The aggressive agenda pursued by Colorado’s Democratic-controlled legislature this year – including bills on oil and gas regulation, family leave policies, climate change and health care – contributed to record spending on lobbying. Business interests, associations, nonprofits and other groups spent more than $36.4 million on lobbyists in fiscal year 2019 to influence Colorado lawmakers […]
Public Utilities Commission
Posted inBusiness, Energy, News, Politics and Government
Fearing Tri-State could duck clean-energy goals, Colorado utilities commission files unprecedented protest
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission has filed a protest with federal regulators seeking to block the bid by the power provider for rural electric cooperatives to jump from state to federal oversight. The proposed switch by Westminster-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association is “procedurally unsound, premature, incomplete and jurisdictionally problematic,” the PUC said in its […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Tri-State, under pressure from its member co-ops to change or fall behind, is shifting to renewable energy
In a sign of how quickly the electricity industry is changing, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association is taking a quick paced series of steps to deal with market pressure and complaints from some of its member cooperatives. Westminster-based Tri-State — power provider to 43 rural electric cooperatives in four states, including 18 in Colorado — […]
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, News, Politics and Government
Front Range air quality is terrible, but Colorado’s efforts are showing some improvement in ozone pollution
If the weather this summer is anything like it was in 2011, Front Range residents might think they can breathe a little bit easier than last year’s sweltering season. Cooler temperatures and regular afternoon monsoons eight years ago kept the area’s ground-level ozone — the heated air we breathe with trace bits of fumes from […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Xcel wants to hike your electricity bill to cover the cost of new customers, prevent wildfires and boost returns
Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest utility, is asking regulators to sign off the its first electricity rate hike in five years — one that would allow the company to increase its profit margins and pay for the cost of increased wildfire mitigation and the state’s explosive growth. If approved by the Public Utilities Commission, the increase […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, Growth, News, Politics and Government, Technology
Colorado is overhauling climate goals with an eye on scrubbing carbon from its electricity
Colorado energy policy is undergoing a major overhaul with four transformative bills working their way through the legislature and the state’s Public Utilities Commission embarking on the revision of six sets of rules. “It is an exciting time,” said Will Toor, executive director of the Colorado Energy Office. “The political leadership, the economics and the […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Coal-fired power plants are closing early and Colorado lawmakers want to ease towns’ tough transition
Word that the local coal mine and power plant it served were closing went off like a bomb in Nucla — they were the community’s main employers and taxpayers in the tiny town southwest of Montrose “It’s a big blow,” said Deana Sherriff, executive director of the West End Economic Development Corp., which is helping […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Colorado co-op’s fight for renewable energy could upend how rural communities are powered
A battle between a Western Slope rural electric cooperative and one of the country’s largest co-op power providers has intensified, setting the stage for what may be a significant change in how and where some rural communities get their electricity. On one side is the Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA), the Montrose-based co-op serving about 33,000 […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Colorado power companies bet big on net-zero emissions as state debates 100% renewable energy future
Xcel Energy and Platte River Power Authority, two of Colorado’s biggest utilities, left themselves some wiggle room when they pledged to remove greenhouse gases from their emissions. While there is a big push in Colorado to run on 100 percent renewable energy — it’s Gov. Jared Polis’ goal to do it by 2040 — the […]
Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News
A Western Slope electric co-op’s demand for renewable energy is barreling toward a legal showdown
The battle between a West Slope rural electric cooperative and one of the largest power wholesalers in the West has tumbled into the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The Delta-Montrose Electric Association, stymied in its efforts to quit its contract with power supplier Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, has filed a complaint with the PUC asking […]