The price was so good they doubled their planned procurement; "it was a no-brainer"

[kristopher]

Massachusetts Utilities Sign PPA for Wind Energy That Is Cheaper than Coal

The price was so good they doubled their planned procurement; "it was a no-brainer"

James Montgomery, Associate Editor, RenewableEnergyWorld.com
September 24, 2013

New Hampshire, USA -- Three utilities have grouped together to purchase more wind energy at a rate averaging less than $0.08 per kWh, which beats most other generation sources.

National Grid, Northeast Utilities (on behalf of its divisions NSTAR and Western Massachusetts Electric Co.), and Unitil (representing Fitchburg Gas & Electric Light Co.) have filed separate documents with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (CPU 13-146 through 13-149) seeking to add 565 MW of wind energy from six projects across Maine and New Hampshire. The winners, securing PPAs of 15-20 years, include First Wind, Iberdrola Renewables, and Exergy Development, for projects all under development and slated to come online over the next three years. Here's how the procurement is being divvied up, based on distribution load: 45.9 percent to National Grid, 45.4 percent to NStar, 7.7 percent to WMECO, and the remaining 1 percent to Unitil.

Last fall the Patrick Administration enacted new legislation directing utilities in the state to jointly procure more renewable energy in a competitive process toward long-term contracts for up to 4 percent of their load, with twin requirements of cost-efficiency and low cost, explained Mark Sylvia, commissioner for the state's Department of Energy Resources. (Another facet of that process called for a 10 percent carveout for "qualifying technologies," which is still being worked out, he said.) Requests-for-proposals brokered by DOER and Attorney General's Office, and evaluated on a jointly agreed-upon set of criteria, were approved in April of this year, and in May resulted in 40 bids that were pared down to a shortlist in the summer, followed by separate contract negotiations with each utility and bidder.

That $0.08/kWh rate is among the lowest around. One report compares it favorably to other generation sources looking out several years: $0.09 for hydro, $0.10 for coal, $0.11 for nuclear, and $0.14 for solar.

These deals represents "a threshold moment for renewable energy in New England...

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/09/massachusetts-utilities-pool-for-cheaper-wind-energy-supply?cmpid=WindNL-Thursday-October3-2013

[kristopher]

1. The first time ... on a purely on a price basis, that the solar projects made the cut

Xcel Energy Buying Utility-Scale Solar at Prices Competitive With Natural Gas


“This is the first time that we’ve seen, purely on a price basis, that the solar projects made the cut.”


Martin LaMonica
October 2, 2013
Is utility-scale solar close to crossing a pivotal price threshold?

Utility Xcel Energy last month submitted a proposal to Colorado regulators that identifies 170 megawatts of solar and 450 megawatts of wind as the most cost-effective resources. It's the first time that Xcel Energy, which serves eight states in the West and Midwest, chose solar and wind in its planning process strictly for economic reasons, rather than to meet the state's renewable energy standard, according to the company.

“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 an Xcel subsidiary, told the Denver Business Journal.

Xcel Energy won't be building solar or wind farms. Its plan is based on bids from project developers of solar and wind farms.

"A lot of those energy technologies have started to level the playing field and we are able to take advantage of that," said spokesperson Michelle Aguayo in an interview with ...

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/xcel-energy-buys-utility-scale-solar-for-less-than-natural-gas?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily