Finally some outrage over the New Energy Economy
I may have underestimated the outrage over two recent Xcel Energy rate increase requests. The first, an attempt to recover the final $16.5 million in cost for Boulder’s Smart Grid City program. Ratepayers are not thrilled about paying for a Boulder project with massive cost overruns. Check out these comments: From Phil Carson, editor of […]
An 89.5 percent increase since 2004
Ho hum, Xcel Energy wants another $142 million rate increase, and it wants to recover another $16.5 million for its Boulder smart grid project. And in other news, dog bites man. If the Public Utilities Commission denied the rate increases, that would be a news story. This is all part of Colorado’s New Energy Economy. […]
30 percent higher average electric rates in states with RPS
The average residential electric rate in states with a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is nearly 30 percent higher than states without an RPS. An RPS is a state based policy that requires electric power “providers to supply a specified minimum amount of customer load with electricity from eligible renewable energy sources,” such as wind or […]
What being "green" says about you!
This may be the best column that Michael Sandoval and I have ever written. First, we use the Environmental Protection Agency’s own report to expose how “green” technology actually is polluting, not saving, the planet. Second, what does the need to be “green” say about those who advance an energy policy that makes no sense […]
Stupid is as stupid does
Colorado MoveOn member Kyle Elston sent the following email asking Colorado’s anti-fossil fuel, kool-aid drinking community to electronically sign a petition telling Routt County Commissioners to put a moratorium on “all future oil and gas exploration permits until” — you’ve probably guessed it already — more stringent rules and regulations are in place. Read the […]
More bad news Abound
With prices tanking along with sales, First Solar, the world’s largest manufacturer of thin-filmed solar panels, “slashed its profit and sales forecast today and said it will fire about 100 employees, most of them at a Santa Clara, California, research center, the Tempe, Arizona-based company said today in a filing,” Bloomberg reports. In addition, First Solar […]
Colorado's electric rates higher than neighbors'
USA Today reports that Americans’ household electric bills are going up and up and up. While Colorado’s residential rate is slightly below the national average of 11.54 cents per kilowatt hour, its higher than all neighboring states and second highest among the Mountain West states. Only Nevada has higher residential electric rates than Colorado. Most […]
Salazar defends fracking; waiting for the "real facts."
While the Denver Post played the role of Rocky Mountain eco-Chicken Little of record, another news outlet — the Casper Star-Tribune — reported former Colorado Senator and current Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s opinion of the EPA’s premature press release about a “draft finding” regarding a link that may or may not exist between hydraulic fracturing […]
The EPA press release we didn't read
No one read a press release from the Environmental Protection Agency stating that drinking water in Dimock, Pennsylvania is safe to drink and not contaminated by hydraulic fracturing because the EPA didn’t issue one. Instead it sent an email to Dimock residents. -Original Message—– From: Taylor.Trish <Taylor.Trish@epamail.epa.gov> To: Cc: Polish.David <Polish.David@epamail.epa.gov> Sent: Fri, Dec 2, […]
Media acts like eco Chicken Littles
Has any media outlet bothered to ask if the EPA’s theory on groundwater contamination in Wyoming and hydraulic fracturing is even right? The Independence Institute’s Energy Policy Blog can’t be accused (at least not accurately) of being in the tank for the oil and gas industry. We’ve been on opposite sides of several of the […]
Thin-filmed solar a foolish investment
Taxpayers may have been forced to invest in solar panels, but private investors with a choice aren’t quite so foolish. From today’s Motley Fool column titled “Here are some American eco-investments to avoid” including thin-filmed solar: I’m dogging (oo-er! — Ed) one of my own investments here, First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR.US), but outside of that […]
Wyoming Governor reacts to EPA "draft finding" on fracturing
While the rest of the world loses its collective mind over an Environmental Protection Agency “draft finding” that hydraulic fracturing may be the cause of groundwater contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming, Governor Matt Mead is a voice of reason. In a press release from his office, Mead stated, “the Environmental Protection Agency’s draft study on Pavillion […]
