Xcel Gives Up Plan to Expand Hydropower in Colorado
Pumped-storage hydropower won’t be the answer to Xcel’s need for dispatchable zero-carbon energy. At least not for now. According to the Colorado Sun: Xcel Energy has killed its plan to build a hydropower project in Unaweep Canyon. The utility on Wednesday morning told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that it was withdrawing its application for a […]
Fudging the Numbers: How Colorado Policymakers Mislead on Energy Costs
An increasingly common theme of the energy policy debate here in Colorado, particularly among renewables advocates, is the trumpeting of cost statistics purporting to show the affordability benefits of transitioning to wind and solar over legacy fossil fuel plants. Take, for instance, a recent statement made by Governor Jared Polis during a gubernatorial debate late […]
Reliance on Solar Projects Threatening Colorado’s Outlook on Grid Reliability
As Colorado moves to retire legacy fossil-fuel power plants in order to meet Governor Polis’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2040, the state is increasingly reliant on wind and solar to meet our electricity needs. And now, thanks to supply chain snarls hitting the solar industry, our ability to keep the lights on next […]
Sky High Gas Bills Coming This Winter
Last week I wrote about the costs and consequences of underrating natural gas infrastructure, which are currently most pronounced in New England this winter in the form of exorbitant bills and inadequate supply. But it turns out Colorado, while being in better shape than our northeastern counterparts, is not immune to the disruptions roiling the […]
Smart Thermostats Are Looking Like Dumb Policy
Earlier this month Xcel Energy made national headlines when it locked out 22,000 customers in Colorado from adjusting their thermostats as temperatures rose into the 90s. Those affected were customers who had signed up for the Colorado AC Rewards program, which allows the company to adjust the temperature setting on internet-connected “smart thermostats.” In exchange […]
Independence Institute Tells the Public Utilities Commission to Pump the Brakes on De-Facto Gas Ban
The PUC is holding a Zoom public comment hearing on these rules on Monday, September 19th at 9am. People who wish to participate in that hearing can find more information here. They can also submit written comments referencing Proceeding No. 21R-0449G by clicking here. In the 2021 legislative session, the Colorado General Assembly passed SB21-264, […]
Study: Shoddy Public Charging Infrastructure Hampers EV Take-Up
Policymakers at both the national and state levels are making a concerted effort to encourage the widespread adoption of electric vehicles among the general public. Here in Colorado, the Polis administration has set a goal of having 940,000 EVs on the road by 2030 as part of its plan to electrify the state’s transportation sector […]
Virginia Regulators Set an Example for Ratepayer Accountability
Last Friday, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC)—a regulatory agency that, among other things, oversees the state’s utilities—imposed a strict performance standard that carries financial consequences if a proposed offshore wind project from the state’s largest utility fails to perform. This is a huge win for ratepayer accountability, and it has real implications for customers […]
Clean and Reliable: The Case for Small-Modular Reactors in Colorado
Electric grid reliability is on the forefront of everyone’s mind following a sobering report from the country’s grid overseer. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a regulatory body overseeing grid operations across the United States and Canada, warned last month in its latest summer reliability assessment that vast swaths of the West and Midwest […]
Community Choice Programs: The Future of Energy in Colorado?
The purpose of this blog post is not to state the Independence Institute’s position on Community Choice Energy Programs (CCE). It is, however, written to help foster a better understanding of CCEs and Representative Hooton’s bill HB20-1064: “Public Utilities Commission Study of Community Choice Energy.” If the bill passes, it will not revolutionize the way […]
PUC Sunset Review: ‘The Turducken Act of 2019 (With a Slice of PUC-in Pie)’
On the last day of the 2019 legislative session State Representative Hugh McKean (R-Loveland) moved the most appropriate amendment of the session to rename SB19-236 the PUC Sunset Review bill to the “TURDUCKEN ACT of 2019 (With a Slice of PUC-in Pie). A Turducken is a chicken stuffed into a duck, stuffed inside a turkey. […]
A Solution that Protects Liberty and Our Electricity
Fifth article in our series about microgrids By: Casey Freeman Contributor: Brit Naas Security concerns surrounding America’s electric grid steadily grow as attacks and the threat of an attack increase. In 2015, Ukraine was victim to a large scale cyberattack on its electric grid, which resulted in 225,000 people without power. The attack has been […]
