Microgrids: save the date for disruptive technology
Autonomy, reliable electricity, and a business structure that renders the century old electric monopoly utility model obsolete. Wholesale adoption of microgrids hasn’t have arrived yet, but make no mistake, it’s on the way. Microgrids are like “uber for energy.” People will have the ability to choose what resource powers their home and may even have […]
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 […]
Storing freedom
For as much as Colorado might fancy itself the next Silicon Valley, the state is stuck in a time warp when it comes to electricity service providers. Could a modest bill regarding residential battery storage spark change for 1.4 million Xcel Energy and 93,000 Black Hills Energy ratepayers? Colorado’s investor owned utility (IOU) monopoly model […]
Time for Colorado Energy Office to receive more than an audit
The Colorado Energy Office continues to show some irregularities in its spending and handling of tens of millions of dollars, according to a newly released performance audit. A 2011 Independence Institute investigation of the CEO, formerly the Governor’s Energy Office, sparked the call for a 2012 audit by the Office of the State Auditor that […]
Xcel Energy, PUC, and OCC are Irresponsible by Ratepayers
By Amy Oliver Cooke and Michael Sandoval Is it time to eliminate the Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) and elect our Commissioners who serve on the Public Utilities Commission (PUC)? Maybe. Our recent insider perspective on the so-called approval process by supposedly neutral regulators leaves us pondering that very question. The most recent Xcel Energy […]
Press release: Xcel Energy, irresponsible by nature and ratepayers?
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]For immediate release July 6, 2016 Contact: Michael Sandoval 303-279-6536, ext. 124 michael@i2i.org Contact: Amy Cooke 303-279-6536, ext. 107 amy@i2i.org Don’t Rush ‘Rush Creek’: Xcel’s wind project irresponsible by nature, think tank study says DENVER, Colo — Colorado ratepayers and taxpayers face uncertainty if the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) grants expedited approval on Xcel Energy’s […]
Restoring ‘Diversity’ To The Supreme Court
This article originally appeared in the Daily Caller. Liberals talk a great deal about “diversity” these days, so it is ironic that so many have lined up in favor of President Barack Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland. On important measures, Garland would render the Court less diverse than it is now. One […]
Masters v. School District Number 1
The Independence Institute has long been a champion of tenure reform, local control, and flexibility in the realm of school and district personnel decisions. In 2010, the Institute was part of a broad, bipartisan coalition supporting Senate Bill 191, Colorado’s teacher evaluation and tenure reform bill. It continues to defend SB 191’s critical reforms from both […]
February 18 Colorado Energy Cheat Sheet: Costly Clean Power Plan event video; EPA Animas River spill gets Congressional scrutiny; fracking ban off 2016 ballot
The Independence Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute joined forces on February 16 in Denver to provide an update on the Environmental Protection Agency’s costly Clean Power Plan, including where the rule stands with regard to the U.S. Supreme Court stay issued earlier in February, as well as the impact of the death of Associate […]
Energy Policy Center Report: Electricity rates skyrocket across all Colorado sectors
Across all sectors of Colorado the cost of electricity has skyrocketed more than 67 percent between 2001 and 2014, easily exceeding median income growth and the expected rate of inflation for the same period, an extended analysis of government energy records by the Independence Institute has revealed. For all sectors between 2001 and 2014, the cost […]
Little Eddie the Liar?
Have you ever been accused of saying something you didn’t? You know, like the time your mom thought you nodded slightly after she asked if a new dress made her look fat, but you were really just looking at ball of fuzz on the floor? Or when someone accused you of being a data-distorting Common […]
Change is in the Air — I’m Just Getting a Little Older, Though, Not Going Away
Maybe it’s because it’s the Friday before Thanksgiving, or maybe it’s because a couple of my really good Education Policy Center friends are picking up and moving to another state, but I’m not really keen on writing another long post today. Change is in the air — change that I didn’t wish for, and change […]
