Colorado’s uncertain path to 2030
Colorado officials charged with substantially decarbonizing the state’s economy in the next 10 years are struggling with whether a set of smaller actions can get the job done. Or is something much bigger needed?
Coal and the hope of carbon capture
Wyoming continues to hope that coal can be burned without producing emissions, a technology proven at smaller scale but expensive. Others in Colorado and New Mexico also have an interest.
What comes after Colorado Springs closes its coal plants?
Colorado Springs will be shedding its two coal plants during the coming decade. Will natural gas be the bridge fuel, or can a bigger leap be made—avoiding stranded assets in the future?
Dylan and the Sand Creek Massacre
Bob Dylan has the Sand Creek Massacre on his mind. Wonder what he’ll do with it. Colorado has has several other massacres he could toy with.
Rawhide coal plant to close by 2030
Platte River Power Authority has announced it will close its Rawhide coal unit by 2030, but many things still necessary to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity.
Skiing and climate urgency
A new, more muscular tone about climate change is evident in the National Ski Areas Association’s official magazine. Now is the time to elevate the dialogue, says the lead article.
What to make of June snowstorms amidst this rapidly warming climate?
It snowed hard in Aspen and other places in Colorado last week. How do you reconcile that with the reality of rapidly warming temperatures?
Windy enough in Dust Bowl land
Southeastern Colorado has wind aplenty, almost enough to power the entire state. But that wind is like a farm without a road to market. Why that may change.
Colorado’s decarbonizing road trip
As Colorado chooses its path toward 50% decarbonization of its economy by 2030, all the paths involve the state’s regulation of electrical utilities. But there’s more than just closing down coal plants. That’s already underway.
Getting a grip on Colorado’s emissions
Colorado had adopted rules governing collection of emissions. Some of it is easy enough, other things also impossible to quantify. But has the state moved too slowly? Time to seize the coronavirus—and climate—moment?
Selling fear despite the evidence
The New York Times had a disturbing report that Republican strategists intend to sow fears of the cost of addressing emissions. The trouble is, the fears fly straight into the face of the available evidence.
RMI pats Tri-State on back, describes it as a model for other G&Ts
Rocky Mountain Instittue, the highly regarded think tank, credits Tri-State Generation & Transmission with plotting a a sharp pivot away from coal-based generation to a renewables future.
Why flexibility matters to this utility
The decision by the Colorado city of Fountain to get with a new wholesale supplier says an awful lot about the rapidly evolving story of electrical generation. Electricity is rapidly getting cheaper and cleaner.
Poudre Valley REA says it wants to have say with PUC
Colorado’s disputes among electrical cooperatives and also with and against its wholesale supplier Tri-State Generation and Transmission continue. Poudre Valley REA wants to be at the table in PUC proceedings.
Xcel Energy thinks big in EV charging
Xcel Energy proposes to spend $102 million in laying out charging infrastructure in its service territory in Colorado, where the state has a goal of rapidly expanding EV sales to 42% of all cars sales by 2030.
Taking aim at high-energy of mansions
Colorado’s Pitkin County—home to Aspen—aims to tighten the energy belt of its often big houses on the way to net-zero by 2030. Boulder County aims for the same in 2022. But Pitkin County is more ambitious in one way.
Aspen’s Building IQ
The city of Aspen plans to target energy use in its commercial and multi-family building sector in a new program called Building IQ. Commercial and residential buildings in Aspen account for 58% percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
Tamping down building energy use
Will other jurisdictions in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley take the lead of Pitkin County as it prepared to squeeze the fossil fuel diet for houses?
Can Breck avoid the gas?
Breckenridge would like its next affordable-housing complex to be built without natural gas lines. But can it?
The greening roofs of Denver
Denver voters in 2017 approved the green roof initiative. Now, the results are showing up not only on roofs, but in other parts of the city’s new buildings.
