Money and power in Colorado
How the state’s largest monopoly utilities have benefited financially in former Governor Bill Ritter’s New Energy Economy. By Brit Naas Executive Summary The last ten years of Colorado energy policy can be defined as the decade of what former Democrat Governor Bill Ritter dubbed the “New Energy Economy,” (NEE) a fundamental transformation of how the state […]
Eco-left prepares to double down on renewable mandate
By Peter Blake This column appeared originally on Complete Colorado Page 2. When the runners are closing in on the finish line, move the tape farther back. That’s the usual strategy employed by greens when it comes to establishing renewable energy standards for electricity production. It’s a marathon that never ends, and the added cost […]
How CEI and II Toppled EPA Region 8 Administrator James Martin
By William Yeatman In mid-February, EPA Region 8 Administrator James Martin—who previously had served in the Ritter administration as the key facilitator of the Clean Air Clean Jobs Act—announced his resignation. The announcement came as a surprise, as Martin’s tenure at EPA was unusually brief. In fact, only one other (of 9) EPA Regional Administrators […]
Country can breathe sigh of relief. We’re still stuck with him…
By William Yeatman and Amy Oliver Cooke As Coloradans we thought we might have to apologize to the rest of the country if President Barack Obama nominated former one-term Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to head the Energy Department. If the President wanted to make electricity costs skyrocket and the eco-left community happy, Ritter was his […]
Audit confirms our findings: mismanagement in state energy office
A 2011 Independence Institute paper was the first to suggest that the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) needed a serious dose of transparency due to its inability to clarify how it spent millions of dollars of taxpayer money. Colorado’s State Auditor validated our findings in a recently released audit. Colorado’s Office of the State Auditor blasted […]
2012 snapshot of New Energy Economy's cost to ratepayers
The numbers are in, and they aren’t pretty. Four of the largest cost driving pieces of legislation enabling Colorado’s New Energy Economy cost Xcel Energy ratepayers nearly half a billion dollars in 2012 alone. Adding insult to injury, some of the electricity produced wasn’t needed in the first place according to a just released report […]
2012 snapshot of New Energy Economy’s cost to ratepayers
The numbers are in, and they aren’t pretty. Four of the largest cost driving pieces of legislation enabling Colorado’s New Energy Economy cost Xcel Energy ratepayers nearly half a billion dollars in 2012 alone. Adding insult to injury, some of the electricity produced wasn’t needed in the first place according to a just released report […]
CO Green dream proves nightmare for taxpayers
GIGAOM reports that, as of last week, General Electric is putting on hold its plan to be a major solar panel manufacturer in Colorado. According to the self-described emerging technology blog GIGAOM: General Electric was set to become a major solar manufacturer when it announced a 400 MW factory in Colorado last year. Over a […]
New energy economy's dirty little secret
Former Governor Bill Ritter and other advocates of Colorado’s “new energy economy” often use the misguided argument of breaking our dependence on foreign oil as a viable reason for their economically unsound energy policy. Just last November Ritter said: ‘Over the past few years, we’ve established a clean-energy template that is creating thousands of new jobs, […]
The Whole, Depressing Truth: HB 1291
I travelled to Denver twice in the last 7 days to testify before the Senate State Affairs Committee on HB 1291, Colorado’s State Implementation Plan to meet the Regional Haze provision of the federal Clean Air Act. I told the Committee that HB 1291 is illegal. And I rebutted the distortions peddled by its proponents, who also […]
In 2011, the New Energy Economy Will Cost Coloradans…
For all the ink that Colorado’s public officials have spilled on the subject of the New Energy Economy, there’s been little discussion of its cost. Ex-Governor Bill Ritter, for example, recently took to the pages of the New York Times to brag about his energy legacy. While he made an unsubstantiated claim about creating “thousands […]
Fact of the Day: Xcel’s Projected Revenues Far Exceed Projected Sales
Through 2020, Xcel projects energy sales to increase an average of 1.1 percent annually, but it projects sales revenue to increase 4.7 percent annually, according to its 2009 Renewable Electricity Standard compliance plan. Why would revenue outpace sales by such a significant margin? The answer, of course, is that green energy costs more than conventional […]
