Governor Polis Again Downplays Nuclear Energy…But with a Catch
Colorado’s Governor may not be a huge proponent of nuclear energy, but he at least isn’t ruling it out either. Fresh off his resounding reelection victory earlier this month, Governor Jared Polis took to the national stage with an appearance on the popular HBO political talk show “Real Time with Bill Maher” last week. During […]
Even Legacy Environmentalists Have Come Around on Advanced Nuclear Power
It’s unmistakable that there’s been a sea-change around popular support for nuclear energy. A confluence of factors, including the ongoing need to confront climate change, turmoil in global oil and gas supplies due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and persisting electric grid instability in states like California and Texas have drawn the public’s focus […]
Citing Climate Concerns, Louisville Moves to Ban New Gas Stations with ‘Emergency Ordinance’
If government officials can’t force you to purchase an electric vehicle, it appears they’ll simply ban your ability to fuel your internal combustion engine car. At least, that seems to be the tactic taken by the town of Louisville. Last Tuesday, with little fanfare or media coverage, the town council voted 5-2 on an emergency ordinance to […]
Xcel Gives Up Plan to Expand Hydropower in Colorado
Pumped-storage hydropower won’t be the answer to Xcel’s need for dispatchable zero-carbon energy. At least not for now. According to the Colorado Sun: Xcel Energy has killed its plan to build a hydropower project in Unaweep Canyon. The utility on Wednesday morning told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that it was withdrawing its application for a […]
Western Utility Announces Consideration of Five SMRs for Coal-to-Nuclear Transition
Wyoming and Utah are looking to lead the wave of next-generation advanced nuclear energy. PacifiCorp, the parent company of the western-state regulated utilities Rocky Mountain Power and Pacific Power, announced a partnership on Wednesday with the small modular reactor firm Terrapower. The two firms will be conducting a joint study to evaluate the feasibility of […]
Stringent Building Codes For Thee, But Not For Me
The solar and wind industries (and Xcel Energy) are really, really mad that the International Codes Council (ICC) is considering beefing up resiliency standards for new wind and solar builds in the next iteration of its triennial building codes. According to Utility Dive: A Federal Emergency Management Agency advisory panel proposal that would increase construction […]
Polis and Ganahl Spar Over Colorado Energy Policy
A conflict of visions was on display last night at the Colorado gubernatorial debate hosted by the Colorado Springs Gazette. That conflict was readily apparent during the discussion of energy issues facing Colorado. The section on energy runs from 39:48-45:12. Some highlights: -Republican candidate Ganahl called for encouraging local oil and gas production which she said […]
Energy and Land-Use: Rural Communities Continue to Spurn Renewables
Robert Bryce has a great piece in RealClearEnergy today on the latest land-use conflicts roiling planned wind and solar buildouts across rural middle America. From the piece: The hype about wind and solar energy keeps colliding with the hard reality of land-use conflicts. Nowhere is that more obvious than in Ohio, where 41 townships have […]
Criticism Mounting Against Biden Administration’s Domestic Energy Posture
The political heat is starting to turn up against President Joe Biden over his approach to domestic oil and gas production, and the pressure isn’t just coming from his Republican political opponents. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, sent a letter on Tuesday lambasting the President for […]
Fudging the Numbers: How Colorado Policymakers Mislead on Energy Costs
An increasingly common theme of the energy policy debate here in Colorado, particularly among renewables advocates, is the trumpeting of cost statistics purporting to show the affordability benefits of transitioning to wind and solar over legacy fossil fuel plants. Take, for instance, a recent statement made by Governor Jared Polis during a gubernatorial debate late […]
Virginia Governor Offers Leadership on Nuclear Energy Innovation, A Balanced Approach to Decarbonization
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R.) released his 2022 energy plan early last week, and it offers a refreshing vision of sobriety on energy policy. The plan, designed to reevaluate that of his Democratic predecessor released in 2020, calls for an “all of the above” energy strategy using a variety of generation sources, from hydrogen to […]
Anywhere But Here: The Biden Admin Courts Dictators to Pump More Oil
Rebuffing President Biden’s past hat-in-hand requests for the region to boost production, the 23-member OPEC+ announced this week their intention to slash output by 2 million barrels of oil a day. The move immediately drew the ire of the Biden administration, who is all too aware of what a drastic cut to the global oil […]
