Xcel Energy has given $6 million in refunds to customers who paid premiums in the past. | Pixabay
Xcel Energy has given $6 million in refunds to customers who paid premiums in the past. | Pixabay
With wind energy rapidly becoming the least expensive form of energy production, Xcel Energy has found itself refunding many consumers for past premiums paid.
Customers who volunteered to pay extra money to invest in greener energy sources have been given approximately $6 million in refunds thus far, with more to potentially come in the future. The refunds were distributed to 70,000 customer subscriptions within Minnesota.
The refunds stem from the Windsource program, an opt-in program that allowed consumers to pay approximately $9 more per month to offset their electric consumption with wind energy. In the past 10 years, the price for wind energy has also dropped dramatically, from 7 center per kWh to recently around 2 cents per kWh.
While the Windsource program will be ending next year, a replacement program known as Renewable Connect will take its place. The program already has 3,200 current consumers outside of Windsource customers, and has a waiting list of over 400 accounts.
Alerts Sign-up