Update on PUC Hearings for HB 1365: Another Long Day of Cross Examinations
Today Will Be Another Long Day of Cross Examinations The Colorado electricity industry is regulated such that investor-owned utilities like Xcel cannot make any significant decisions without approval from the PUC. As a result, electricity businesses don’t compete with one another on the market, but rather in PUC hearings. For these companies, profits are dictated […]
Preview of October 27 PUC Hearings on HB 1365: Everyone Gets a Swing at Xcel's New Plans
Very Brief Refresher on Xcel’s New Plans Xcel on Monday proposed four alternative plans to comply with HB 1365, after its original plan was rejected by the PUC last Thursday. The four alternative plans are similar. They all call for the retirement of four coal plants and top-of the line pollution controls for three others. […]
Running Timeline of HB 1365 Implementation Plan
August 13: Xcel filed its preferred emissions reductions plan (“plan 6.1E” or “preferred plan”). To read a brief summary of Plan 6.1E, click here. September 4: A group of independent power producers, electricity generators that compete with Xcel on the wholesale electricity market, challenged plan 6.1E, arguing that it is illegal because it included actions […]
Review of October 26 PUC Hearing on HB 1365: No One Is Happy with Xcel’s New Plan, Including Xcel
Review October 25 Preview: Primer October 25 Review: PUC Deliberations Are Mere Industrial War by Other Means October 26 Preview: A New Plan October 26 Update: Xcel’s New Plan Is Actually an Old Plan No One Is Happy with Xcel’s New Plan, Including Xcel Not a single stakeholder readily supports Xcel’s new recommended strategy to […]
HB 1365 Update: Xcel's New Plan Is Actually an Old Plan
Xcel’s New Plan: It’s Actually an Old Plan Rather than offer a new HB 1365 implementation plan after the PUC rejected its preferred plan, Xcel settled on an old plan. Here’s a quick review of the process that led to the new/old plan. Last summer, Xcel considered nine scenarios to comply with HB 1365. In […]
Colorado’s Great Green Deception
Colorado’s Great Green Deception: If HB 1001 Seems too Good to Be True, It’s Because It Is By William Yeatman and Amy Oliver Cooke Last March, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter (D) signed HB 1001, a mandate requiring investor- owned utilities to generate 30 percent of their electricity sales from renewable energy sources by 2020. The […]
Markets Should Drive Colorado's Energy Industry, Not Social Values
By William Yeatman and Amy Oliver Cooke Xcel Energy is getting a lot of grief over its new “tiered” rate increase–a.k.a., the air-conditioner tax–but the criticism is somewhat misplaced. It’s impossible to assign complete responsibility to Xcel for this ham-handed energy fee, because in reality the state is calling the shots in an effort to […]
The Real Cost of Being Green
by Amy Oliver and William Yeatman Gov. Bill Ritter and green energy advocates are selling Colorado a false bill of goods when it comes to the “New Energy Economy.” They claim the green energy agenda won’t burden consumers, but their interpretation relies on misleading accounting that hides billions of dollars in green energy costs. The […]
Should Colorado Go Green?
Some Colorado politicians are attempting to develop policies to promote renewable energies (so-called green energies)* because of the perceived health and environmental risks of coal and natural gas power. Pro-green advocates often claim that renewable energies are more efficient than traditional energy generation technologies.
Electricity Reform In Colorado: A Resource Guide
Deregulation of telecommunications, natural gas, and transportation saved American consumers billions of dollars, created new choices among sellers and spurred numerous new services in the bargain. Ending the artificial monopoly that electric utilities hold should deliver similar benefits to Colorado consumers.
