February 20, 2013
Colorado

Xcel to speed evaluation of wind farms to beat tax credit deadline

By Mark Jaffe | The Denver Post | 02/19/2013 | www.denverpost.com

Xcel Energy wants to speed-up the evaluation of new wind farms, which have just this year to tap into a federal tax credit.

The utility filed a request with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to accelerate evaluating wind proposals.

Xcel is planning an April solicitation for 350 megawatts of new generating facilities of all kinds.

The wind production tax credit, a key financial tool, is set to expire at the end of 2013, and the all-source solicitation is not scheduled to close until the end of the year.

That would not leave enough time for a wind projects to take advantage of the tax credit – equal to $22 for each megawatt-hour generated for the first 10 years.

“We have a great opportunity to see if additional wind resources in Colorado would be of economic benefit,” Ben Fowke, Xcel’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/02/20/xcel-to-speed-evaluation-of-wind-farms-to-beat-tax-credit-deadline/