Jake Fogleman Discusses the PUC’s Plan to Phase Out Natural Gas on Free State Colorado
Independence Institute Director of Policy Jake Fogleman appeared on the Free State Colorado podcast this week to talk about the Public Utilities Commission’s recent decision aimed at phasing out natural gas use in homes and commercial buildings. He discussed what the PUC’s new “clean heat” targets will mean in practice for gas utilities and ratepayers, […]
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 […]
The Big Short(fall): Colorado’s Upcoming Power Plant Closures and Planned Replacements
By Ethan Cornell* Introduction The data summarizing planned generation closures in Colorado signals a rapid and profound infrastructural transformation. The schedule details the planned retirement of 10 major coal-fired units between 2025 and 2031, collectively representing a loss of nearly 4,200 megawatts (MW) of nameplate capacity. The primary policy question this raises is whether the […]
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 […]
Colorado Utilities Signal Pain Ahead for Energy Transition
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Colorado PUC Trims Xcel’s Unprecedented Renewables Plan
Ratepayer interests received a small win from Colorado regulators overseeing Xcel Energy’s latest resource plan. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) pared back Xcel’s $15 billion request to build wind, solar, batteries, and new transmission lines by around $3 billion last week. The PUC’s trimming of Xcel’s request came as it approved an alternative resource […]
Bootleggers, Baptists, and the Clean Energy Transition
Independence Institute has a long track record of warning against the unhealthy incentives that can arise from the relationship between monopoly electric utilities and green policymakers. Once viewed as rivals of one another, the two sides realized a few years back that coexisting as fellow travelers on the road to the so-called clean energy transition […]
Dr. Polis Prescribes Even Higher Utility Bills
Primum non nocere. Translation: first, do no harm. It’s a phrase that has been part of the medical ethics lexicon since the 17th century. Coloradans would have been wise to apply it to energy policy some two decades ago, when the eco-left began politicizing energy production, electricity, and our grid. Flanked by low-income customers, Governor […]
Jake Fogleman Talks Xcel Energy Bills, Colorado Climate Policy on the George Brauchler Show
Policy analyst Jake Fogleman joined the George Brauchler Show on 710 KNUS to talk about the sky-high energy bills Xcel customers have been seeing this winter due to a pancaking series of rate hikes granted by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. They also discuss who is ultimately to blame for those rate hikes, the reality […]
New PUC Report Points to Future Reliability Risks to Colorado’s Grid
A new report from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission is sounding alarm bells on the reliability risks posed to the state’s grid as wind and solar continue to replace fossil fuel plants. According to Colorado Public Radio: Heat waves and freezing temperatures won’t be the only risks for Colorado’s power grid in the future, state regulators […]
Xcel Proposes Yet Another Rate Hike
Colorado’s largest utility is back before the PUC requesting another rate increase, this time a $312.2 million bump in electric rates. The request is just the latest to arrive in 2022, a year that has come to represent a cost-hike bonanza for the energy monopoly. The PUC already approved a $182.2 million electric rate hike […]
Reliance on Solar Projects Threatening Colorado’s Outlook on Grid Reliability
As Colorado moves to retire legacy fossil-fuel power plants in order to meet Governor Polis’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2040, the state is increasingly reliant on wind and solar to meet our electricity needs. And now, thanks to supply chain snarls hitting the solar industry, our ability to keep the lights on next […]
