Continental Army versus British Empire: coalition opposes Xcel’s latest money grab
The regulatory space at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is the playground of corporate lawyers, unelected bureaucrats, and well-funded special interest groups. They have “stakeholder” meetings that include only themselves. Then they issue press statements slapping each other on the back for their hard work securing a “settlement” that forces Colorado working families and […]
Xcel is getting ‘hoggy’
“Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way. I’m just telling you, when you’ve got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns on you. That’s rule No. 1 of business.” Mark Cuban, March 2014. Xcel Energy is […]
Money and power in Colorado
How the state’s largest monopoly utilities have benefited financially in former Governor Bill Ritter’s New Energy Economy. By Brit Naas Executive Summary The last ten years of Colorado energy policy can be defined as the decade of what former Democrat Governor Bill Ritter dubbed the “New Energy Economy,” (NEE) a fundamental transformation of how the state […]
Colorado’s electricity rates continue to rise
By Grant Mandigora Executive Summary In 2001, Colorado electricity consumers enjoyed some of the lowest electric rates in the country. The 15 years since haven’t been so kind to ratepayers. For more than a decade, elected officials, PUC commissioners, industry and advocates have told Colorado ratepayers that they could transform the state’s electricity generation away […]
Xcel’s backroom deal likely to screw ratepayers…again
Rumor has it that Colorado’s largest monopoly utility Xcel Energy is about to renege on a 2004 settlement that cost ratepayers dearly. And, Xcel will do it with the Governor John Hickenlooper’s blessing. Why? Because they don’t want to change their Electric Resource Plan (ERP) as I (and likely others) have suggested they should do […]
The Antiquities Act has become a tool for oppressing the West
by Amy Cooke and Matthew Anderson Our founding fathers’ fear of tyranny drove them to great lengths to ensure a separation of powers in our Constitution. They created a system of checks and balances that is as much a part of the political fabric of America as Independence Day. This system has produced sensible and […]
Politicians should trust consumers to choose their own electricity provider
By Grant Mandigora Why should elected officials who won’t be office in 2040 dictate to Colorado ratepayers which energy source their electricity will come from? Democrat gubernatorial candidates Mike Johnston and Jared Polis have pledged that Colorado will generate 100 percent of its power from renewables by 2040, known as the ”100 by 40” plan. […]
Hick proves Mark Twain’s quote to be true
Parts of Governor John Hickenlooper’s announcement of his climate change executive order reminded me of Mark Twain’s famous quote: “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” Below are some of my favorite Hick quotes followed by my commentary. “We will tap […]
Global warming executive order or corporate welfare program for Xcel or both?
Doing his best Barack Obama rule-by-fiat impersonation, Governor John Hickenlooper signed an Executive Order (EO) to compel Colorado ratepayers to pay for compliance with the Paris Climate Treaty from which President Trump recently withdrew the United States. For someone who follows state level energy and environmental activity, this was a surprise. Usually these things get leaked, […]
Beware of global warming opportunists in conservative clothing
There is a new, Colorado-based, self-described “conservative” group The Western Way (TWW) with an enticing tag line “conservative stewards of the Western environment.” Sounds good, right? Until you try to find out who these “conservative stewards” really are. If you are attending the Western Conservative Summit (and you should), you will see these guys there. […]
Regulators expand their authority, play politics with carbon at ratepayer expense
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By Brit Naas In a decision that evokes former President Obama’s environmental agenda, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on March 23, 2017, expanded its authority in a way that’s likely to drive up electricity rates. Every four years, Xcel Energy undergoes a resource planning process that outlines their ability to meet ratepayers’ electricity demand. […]
Bloomberg-funded Sierra Club: wake up everyday with sole purpose of shutting down coal mines
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has an obsession with micro-managing people’s lives. He doesn’t want us little people to have guns, soda, affordable power, or good paying coal mining jobs. Bloomberg’s latest work from his “Bloomberg Philanthropies” is a Leni Riefenstahl-worthy piece of propaganda titled From the Ashes and was previewed recently in […]
