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many municipal utilities are wisely invested in local back-up generation for power stability and emergen-
<br /> cy self-sustainability(microgrid resiliency). So laws affect us very differently.
<br /> Laws are most often written with the largest utilities in mind.A comparison of the size of Xcel with the
<br /> average cooperative and municipal illus-
<br /> trates the stark contrast in size and scale
<br /> between the organizations, and demon- Xcel Customers vs.Average
<br /> strates the difficulties inherent in enact-
<br /> ing generally applicable laws that fail to ,---______,
<br /> _
<br /> take into account the great variety and 1,400,000 1 _; �
<br /> diversity we have in the electric utility ■
<br /> industry. 1,236,346
<br /> 1,200,000 I - -.- _---
<br /> Eighty-two percent of our municipal I!
<br /> electric utilities have fewer than 5,000
<br /> customers; 39% have fewer than 1,000 -- -__________ _____
<br /> customers, and 20% have fewer than 500 1,000,00o
<br /> customers. Furthermore, 94% of munici-
<br /> pal electric utilities are located in cities - _ _
<br /> with average household incomes below .100,000
<br /> the state average and their communities
<br /> have a comparatively high percentage of
<br /> residents who are elderly and living on a __` ----
<br /> 600,000 - °- -
<br /> fixed income. Mandates that add costs can
<br /> have a significant rate impact in a small '
<br /> utility. It's difficult to design a program
<br /> that will work well for municipals and 400,000 �°-----------
<br /> also work well for a large urban utility
<br /> such as Xcel.
<br /> Second, municipal utilities vary among
<br /> one another in significant respects. There lz,3o9
<br /> % - - .. -2,,924---_---
<br /> are 125 of us. Sixty-seven of us have an- o � ____ �_ -
<br /> nual loads that peak in the summer and `e�
<br /> -
<br /> 30 are winter peaking, while 26 have + �oAQ �--_ _-
<br /> summer and winter peaks that are virtu- P,m o,`9
<br /> ally equal. Our power supplies come from e
<br /> a wide array of different resources-even
<br /> up to 96%hydropower. Our customer
<br /> makeup varies too-from 11%residen- -
<br /> tial to 96%residential; 3% commercial I fl. ,, ,- ®-„
<br /> to 73%commercial; and 0% industrial to ' = '��, ' '°
<br /> 83% industrial. We also vary in our power i t�;/ �� � `,' e , _...,
<br /> suppliers, which include municipal power .`i*�,�''-- iL 6 - Fl- . .,
<br /> agencies, the federal government, G&T • .. 4 rv } _ -;. _ , —
<br /> cooperatives, distribution cooperatives, - - '. Q
<br /> IOUs, and the MISO market. The types of = _ t ;---N..
<br /> relationships we have with these suppli- F' ,.,, k, ,g ""
<br /> ers vary as well. Many of us have long ) '
<br /> term power supply contracts that certain ` '
<br /> proposed changes in state statutes would �1
<br /> unlawfully abrogate. In some cases these '1 -, .., ,,,, „,..,...„..„...._
<br /> contracts have been in place for years and • �-
<br /> were drafted before the advent of today's °"��
<br /> distributed generation technology. � �� - i
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