Regional roundup for Nov. 20
Peabody Coal’s future in Wyoming, Arizona’s solar plus storage, and solar projects in New Mexico as coal plants retire. A roundup of regional energy-transition news.
A new era for Tri-State
Colorado’s second biggest electrical utility will soon identify its path to 80% reduced emissions by 2030. Surely this map will include Arizona and Wyoming.
A nudge, not a shove
Three Colroado coal plants must retire by the end of 2028, a year earlier than the utilities planned, the state’s Air Quality Control Commission has ruled. Still to be decided: Hayden units 1 and 2.
Reflections after East Troublesome
Greensburg, Kan., rebuilt green erand better after a devastating tornado. Grand County, which lost hundreds of homes to the East Troublesome fire, can too.
A tale of two Colorado cities
Boulder and Cañon City have been going in opposite directions since the 1870s when one took the state prison, the other the state university. They did so again in their utility franchise votes.
Comanche 3 under the microscope
Colorado regulators have signaled they want Xcel Energy to consider using securitization to advance retirement of Comanche 3, the West’s youngest coal plant.
Colorado’s Troublesome megafire
In a year of big fires, the East Troublesome may have had the most unsettling as Colorado enters a new era for wildfire, one in which old norms are demolished.
Lowering electricity bills in Colorado
Vibrant Clean Energy’s new study delivers hard numbers about how Colorado electrical consumers would benefit from advanced energy markets, especially an RTO
Platte River Power’s 100% goal
A promise of 100% renewables now withdrawn or a model for Colorado utilities? Reactions to Platte River Power Authority’s resource plan were wildly different.
Boulder’s fork in the road
Climate advocates, eager to accelerate the push for clean energy, are divided over whether to cut a deal or continue a complex process to form their own utility.
Tri-State’s big win at PUC
Wholesale electrical provider Tri-State won an important ruling in its dispute with dissident member coops, but two overlapping elements remain to be resolved.
Natural gas microscope
Colorado PUC to launch investigation of what must be considered in order to curb emissions from natural gas use in buildings.
Electrical empires in Colorado
Xcel Energy and Tri-State G&T both are resisting losing chunks of their electrical empires in Colorado. Their nimbleness is at issue—and money, too.
Xcel’s incomplete report card
Xcel Energy in 2015 set out to learn intricacies of solar-plus-storage in residential and commercial applications. Results disappointed the Colorado PUC.
Utilities and wildfire in Colorado
California has put a scare into Colorado utilities, but in a warming world more prone to wildfires, there’s already reason reason for utilities to be worried.
Colorado’s decarbonization roadmap*
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ran on a platform of a rapid decarbonization of electricity. Environmental groups say his administration isn’t moving quickly enough.
Who’s next at Colorado PUC?
Who will replace Jeffrey Ackermann as chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, an agency with a vital role in Colorado’s decarbonization agenda?
Why Colorado needs an RTO
Colorado’s utility representatives and a key state legislator agree on need for market mechanism to effectively and economically integrate renewable energy.
Time to rename Mt. Evans?
The Sand Creek Massacre will revisited again as the Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board reviews proposals to replace Evans on the peak west of Denver.
The future of mountain meadows
Warming Meadows set out to understand how global warming would affect a wildflower-covered hillside in the Rocky Mountains but also the interaction of soil carbon and carbon in the atmosphere.
