Since 2004 ━ when Colorado became the first state in the U.S. with a voter-approved renewable-energy portfolio standard ━ Colorado has been shifting toward clean, low-cost wind and solar. Since 2010, Colorado’s renewable-electricity generation ━ led by wind and solar ━ has more than tripled, accounting for 30% of the state’s total generation in 2020. […]
Colorado Energy Office
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Effort to force Colorado to cut greenhouse emissions faster exposes exasperation with Polis administration
For more than a year, frustrated Colorado lawmakers and environmental groups have struggled to push the Polis administration to move faster to meet mandated cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Now they are advancing a bill to set emission caps and deadlines — over the objections of the governor. The Senate Transportation and Energy Committee moved […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: On Earth Day, let’s get real about how to reach Colorado’s electric vehicle goals
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in 2018 set the goal of 940,000 electric vehicles (EVs) on the road in Colorado by 2030. As The Colorado Sun reported last week, this ambitious goal will require that Coloradans buy more than 100,000 new EVs a year through the end of the decade. To put that in perspective, Coloradans […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News
Here’s how Colorado’s free e-bike program fits into its plan to slow climate change
By Sam Brasch, Colorado Public Radio Growing up in Los Angeles, Shalon Bowens remembers looking forward to a new bicycle on Christmas morning. The gift was her ticket away from adults and out into the neighborhood, an excuse “to get outside and do something.” Bowens, who now lives in Denver, couldn’t help but recall that […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Energy, Environment, Politics and Government
Dollars, not politics, are driving Colorado’s accelerated embrace of solar energy
HUDSON — Standing in the shade of a massive, utility-scale array of solar panels on farmland east of Interstate 25, you don’t have to look far for real-time examples of renewable sun power supplanting fossil fuels in the arc of Colorado’s historical energy supply. Electricity generated by the Rattlesnake solar array uploads to United Power’s […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Energy, Environment, Health, Housing, News, Politics and Government
Colorado is behind on targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. How far should the state push industry to get there?
The Polis administration is set this month to complete its “roadmap” for cutting Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions, but critics question whether the route is clear enough — and the milestones realistic enough — to get Colorado where it needs to go. In a nod to some of the challenges, air quality and energy officials are […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Colorado regulators hit brakes on Xcel Energy’s plan for a $30 million electric vehicle rebate program
Xcel Energy’s last-minute proposal for a $30 million electric vehicle rebate program was slashed to $5 million and limited to low-income auto buyers by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday. “This is a pilot, we just want to learn” what works, PUC Chairman Jeff Ackermann said. The commission made its decision in a Google […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Politics and Government, Transportation
It will take $130M to get more EVs on Colorado roads. Xcel wants its customers to cover the cost.
Xcel Energy and the Polis administration hashed out the shape of a $30 million electric vehicle rebate program, the most generous in the country, behind closed doors. And then in September state officials presented it to utility regulators as their own. In a bit of regulatory theater, Xcel executives then commented on and critiqued the […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Colorado releases its plan to slash greenhouse gases, leaving some environmental groups wanting more
The road to curbing Colorado’s greenhouse gases runs through heavy cuts to emissions from power plants and oil and gas operations, but also winds across ambitious reductions in pollution from cars, buildings and cows, according to a state plan released Wednesday. The Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap, released by Gov. Jared Polis’ administration after […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment, Health, Politics and Government, Transportation
Is Colorado leading or lagging on climate policy? It depends on which states you’re comparing us to.
States from coast to coast – faced with President Donald Trump’s insistence that climate change is “a hoax” – are taking the lead in creating climate policy and programs, and in this multifaceted exercise Colorado is either a leader or a laggard. On the one hand, the state has adopted some of the most ambitious […]