A for-profit utility will always propose to spend capital and put it in the rate base. A VPP aggregator will extract a fee for signing up customers and operating the VPP.
Certainly storage has been used in distribution grids as a non-wires alternative.
The PUC is going to need to have proof Xcel’s plan will lower rates, not just be “nice to have”, “we want to try it”, or “everybody else is doing it.”
If I were the PUC, I would want to understand why Xcel is building new generation and putting it in he rate base at all. Xcel is in Zone 1 of MISO and Zone 1 load is running about 10GW total at the moment – small. If I were the PUC I would also assign all costs of new, and even recent data centers to the data centers.
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A for-profit utility will always propose to spend capital and put it in the rate base. A VPP aggregator will extract a fee for signing up customers and operating the VPP.
Certainly storage has been used in distribution grids as a non-wires alternative.
The PUC is going to need to have proof Xcel’s plan will lower rates, not just be “nice to have”, “we want to try it”, or “everybody else is doing it.”
If I were the PUC, I would want to understand why Xcel is building new generation and putting it in he rate base at all. Xcel is in Zone 1 of MISO and Zone 1 load is running about 10GW total at the moment – small. If I were the PUC I would also assign all costs of new, and even recent data centers to the data centers.