a mainstream source of electric supply.

"The problem with this tariff is, it treats wind as if it's some sort of boutique fuel that's set aside from the rest of the generation grid," Clark said. "It sends the message that (wind energy) is more expensive to bring online than any other form of power."

Dave Sederquist, a senior regulatory and finance consultant for Xcel, said the company was disappointed in the commission's decision.

The company's proposed wind-energy rate reflected the current costs to supply wind power, and its proposal left open the possibility the rate would decrease along with wind energy costs, Sederquist said.

"We believe this program would have resulted in more wind turbines in North Dakota, so it is unfortunate that the rate will not be offered (in North Dakota) to customers who want this choice," Sederquist said in a statement.

Clark said the program did reflect the rising cost of putting up wind turbines. Construction costs to generate every form of energy have increased dramatically, he said.

"The problem is, this sets aside wind and says, 'Here's the cost of bringing on new wind,' and then asks people to pay for that, when it may not be an accurate representation of both the benefits and negatives," he said. "Wind makes sense as part of the (energy) portfolio. It doesn't make sense on its own."

News > State

Printer friendly version Wind power rate rejected

Comments

Bob wrote on Jan 29, 2008 11:14 AM:

" It seems like most of the comments come from coal miners. Wind energy is very reliable. Yes, there is routine maintenance and some generators will always be shut down, but that is only a few of the thousand that will be operating. We also have coal and oil fired plants shutting down routinely and there are only a few hundred of them. My biggest concern is the tremendous amount of air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels. We need wind generators and lot of them. "

No_Wind wrote on Apr 5, 2007 9:33 PM:

" I agree with Kent. The politicians along with their media cheerleaders are grossly misleading the public regarding the costs and benefits of wind generation. All economics aside, the worst part is that greater dependence on wind for generating electricity instead of conventional generation will eventually jeopardize the reliability of the electric grid. Remember what happened on August 14th 2003 along the Great Lakes and the east coast? Hopefully it isn't thirty below in ND when it happens here! "

NoDak John wrote on Apr 5, 2007 7:24 AM:

" Those of us who prefer a more effective and efficient means of power generation are being discriminated against. Shortcomings of wind power? According to the people who service those wind generators, the gear boxes tend to fail shortly after the warranty expires. For those who have the misfortune of living in the area around those wind generators, they will just have to learn to get used to the growling sounds they create. So those wind generators destroyed the value of your property? Tough! Will your taxes go down because you can not sell that property? Not that I have seen. "

kent beuchert wrote on Apr 5, 2007 6:37 AM:

" Wind advocates have ben severely undersestimating the true costs of wind. Wind is an extremely unreliable source of energy and requires a ton of auxillery costs that aren't relevant for reliable sources. Wind generated electricity is typically paid at the lowest rates because it has the least value. It cannot be counted on to meet peak capacity and therefore new demands require new reliable sources, regardless of how much wind is in the system. Claims in this article that wind power isn't any different might just as easily come from the wind industry suupport groups, cheerleaders who mislead and exaggerate wind's capabilities. Wind sucks, pure and simple. Wind developers have been getting a free ride by being allowed to screw up the grid at will. It's high time they were required to provide a reliable source of energy : you know, the type they falsely are claiming to provide now. Let them build a air compression facility to allow reliable wind power if they want to continue supplying power. What they're supplying now isn't worth squat. The media needs to wise up - they still parrot the wind industry's claims about capacity - they'll claim a windfarm to have a 100 megawatt capacity when it will never produce more than 40 megawatts. It's no wonder that the public is totally misinformed about wind power. "

Post Your Own Comment

All online comments are limited to 350 words total.
Comments are reviewed for taste, tone and language before posting.
Some comments may be used in the Tribune's print edition.
We value and respect your privacy, but The Bismarck Tribune might
disclose certain information to governmental entities if served with subpoena.