Sky High Gas Bills Coming This Winter
Last week I wrote about the costs and consequences of underrating natural gas infrastructure, which are currently most pronounced in New England this winter in the form of exorbitant bills and inadequate supply. But it turns out Colorado, while being in better shape than our northeastern counterparts, is not immune to the disruptions roiling the […]
The Real-World Costs and Consequences of Restricting Natural Gas
Apropos of next week’s hearing at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission—in which the PUC plans to take public comment on a proposed rule that would dramatically affect natural gas line extensions—news out of New England offers a grim look at the consequences of underrating sufficient natural gas capacity. Per the Washington Examiner: Authorities in New England are staring […]
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, […]
PUC Sunset Review: ‘The Turducken Act of 2019 (With a Slice of PUC-in Pie)’
On the last day of the 2019 legislative session State Representative Hugh McKean (R-Loveland) moved the most appropriate amendment of the session to rename SB19-236 the PUC Sunset Review bill to the “TURDUCKEN ACT of 2019 (With a Slice of PUC-in Pie). A Turducken is a chicken stuffed into a duck, stuffed inside a turkey. […]
Early Concerns and Approval – 2019 Energy Bills
After getting steamrolled in state legislative elections, center right voters across the state need to prepare themselves for progressive left legislation that more than likely will drive up energy prices for the sin of being productive and prosperous. Apparently, the best way to ecological paradise is by enriching monopoly utilities like Xcel Energy. While it […]
Media Release: Customers want Xcel to pay for CEP
New Polling Suggests Xcel Ratepayers Are Unwilling to Foot the Bill for Executives and Shareholders 85% of Xcel Customers Think the Company Should Pay for the Costs Incurred from Colorado Energy Plan’s Details DENVER, July 30, 2018 – Eighty-five percent of Colorado’s Xcel Energy customers do not want to pay the $2.5 billion cost for […]
IREA cites Coalition testimony; Xcel fuel switching plan ‘not in ratepayers best interest’
The state’s largest electric cooperative Intermountain Rural Electric Association (IREA) issued a strongly worded repudiation of Xcel Energy’s proposed “Colorado Energy Plan Portfolio” (CEPP) in comments published last week on the Colorado Public Utilities Commissions Web site. In their 14-page comments on Xcel’s required 120 day report, the non-profit electric provider cites the Coalition of Ratepayers […]
Coalition of Ratepayers Responds to Xcel Energy Allies’ Attempt to Keep Ratepayers in the Dark
MEDIA RELEASE DENVER, July 25, 2018 – Earlier today, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission rejected a motion filed by allies of Xcel Energy, Western Resource Advocates,to suppress critical testimony from Charles Griffey, a thirty-year veteran of the energy and utilities industry and adjunct professor at Rice University in Houston, Texas, in an ongoing proceeding regarding Xcel’s […]
The truth frightens Western Resource Advocates
“Three things that cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” Budda Western Resource Advocates (WRA), a multi-state renewable energy advocacy group and intervenor supporting Xcel Energy’s Colorado Energy Plan (CEP), filed a motion on July 16 requesting that the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) disallow huge portions of the Coalition of […]
More proof that Xcel’s Colorado Energy Plan won’t save ratepayers money
By Brit Naas A major stipulation of Xcel’s Colorado Energy Plan (CEP) is a reduction in the utility’s coal fired generation. If the Public utilities Commission approves the plan, Xcel will close Comanche Units 1 and 2, which combined are capable of providing 660 megawatts of electricity. In compliance with the CEP, Xcel hopes to […]
Two little but costly words
How the words “SHALL” and “MAY” are used in a bill can make all the difference. And, so it is with HB18-1270 “Public Utilities Commission Evaluation of Energy Storage Systems.” According to the summary on the Colorado General Assembly Web site: The bill directs the public utilities commission to adopt rules establishing mechanisms for the procurement […]
Xcel lies. Reality dies…and so does affordable power
How Xcel is playing loose with numbers and gaming the system in its favor. Xcel Energy is a monopoly with no competition. Still it spends millions of ratepayer dollars on PR campaigns and lobbyists to convince the media, lawmakers and its hostages customers – the entire state – that it is “responsible by nature.” The […]
