Federal help for Tri-State’s stranded assets?
Wholesaler has coal-burning units in Colorado, Wyoming. and Arizona —and mounds of debt. How much can the Inflation Reduction Act help?
Phase out oil and gas leasing in Colorado?
Colorado 350 has set out to ask Colorado voters in 2024 to phase out new oil and gas leasing before 2031. Why so soon?
A gigawatt of solar in Colorado’s wheat country
Major farmland owner sees huge upside to its investment in dryland farming country along Xcel Energy’s planned transmission line
Ruckus about Holy Cross solar rates
Electrical cooperative says new rates needed to help sustain electrical grid as it nears 100% carbon free energy. Solar installers see it very differently.
Buckets of federal funds for electric coops
Inflation Reduction Act delivers nearly $10 billion for allocation to rural electric cooperative and power providers
Tip of a Yampa Valley iceberg of solar?
Four-megawatt solar array to break ground in Craig. How many more will come in northwestern Colorado as the coal era ends by 2030?
What Fenberg’s energy bill does – and does not — do
Proposal would trim Xcel’s sails, start pushing back on natural gas expansion, but falls far short of the major overhaul that some believe is needed
Hydrogen: high hopes but also skepticism
Existing Pawnee coal plant would be reconfigured to burn hydrogen to create electricity. New research, however, warns that hydrogen could be a step backward.
How can Holy Cross possibly leap this high?
Glenwood Springs-based cooperative says it can leap from 50% emission-free energy to 92% by next year—despite owning a coal plant. Exactly how do this work?
Talking clean heat and other topics
Megan Gilman talks about equity, resource adequacy and other elements of her work in overseeing Colorado’s energy transition as a Colorado PUC commissioner. That will soon include overseeing plans by natural gas utilities to displace emissions when heating buildings.
Readying for a ripping runoff
With southwestern Colorado’s snowpack at 183% of average, a reservoir manager admits to a “pucker factor” when contemplating spring runoff.
Awash in snowmelt on the Colorado
Once-in-a-century runoff predicted for river. “Don’t squander it,” water officials warn.
The Blink of an Eye
During the long, leisurely days of 2021, there were split-second decisions, the difference between darkness and light so terribly narrow.
Better than the Xcel Energy and Black Hills model?
Holy Cross Energy expects to surpass 90% in carbon-free energy in 2024. It hasn’t had a rate increase since 2018. Why does Xcel Energy have higher rates even as it pivots more slowly?
Can Colorado hit its 2030 goal for EVs?
The short answer is yes. But it will take a lot of carrots from the state and federal governments. The good news is that the seeds have mostly been planted.
Solar coming on like gangbusters
10,000 solar roof-tops in Colorado’s United Power service territory, a temporary setback for Pivot Energy, and solar replaces coal in northwestern New Mexico.
Paying off the coal plants
How much should Xcel’s customers have to pay for Hayden, Craig and Pawnee as the coal era winds down? Opinions vary—and widely so!
Colorado snowpack in late March tops 140% of average
San Juan and Dolores snowpacks at 179%, but the Yampa Basin has neared historic highs, registering 145% of average
Cañon City electricity, fossil fuel subsidies, and is Colorado a renewables slug?
Cañon City mulls electric pathways, Aspen speaker talks about fossil fuel subsidies, and group accuses Colorado of being slower than Utah or Nebraska in renewables
Yampa Valley soil moisture monitoring and demand-management hesitation
Getting a bead on soil moisture in the Yampa Valley, and some hesitation among Western Slope farmers in participating in demand-management program
