Greentech Media // Oct 2, 2013

Utility Xcel Energy has submitted plans to buy solar and wind energy, not due to any mandate or even to bolster its public image, but because it costs less. Xcel Energy’s filing with the Colorado Public Utility Commission listed 170 megawatts of solar and 450 megawatts of wind as the cheapest energy sources available.

“This is the first time that we’ve seen, purely on a price basis, that the solar projects made the cut – without considering carbon costs or the need to comply with a renewable energy standard – strictly on an economic basis,” David Eves, CEO of Public Service Co., Xcel’s Colorado subsidiary, said in an interview with the Denver Business Journal. This purchase will essentially triple the amount of solar Xcel Energy provides in Colorado.