One mainstream presidential candidate is a constant critic of wind power, mocking its unreliability, alleged whale-disturbing noise, and other impacts on the environment.
The other mainstream candidate is spending billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to promote expansion of wind turbines, solar farms and other renewable energy in hope of combating greenhouse gases and transforming the U.S. economy.
Who’s right?
We can’t tackle all those topics in one short piece. There are lingering questions about wind turbines’ impact on birds and other wildlife. Some neighbors object to aesthetics. Who will take care of them when they start falling apart remains an open issue. How much renewable energy should be subsidized is a worthy debate.
But renewable energy, including and especially wind turbines, are working. In a few easy pie charts, we’re showing you how they have already transformed Colorado’s electricity economy, and will continue to accelerate in the next few years.
Here’s how Colorado’s electricity was generated last year:
That’s a big blow from wind power. And utility-scale solar, too, at a significant percentage and within a few years, certain to be a much bigger slice.
Here’s how the nonprofit Western Resource Advocates sees Colorado’s current power situation:
“Wind energy has been a key component in the transition to cleaner energy sources in Colorado – 70% of the state’s renewable energy generation currently comes from wind turbines,” said Gwen Farnsworth, WRA’s deputy director of state advocacy in clean energy. “Before other states in the interior West were making large investments in wind, Xcel’s Colorado system was setting world records, sustaining wind energy over 55% for a single hour.”
How much has that pie chart changed in two decades? A lot.
Here’s how Colorado’s overall electrical power needs were met in 2001:
Even some of the nonprofit groups with the biggest green policy demands were surprised when we asked them to look at these charts. They knew it, but they hadn’t quite visualized the change. While Colorado still uses too much carbon-heavy coal for power, the drop from more than 70% in 20 years is remarkable, said Jeremy Nichols of the Center for Biological Diversity.
The transition even picked up extra momentum over the last few months of 2023, U.S. Energy Information Administration statistics show. A bunch of big solar farms were plugged into the Colorado grid in 2023, and by March 2024, the energy mix looked like this:
That compares to the national average from March 2024 that looked like this (Nuclear power is big in some states and nonexistent in many others, including Colorado, which decommissioned its only nuclear power plant decades ago.):
Solar is growing fast in part because the chart of solar panel costs in the past 10 years is a steady march downward. When power companies and co-ops are considering new energy sources, a solar farm with a backup battery array is now highly competitive with other fuels. Yes, that’s in part because of the generous and ongoing Biden administration tax subsidies tempting developers, but it’s a fact.
“Utilities in Colorado are also adding more renewable energy because it’s the cost-effective choice,” Farnsworth said. “Clean energy resources cut emissions, drive savings for Colorado ratepayers, and support a reliable electric system.” WRA called on Colorado utilities to redouble efforts to add battery storage — which allows stored solar energy to go out to the grid at night or on cloudy days — and innovative demand-side management to continue the state’s battle against greenhouse gas emissions.
The change over time shows “Colorado’s utilities are rapidly transitioning to clean energy for electricity generation driven largely by growth in wind and solar,” said Colorado Energy Office chief Will Toor. “Under adopted utility clean energy plans, we will see well over an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas pollution from electricity generation and around 80% renewable energy by 2030.”
Charts by Danika Worthington, The Colorado Sun.