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 […]
Colorado’s skyrocketing electricity prices could get much worse
The cost of electricity for Colorado residents skyrocketed 63 percent between 2001 and 2014, far outpacing median income in the state at just 24 percent over the same time period, according to Independence Institute analysis of electricity rates provided by the Energy Information Administration and census data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Retail residential electricity […]
Colorado's skyrocketing electricity prices could get much worse
The cost of electricity for Colorado residents skyrocketed 63 percent between 2001 and 2014, far outpacing median income in the state at just 24 percent over the same time period, according to Independence Institute analysis of electricity rates provided by the Energy Information Administration and census data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Retail residential electricity […]
Obama decision also a rebuke of Ritter admin
President Barack Obama put a halt to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed air-quality standards just before the Labor Day weekend. The Wall Street Journal opined that the president cited the struggling economy as his main reason for not wanting to tighten ozone regulations at this time: Come January 2010, the Obama EPA said it […]
Xcel admits what "clean energy" advocates won't
Normally reading an energy compliance plan is about as exciting as watching low VOC paint dry. But Xcel Energy‘s 2012 Renewable Energy Standard Compliance Plan, filed with the Public Utilities Commission in May 2011, has some pretty powerful stuff in it including admissions about Colorado’s “phantom carbon tax” and the cost effectiveness of renewable energy. […]
Oops! No EPA threat over SIP
Lawmakers (including those in leadership on both sides of the aisle), Xcel Energy, environmentalists, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Public Utilities Commission and any other group that championed Colorado’s needlessly expensive, likely illegal Regional Haze State Implementation Plan (SIP) have A LOT of explaining to do. We were told repeatedly that if […]
Legislature provides cover for Xcel Energy
Xcel Energy enjoys great success at the state Capitol. It seems that whatever Xcel wants legislatively, Xcel gets. Relief for ratepayers is met with opposition. According to the Secretary of State’s online lobbying information, through March 2011, the utility company has taken positions on 28 different bills this year: opposing 14, supporting 3 and “amending” […]
Renewable energy mandates unconstitutional?
We know they are costly but are renewable energy mandates such as Colorado’s 30 percent mandate unconstitutional as well? Yes according to the American Tradition Institute, which “filed a complaint in a U.S. district court that contends Colorado’s RES should be declared unconstitutional because they violate the Commerce Clause, which grants only Congress the authority to […]
Phantom carbon tax still haunts ratepayers
Xcel Energy testified today in the House Agriculture Committee that its resource acquisition projections DO include a $20 per ton “phantom carbon tax” as allowed under language from HB 08-1164, but the tax DOES NOT affect ratepayers. The Denver Business Journal reports: But Karen Hyde, Xcel vice president of rates and regulatory affairs, said the potential […]
Review of November 3 PUC Hearing on HB 1365: Xcel Axes Coal, Environmentalist Plans
Review of November 3 PUC Hearing on HB 1365 Primer on the Many Implementation Plans that the PUC Is Considering Primer on HB 1365 Timeline of Implementation Plans Study on the Dubious Foundations of HB 1365 Archive of HB 1365 Posts Oped Last Week in Denver Daily News: Ritter’s Phantom Carbon Tax Xcel Identifies Which […]
Preview of November 2 PUC Hearing on HB 1365: Big Decisions Due
Primer on the Many Implementation Plans that the PUC Is Considering Primer on HB 1365 Timeline of Implementation Plans Study on the Dubious Foundations of HB 1365 Archive of HB 1365 Posts Oped Last Week in Denver Daily News: Ritter’s Phantom Carbon Tax As of this post [10:08 AM], the PUC has yet to post […]
Preview of November 1 PUC Hearing on HB 1365
HB 1365 Primer Timeline Archive of Posts on HB 1365 PUC Hearings Policy Paper on Dubious Foundations of HB 1365 Crash Course on Xcel’s New HB 1365 Implementation Plans [N.B. I am repeating this refresher on Xcel’s new plans because I think it’s a handy reference] Xcel last week proposed four alternative plans to comply […]