Bye-bye coal and other regional briefs
The Economist say coal is becoming a museum piece (except in Asia), but perfervid hopes remain in Wyoming. More natural gas bans in California. Solar in Utah.
Net-zero and other Colorado briefs
Net zero talk in Vail, Aspen considers climate change and wildfire in 50-year water plan, droughty San Juans, and other energy and water briefs in Colorado.
Who’s next at the Colorado PUC?
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has indicated he will not reappoint Jeff Ackermann to the PUC. Here are 3 individuals he may be considering.
Can this car’s battery keep the rec center lights on and save money too?
A pilot project in Boulder is testing whether a Nissan Leaf battery can help light a city recreation center—and shave the electric bill for peak demand, too.
Tri-State’s carbon-constrained path
Tri-State G&T’s plan to deeply decarbonize its electrical supply in Colorado is voluminous, but it leaves many blanks to be filled in later.
Blue Sky Mountain in lieu of Evans?
Now 156 years after the Sand Creek bloodbath, Cheyenne and Arapaho have joined with The Wilderness Society to support Blue Sky Mountain to replace Mt. Evans.
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.
