Dive Brief:

• In an interview with EnergyWire, Xcel Energy CEO Ben Fowke said his utility is on the right path in cutting carbon emissions and complying with EPA regulations.
• Fowke wants Xcel to receive credit for its early action in reducing emissions and "enough time" to reduce emissions further "in a way that is cost-effective for our customers."
• Since 2005, Xcel has cut carbon emissions by 20%. "We believe we'll reduce carbon by 30% by 2020," Fowke said.

Dive Insight:

While Xcel got 46% of their generation mix from coal in 2012, 21% came from renewables — mostly made up of 5,080 MW of wind power. Xcel was recently ranked first in Ceres' benchmark report on the 32 largest investor-owned U.S. electric utilities' efforts to deploy renewable energy and energy efficiency. Xcel is committed to adding more wind to the portfolio, according to Fowke. 

But what about distributed solar? In 2012, Xcel had 266 MW of solar, 129 MW of which was on customers' rooftops. The issue with rooftop solar, Fowke said, lies in how rates are set.  "Unless you're completely disconnecting from the grid, you need to have that grid there. You're using it just as much as somebody that is a more traditional customer," he said. "In fact, you're using it more because you're importing, exporting and you're asking the grid to do a lot of things." 

In order to truly defect from the grid, customers would have to pay as much as $400 per month, Fowke pointed out — far higher than your typical utility bill. "We still need that grid, and somebody needs to pay for it, and our rate design really hasn't evolved as quickly as the technology," he said.