Xcel adds a solar alternative to traditional power

Xcel Energy is putting up a quarter million dollar solar power test project at its new High Bridge power plant in St. Paul.

The project is in preparation for the Republican National Convention next month. Both political parties are paying premium prices for alternative energy to power their national conventions this year.

But High Bridge plant manager Jim Zyduck said it will be a lasting, if small, test of the feasibility of combining alternative and traditional power generation.

"The beauty of having solar and or wind in the same footprint or near generation such as natural gas powered facilities is you can offset some of the generation from the natural gas facility, which does reduce the amount of natural gas you would need to use to generate power," Zyduck said.

The new panels will generate only about one tenth of one percent of the power used at the Republican National Convention. But since they work best when the sun is strongest, they also will help reduce how much power Xcel has to buy during peak future demand, when electricity is the most expensive.

Wind power credits will make up the rest of the green energy the parties are paying for this election.

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