HB 1365 Update: The Appeals Are in…and Everyone Objects to the PUC’s Decision
This week was the deadline to appeal the PUC’s decision on a HB 1365 implementation plan, and judging by the briefs, no one is satisfied that the PUC’s decision passes legal muster. Here’s a roundup of who argued what, along with links to the appeals: Xcel alleges that the PUC’s decision “fails to put into […]
Don’t Let the PUC Hide the Cost of HB 1365
“I have a moderate proposal” was how PUC Chairman Ron Binz introduced his interpretation of cost recovery provisions in HB 1365, the Clean Air Clean Jobs Act, legislation that effectively mandates fuel switching from coal to natural gas for almost 1,000 megawatts of base-load electricity generation along the Front Range. It was a very important […]
HB 1365 Update: Xcel Remains Undecided; Coal Interests Begin To Litigate, Promise More
Regarding HB 1365 (a.k.a. the Clean Air Clean Jobs Act), the big news is that Xcel has yet to make up its mind. As I noted here, the Minneapolis-based utility has the authority under HB 1365 to veto the fuel switching implementation plan chosen by the PUC on December 10. So far, Xcel has kept […]
Does Indiana Have a Lower Tolerance for Corruption than Colorado?
The Hoosier State is roiling over inappropriately cozy relationships between state regulators and the utility they oversee. It started when a top lawyer for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission took a job with Duke Energy shortly after acting as a judge in a major rate-case before the utility. That got Governor Mitch Daniels’ attention. Then […]
HB 1365 Update: Don’t Be Shocked If Xcel Ditches the PUC’s HB 1365 Plan
Despite media reports to the contrary, HB 1365 isn’t settled It has been widely reported that the book closed on the Clean Air Clean Jobs Act last Thursday, when the PUC selected an implementation plan after almost four months of deliberations, but this is untrue. In fact, there’s another chapter of this story, and the […]
Regarding HB 1365, Here Are Two Numbers To Remember
$8 Doesn’t anyone remember the summer of 2008 when natural gas prices spiked to $8 dollar/mmbtu? Currently, coal supplies almost 70% of Xcel’s electricity portfolio; In 2018, thanks to the Clean Air Clean Jobs Act, coal will supply less than half, while natural gas’s share will increase to more than 40%. The upshot is that […]
2010 Ozone Data: More Evidence That CDPHE Is Cooking the Books
Twice I’ve provided evidence that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Energy (CDPHE) has inflated projections of ozone ambient air concentrations (see here and here). Those were critiques of ozone projections. This year is the first year that we have a data set against which to judge the accuracy of CDPHE ozone modeling during […]
The PUC Has Chosen a HB 1365 Plan…So What’s Next?
The PUC on Thursday decided on an implementation plan for the Clean Air Clean Jobs Act. Read about it here, here, and here. So what’s next? First, Xcel must decide if PUC’s chosen plan is acceptable. HB 1365 allows Xcel “to withdraw its application,” if it “disagrees with the Commission’s modifications to its proposed plan.” […]
Review of December 8 PUC Hearing on HB 1365: PUC Punts
The PUC decided almost nothing during four hours of deliberations yesterday. The two major issues discussed were cost recovery and what to do with the 352 megawatt Cherokee 4 coal fired power plant in Adams county. Regarding cost-recovery, the debate focused on timing. Xcel wants to be paid up front for the investments required to […]
EPA’s Ozone Decision Means That HB 1365 Is Most Cost-Ineffective Environmental Policy, Ever
The putative mission of HB 1365 is for Colorado to address “reasonably foreseeable” federal air quality regulations in a holistic fashion, which is supposedly more cost-effective than a piece-meal approach. When it rolled out the legislation, the Ritter administration told the PUC that there were eleven “current and foreseeable air quality requirements (see slides 13 […]
Heading into HB 1365 Crunch Time, A Rundown of Who Is Hoping for What
As reported yesterday by Mark Jaffe in the Denver Post, the PUC on Monday partially ruled on Xcel’s HB 1365 implementation plan. Nothing controversial was determined; instead, the PUC approved elements that were common to all of the plans “on the table.”* The disputed subject matter was left for today—namely, what is to be done […]
Response to Senator Tim Wirth's Denver Post Column on Colorado's "Clean Energy Economy"
On Tuesday November 30, former Colorado Senator Tim Wirth wrote an op-ed for the Denver Post on Colorado’s “Clean Energy Economy.” The article, titled, “Leading the way to a sustainable energy future,” is mostly wrong. To wit, he suggested that the 2010 Clean Air Clean Jobs Act (CACJA), legislation that effectively requires fuel switching from […]
