Colorado gleanings: building emissions
Short items from Colorado’s efforts to squeeze emissions from buildings, large and small, commercial and residential.
Glen Canyon’s sagging electricity output
Generation of electricity at Glen Canyon Dam sags as Colorado and other Colorado River Basin states struggle to slow the decline of Lake Powell.
Wyoming gleanings: coal, eagles and EV’s
What will it take to put EVs on Wyoming’s highways? Wind developer guilty in death of three eagles. And why the severance tax on coal was cut.
A first for Platte River Power Authority
As it moves toward 100% emissions-free electricity by 2030, a Colorado utility has created a new “transition & integration” division. It’s part of a trend.
Hotter atmosphere = thirstier crops
Rio Grande Valley crops need 8% to 15% more water in the last 40 years as thirst of a warming atmosphere drives Western landscape and water supplies toward drought. And it’s not going to get any better.
This gas plant will rarely be missed
This gas plant in Colorado was used so rarely that even when utilities were desperate for generation during a February 2021 storm, it sat idle.
Colorado coal production rises in 2021
Colorado production in 2021 rose, but it’s just a third of the tonnage from less than 20 years ago.
An alternative for Delta-Montrose
Delta County infuriated many renewable energy supporters when it rejected a solar project. Proponents says they are planning an alternative.
Comanche 3’s shaky reason to exist
Colorado’s youngest coal plant has been down again in 2022. Can it be counted on to deliver power when it’s really needed?
The Colorado River’s confounding math problem
Those who crafted the Colorado River Compact assumed far too much water, but they could not have known about human-caused aridification. It’s a real problem.
A conversation with Leslie Glustrom
A conversation with climate activist Leslie Glustrom, who constantly nips at Xcel Energy. She says the company’s motivations must always be kept in mind.
A disturbing milestone for Lake Powell
Another 35 feet lower elevation of Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Daam will cease being able to generation electricity, with many implications.
What do these cold snaps say?
Colorado’s climate has not changed uniformly. Consider the cold spells of February and early March.
San Miguel to follow La Plata?
To lower its wholesale power costs, another Colorado electrical coop may pursue a partial-requirements contract with Tri-State G&T.
Will Comanche unit make 20 years?
Two of three PUC commissioners say evidence supports a 2029 closing or even sooner, while the third says too much remains unknown by Allen Best Retirement of Comanche 3, the troubled coal plant at Pueblo, was originally projected to operate for 60 years. It may...
Oligarchs and Pueblo’s steel mill
Putin crony Roman Abramovich has been crimped of his ownership in a British soccer club. No sanctions by the United States—yet. He has the largest take in steel company.
Why a once-clean fuel now looks dirty
Natural gas, which is mostly methane, was once seen as a wonderful new fuel. Now Colorado wonders whether those gas lines being laid will soon become obsolete.
Filling in Colorado’s decarbonization gaps
Colorado lawmakers in 2022 won’t match the breadth and depth of their legislative decarbonizing efforts in 2019 and 2021. But meaningful work is underway.
After the Marshall Fire, questions about costs of rebuilding
A divided city council in Louisville wrestles with how best to rebuild, with immediate costs foremost or with an eye on mid-century goals?
Colorado’s carrots and sticks for buildings
With an incentive here, a mandate there, state legislators hope to nudge buildings to a low-emissions future of heating and cooling.
