Coloradans are taking on the state’s largest monopoly utility
With COPUC approval, Xcel, the state’s largest monopoly utility, plans to shift its generating portfolio from away from majority hydrocarbons (coal and natural gas) in favor of industrial wind, solar, and battery storage.
Slaying a dragon: Pruitt strikes down the CPP
President Obama and the eco-left’s draconian federal scheme to regulate carbon emissions comes to an end, but Colorado still faces a similar dragon closer to home. I don’t think I’ve ever written this, but thank goodness for the EPA! Well, actually, thank goodness for Administrator Pruitt’s announcement that he will “formally sign a proposal to […]
The real reason for special session may be blowing in the wind
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Rumor has it that the real reason our banjo picking Governor wants a special session has more to do with industrial wind – meaning his favorite monopoly Xcel Energy – and less to do with fixing our damn roads! Governor John Hickenlooper publicly says he may call a special session “to deal with topics that […]
Irresponsible by ratepayers: Is Xcel floating legislation for mandated CO version of CPP?
If it’s devious and being done behind closed doors, it must be Xcel Energy. Late Friday, two reliable sources independently sent me a copy of what appears to be draft legislation that the monopoly investor-owned utility is quietly shopping around the Gold Dome, in search of a sponsor. Xcel’s name isn’t anywhere on the draft, […]
EPA employees plan resistance to Trump agency reform efforts
Back in November, the Independence Institute previewed what opposition the incoming Trump administration would likely face if campaign pledges to reform and reduce the size and scope of federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Administration, concluding that in many cases, personnel is policy. Newly leaked reports and sources within the agency hint that the personnel […]
Elections have consequences: Wonder if Dr. Wolk has changed his mind?
Remember when Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) chief Dr. Larry Wolk told the Denver Post‘s Vincent Carroll that his agency was “the conduit for the EPA”? The response followed a question from attorney Ray Gifford that Carroll then posed to Wolk in the context of President Obama’s controversial Clean Power Plan (CPP) […]
Elections have consequences: Xcel owes ratepayers a new plan
“Elections have consequences, and at the end of the day, I won.” – President Obama to House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, January 23, 2009 The same is true in 2016 with President-elect Donald J. Trump who promised to kill the controversial and likely illegal “Clean Power Plan” (CPP). Now Xcel Energy and the Colorado Public […]
2017 Colorado Energy Outlook
In the wake of one of the most surprising electoral outcomes in recent memory, we here at the Independence Institute have been assessing what the next few months, the 2017 Colorado legislative session, and the general future of energy policy in Colorado will look like under a President-elect Trump administration and a split legislature with […]
Seizing power: Hick may issue exec order to slash emissions
Developing story One of the worst kept secrets in Colorado energy policy circles finally is public thanks to PoliticoPro. Governor John Hickenlooper has floated a draft executive order to slash carbon emissions from the power generating sector by 35 percent by 2030, as compared to 2012 levels. Doing his best President Obama impersonation, the Governor […]
The ‘War On Coal’ threatens a sleepy Colorado mining town
(Craig Station, Moffat County, Colorado. Photo: Michael Sandoval) CRAIG, Colo. — Coal, from extraction to use as a generation source, forms the literal bedrock of Craig. (Welcome to Craig. Photo: Michael Sandoval) The past few years have shaken the once quiet town, as an onslaught of federal government regulations and actions by environmental activists bent […]
Huisman: CDPHE plows ahead; implementation model ignores cost of Clean Power Plan
On Monday February 22nd, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s (CDPHE) Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) held a public meeting to discuss the status of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP), which the U.S. Supreme Court officially stayed on February 9th. The agenda for this previously scheduled meeting was modified in order to […]
February 23 Colorado Energy Cheat Sheet: Conflicting views over Colorado CPP prep; Gold King Mine persists for Navajo Nation
An E&E story ‘Colo. steps back from crafting formal plan for EPA rule’ might give readers pause, thinking that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment was backing off its previous statement to proceed with “prudent” Clean Power Plan development even as a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court was in effect (paywall): Colorado […]
