Colorado’s largest utility has requested permission from the state’s Public Utilities Commission to reduce by nearly half the solar generation targets it agreed to under Xcel’s 2007 Colorado Resource Plan.

Reported by Ann i

Company officials site lack of electrical transmission lines in the San Luis Valley as the primary reason for their request to reduce from the 335 megawatts originally approved  to 185 by 2015. The request is temporary, said Karen Hyde, Xcel’s vice president for regulatory matters, at least until transmission capacity is more in line with power generation.

The area has been a focal point of debate in recent months between the utility companies (Xcel and Tri-State) proposing the new transmission line and their opponents, this as the state and federal government carry out separate reviews. 

“Our commitment to the development of solar resources from the San Luis Valley over the long term has not changed,” Hyde said in a statement. “But because we cannot guarantee the ability to move power to the grid when these solar resources become available, we are compelled to step back from our original plans and seek this reduction.”

Xcel had hoped to have a new transmission line in service in the valley by 2013, but delays have made that unlikely, according to Hyde, who added that her company is going forward with other elements of its 2007 plan, including natural gas, wind and solar projects elsewhere in the state which we’ve reported on regularly here at Colorado Energy News.

The company recently unveiled two significant wind-power projects in New Raymer and Limon on the Eastern Plains that are expected to produce roughly 500 megawatts of power, and it also reached an agreement to provide 900 megawatts from two natural gas sources.

When the COPUC will rule on the request is not know.