Unpacking Colorado’s Electric Vehicle Triumphalism
Newly released electric vehicle sales data has Colorado policymakers patting themselves on the back for a job well done. The reality of the state’s vehicle market is slightly more complicated. According to a recent report from the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, electric vehicles made up 25.3 percent of all new cars sold […]
2024 Property Tax Reform: The Choices Before Colorado Voters
Executive Summary Coloradans have several options to try to address rising property taxes in 2024. The state legislature passed SB24-233 with bipartisan support at the end of the 2024 legislative session. Voters could choose to keep SB24-233 or eschew the bill for either or both Initiatives 50 and 108. Despite being a better alternative […]
Fast Facts About Electricity in Colorado in 2023
Newly released federal government data offers insights into Colorado’s electricity sector last year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently published its latest Electric Power Monthly report with additional data gathered through December 2023. The data is preliminary and will continue to be refined by the agency until it releases its final Electric Power Annual report […]
Colorado Lawmakers to Consider Pro-Nuclear Bill
Colorado lawmakers are set to consider their first nuclear energy bill of the 2024 legislative session later this week. SB24-039, dubbed “Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource,” is scheduled to go before the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee for first reading on Wednesday. The bill seeks to level the playing field for carbon-free energy […]
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 […]
Country’s First ‘Enhanced’ Geothermal Plant Comes Online
Enhanced geothermal electricity is now a reality in the United States. Late last month marked a new breakthrough in next-generation clean energy technology. Fervo Energy, a Houston-based geothermal project developer, announced that its first commercial “enhanced” geothermal plant went online and began producing usable electricity in Nevada. According to a Canary Media report: A next-generation geothermal […]
Colorado’s Quixotic Push to Boost Recycling Rates
Colorado’s environmental watchdogs are back with their latest report on the state’s progress in boosting recycling, and the results are about what you would expect. The Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG), the state chapter of the Ralph Nader-founded liberal advocacy organization, released the 2023 edition of its “State of Recycling and Composting in Colorado” […]
AQCC: In Less Than a Decade, 82% of Car Sales Must Be Electric
The Polis administration intends, by hook or by crook, to see the electric vehicle industry succeed. Last Friday, unelected regulators on the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) voted to adopt the so-called Colorado Clean Cars standard. The new regulations, which would more aptly be named the California-lite Clean Cars standard, largely replicate the California Air […]
Colorado’s Energy Future: The High Cost of 100 Percent Electric Vehicles
In August 2022, California became the first jurisdiction anywhere in the world to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles, setting a deadline of 2035 to phase them out completely. Just one week later, the state was forced to call on its residents to avoid charging their electric vehicles because the state’s grid was at imminent […]
The Rotten Political Incentives of the Utility Industry
The monopoly electric utility business model is rife with problems. Chief among them is the regulatory capture it invites. Monopoly utilities tend to reflect the political environment in which they are situated. This is no accident. They know where their bread is buttered and are more than happy to play along with the ambitious energy […]
Colorado’s Energy Future: The High Cost of 100 Percent Electric Home Heating
What began as a first-of-its-kind ban on new natural gas hookups in 2019 in Berkeley, California, has turned into a nationwide movement. To date, more than 100 cities plus the state of New York have since passed gas bans of their own to push their citizens toward electrification. It has even begun to spread in […]
Poll: Majority of Colorado Likely Voters Favor Nuclear Energy
Colorado voters are broadly in favor of the country’s largest source of clean energy, according to a newly released Independence Institute/Cygnal poll. Likely general election voters across Colorado favor nuclear energy more than 2:1 (53% support, 25% oppose). 54% said they favor including nuclear power in Colorado’s clean energy mix by 2040, with support crossing […]
