Regulators expand their authority, play politics with carbon at ratepayer expense

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By Brit Naas In a decision that evokes former President Obama’s environmental agenda, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on March 23, 2017, expanded its authority in a way that’s likely to drive up electricity rates. Every four years, Xcel Energy undergoes a resource planning process that outlines their ability to meet ratepayers’ electricity demand. […]
PUC 2-1 vote forces utility to model costly social cost of carbon

Colorado Public Utilities Commissioner Frances Koncilja’s concern for ratepayers is limited to the Pueblo area. She is more than willing to load up other low-income Coloradans with additional costs. In a 2-1 vote last Thursday, Koncilja and PUC Chairman Jeff Ackermann ordered the state’s largest monopoly utility to model a $40 per ton social cost […]
January 23 Energy Roundup: Fracking Dishonesty; Interior Sec. Jewell Boots Press
Periodically, the Independence Institute’s Energy Policy Center will take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly in energy stories from around the United States and abroad, and bring the best (and worst) of those stories to your attention. 1. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell may have violated Colorado Open Meetings Law […]