PUC Establishes New ‘Clean Heat’ Targets Designed to Crack Down on Natural Gas
The regulatory noose around Colorado’s natural gas utilities just got a whole lot tighter, and captive ratepayers stand to bear the brunt of the economic pain. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Monday issued a formal decision updating the state’s emissions targets under its first-in-the-nation “clean heat plan” law. The decision established by rule […]
Independence Institute Tells the Public Utilities Commission to Reconsider Forced Electrification Rulemaking
In the 2021 legislative session, the Colorado General Assembly passed SB21-264, a first-in-the-nation law requiring the state’s gas distribution utilities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 4% by 2025 and by 22% by 2030, from a 2015 baseline, by filing “Clean Heat Plans” with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Since then, Colorado gas utilities like […]
Independence Institute Tells the Public Utilities Commission to Pump the Brakes on De-Facto Gas Ban
The PUC is holding a Zoom public comment hearing on these rules on Monday, September 19th at 9am. People who wish to participate in that hearing can find more information here. They can also submit written comments referencing Proceeding No. 21R-0449G by clicking here. In the 2021 legislative session, the Colorado General Assembly passed SB21-264, […]
Don’t be dull, embrace microgrids
By Casey Freeman First article in our series about microgrids Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy are Colorado’s two regulated electric monopolies. Xcel is the larger of the two and provides retail service to the greater Denver Metro Area, Greeley, and Grand Junction, while Black Hills services Pueblo and the surrounding area. These utilities operate […]
Coopted, corrupted and busted: OCC, regulatory process need fixing
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 […]
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 […]
February 18 Colorado Energy Cheat Sheet: Costly Clean Power Plan event video; EPA Animas River spill gets Congressional scrutiny; fracking ban off 2016 ballot
The Independence Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute joined forces on February 16 in Denver to provide an update on the Environmental Protection Agency’s costly Clean Power Plan, including where the rule stands with regard to the U.S. Supreme Court stay issued earlier in February, as well as the impact of the death of Associate […]
July 16 Colorado Energy Roundup: Sec. Jewell adds Colowyo Mine visit; renewable energy mandate upheld
A week after the Department of the Interior declined to move forward with an appeal in the Colowyo Mine case, and facing mounting pressure to visit the northwest portion of Colorado during a scheduled trip to Aspen, Sec. Sally Jewell appears to have conceded to a meeting with county commissioners: Moffat County Commissioner John Kinkaid […]
Will state legislature cave to Xcel and eco-left…again?
Colorado already has the most expensive electric rates of all neighboring states and the second highest in the Rocky Mountain West, with projections to go even higher in the near future. Now, a bill just introduced into the state senate threatens to make Colorado’s energy rates even more expensive. The following is a column from […]
