[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6238435,"mediaKeyId","3352084-25991d1968922cae7522c0786e8ff795","parentId",3352084,"title","Staff proposes 5‑year static then rolling‑average adjustment for community solar fixed credits; developers press for CPI‑U index","audioSeconds",3737,"startMs",2277000,"endMs",6014000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3352084-25991d1968922cae7522c0786e8ff795&start=2277&end=6014","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3352084-25991d1968922cae7522c0786e8ff795/thumbnail_2277000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6238435/Colorado/Staff-proposes-5year-static-then-rollingaverage-adjustment-for-community-solar-fixed-credits-developers-press-for-CPIU-index","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6238435-7e7088c80520a1b75fafc57cf97aca88/orig.mp4?Expires=1770620805&Signature=Q8mQychr6lCEo7N2zrM015H-0lA~IvGNvVgn9MS~QTIRDhYcOWf~6A3~660gIj~NhpLMK3iodX43zEMiviyV7lkA4-j7G7WzPKZNVdtszwOFGLQR6kJ2gdu-o3VAdxKliWDI~mGq7ZTEpmLI8fkUCiHcqPRTuBC-uGGUbB963zXYbs4q5hPjY6jrEVK9zYHjoxQwNJAFwBesqL8V7dzav0MlldqzzpRwWKWkXc~Xjc9YDGL0LAc7XGy0pW6FKd92NTgnYWJO~IpXjxgygxyyooc5VSv-XWUZbG8p9G24~B28KqbYwLUGnLSSm6juEObGu06jatRnyItqY91b0J4qxA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-05-17T06:32:02Z","article","At a Colorado Public Utilities Commission evidentiary hearing May 16, 2025, PUC trial staff and intervening community‑solar advocates presented competing methods for adjusting the value of community solar garden fixed bill credits over time.

The conflict centers on how to reflect inflation or cost changes in a credit that subscribers select as a stable, multi‑year option. Staff proposed a mechanism it describes as cost‑based and smoothing: a fixed credit that remains static for the first five years after the vintage year, then in the sixth year “matures” into a five‑year rolling average calculated from published annual TAR (total aggregate retail) values. Dr. Nick Bongiardina, staff analyst, summarized the approach: “Under staff's proposal, a fixed credit vintage would be static for the first 5 years starting in the year the CSG applied for interconnection. In the sixth year, the vintage would mature and transition to a 5 year rolling average.”

Black Hills witness Daniel S. Ahrens opposed indexing fixed credits to CPI‑U, arguing that general inflation indexes have little direct relationship to the utility costs the credit is intended to avoid. On cross he testified, “The consumer price index has very little relationship with utility rates,” and warned that an above‑cost credit would shift costs into the Renewable Energy Standard Adjustment (RESA) and onto other customers: “If you're giving a larger credit, then you're departing from what the costs are… those costs get flow through the RESA, and the other customers have to pay for that.” The record shows Black Hills’ current RESA recovery is set at 1.5%; the statutory cap is 2%.

Interveners advocated a CPI‑U escalator to preserve subscribers’ buying power if they select a fixed credit. Blake Elder of the Coalition for Community Solar Access filed a CPI‑based spreadsheet and, during the hearing, identified and corrected an arithmetic error in his exhibit; he said the correction did not change the substance of the joint parties’ recommendation. Joint parties’ discovery responses and corrected attachment spreadsheets display the CPI‑U percent adjustments that would apply to historical vintages.

Staff and Black Hills also debated timing and legal interpretation: staff noted the PUC rulemaking order implementing HB23‑1137 left the tariff filing process as the venue to consider how to address changes in fixed credit value; Black Hills argued its TAR‑based annual calculation better tracks avoided costs. No final methodological choice was made at the hearing.

The judge directed parties to file statements of position by June 10, 2025; parties indicated willingness to consider a smoothing compromise if ordered by the commission.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","24AL-0496E Black Hills Colo Electric - AL 878 -Tariff 11 - CSG - 05.16.25 - HRB","oneSentenceSummary","PUC staff recommended a fixed‑credit adjustment that stays static five years then uses a 5‑year rolling average tied to cost‑based TAR values; interveners pushed a CPI‑U escalation for buying‑power protection and corrected a filing error during the hearing.","taxTitle","Public Utilities Commission, Governor's Boards and Commissions, Organizations, Executive, Colorado","taxId",28165,"location","Colorado","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6238440,"PUC hearing splits over whether Black Hills must offer community‑solar fixed credits for vintages before 2025",6505,2249000,8754000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3352084-25991d1968922cae7522c0786e8ff795&start=2249&end=8754","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3352084-25991d1968922cae7522c0786e8ff795/thumbnail_2249000.jpg","/articles/6238440/Colorado/PUC-hearing-splits-over-whether-Black-Hills-must-offer-communitysolar-fixed-credits-for-vintages-before-2025","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6238440-fd507894f34e5537f30f85d5800f5955/orig.mp4?Expires=1770620805&Signature=NfazDAFW6Cjeb1BtP-ByoEMqaGhC1QthF~Nmcde2ax6nDzTBb-UgIEgtGcUvd4HV6a~vKEXMKSP2Ox8EyTPO8a3~Tv~AvAZpQ6GvSgDMrTlVb3I690QCO2ZBtqTW~DzuPEmTAvsSn9Kf22-2cV5E7uTvy~BHPjurYwc3IuNs2U4w8o9TTAeslRxvTnP9feWwQ7VcdjJqe0bc~xmz5vLua9YQYqo17SDmtlUZWrg6yz0j542yQGqJow5m2jMs4sSHRihzib50u27n67hw09XA7lfYfyg9zuw~YXpnIrouTQD--EMu4sSn~mEdmTGb8Yf1w3D5ACJOyn0Zw3aqaCSVTQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","At a Public Utilities Commission evidentiary hearing on May 16, 2025, parties disputed whether Black Hills Colorado Electric must include community solar garden (CSG) fixed bill credit vintages earlier than 2025 in its tariff filing for credits effective Jan. 1, 2025.

The question matters because the vintage year determines which historical inputs are used to calculate a subscriber’s fixed credit; that calculation affects the value available to subscriber organizations that applied for capacity in earlier years but have not yet reached commercial operation.

Black Hills witness Daniel S. Ahrens, manager of regulatory for Black Hills Services, testified that the company’s filed tariff calculates fixed credits starting with a 2025 vintage and that if the commission requires earlier vintages Black Hills would need to file an updated tariff. Ahrens said, “No. That’s not my… recommendation. My recommendation is that we shouldn’t have to go back to, including our tariff vintage credits that go before 2025.”

Industry interveners representing subscriber organizations disagreed. Blake Elder, senior regulatory policy manager at the Coalition for Community Solar Access, told the commission the joint parties had identified specific unfinished projects and recommended the company update its advice letter to include vintages for 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022 so those subscriber organizations could elect the fixed credit option before commercial operation. Elder corrected a calculation error in his filed exhibit during the hearing and said the correction did not change the underlying recommendation.

PUC trial staff analyst Dr. Nick Bongiardina testified that staff recommends approving 2025 as the origination date for the fixed‑credit vintage as filed by Black Hills in this proceeding. During cross‑examination he read into the record staff’s recommendation: “Staff recommends that the commission approve 2025 as the origination date for the fixed credit vintage as initially filed by the company.”

All parties referenced the statutory and rule context established during last year’s rulemaking implementing House Bill 23‑1137; parties and staff agreed the commission’s order adopting those rules indicated the annual tariff filing process is the forum to consider adjustments to fixed credits. No final commission decision was announced at the hearing.

Judge Robert Garvey set a deadline for written statements of position; the judge directed parties to file statements of position by June 10, 2025.","At a May 16, 2025 Colorado PUC evidentiary hearing, Black Hills Colorado Electric urged the commission to limit community solar fixed‑credit vintages to 2025; industry interveners asked the commission to add 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022 vintages; PUC staff recommended keeping 2025 as filed in this case.","actionData","errors"]

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Staff proposes 5‑year static then rolling‑average adjustment for community solar fixed credits; developers press for CPI‑U index

PUC hearing splits over whether Black Hills must offer community‑solar fixed credits for vintages before 2025