Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

State

Xcel Urges Coloradans To Shift Power Use During Summer Peak Hours
No Comments
DENVER7, Approved, State

Xcel Urges Coloradans To Shift Power Use During Summer Peak Hours

By: Ethan Carlson | Denver7 Xcel Energy's "Energy Action Days" ask customers to reduce usage between 4 and 8 p.m. on hot days, but some customers say the timing is inconvenient. DENVER – Xcel Energy customers in Colorado may have noticed text messages recently asking them to reduce their energy use during certain hours of the day. The utility calls these "Energy Action Days" - requests for customers to cut back on energy consumption between 4 and 8 p.m. when temperatures climb above 90 degrees, along with a variety of other grid conditions. Customers who do not reduce their usage during those hours will pay more for their energy, as part of Xcel’s Time of Use pricing policy. Andrew Holder, Xcel Energy Colorado's director of community relations, ...
Read More
Polis Celebrates Education Gains But Healthcare Access, Crime And Budget Challenges Remain
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Polis Celebrates Education Gains But Healthcare Access, Crime And Budget Challenges Remain

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Colorado officials said they have something to celebrate this week, in addition to the state’s sesquicentennial birthday on Saturday. U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday gave Colorado its top ranking for education efforts from pre-K to postsecondary, though it didn’t fare well in other areas, such as health access and crime. Gov. Jared Polis celebrated the announcement with a trip to the Farrell B. Howell ECE-8 School in east Denver.  U.S. News & World Report issued its annual best states rankings on Tuesday. Colorado earned its first place in education based on “increases in associate degree completion and attainment rates, as well as substantial growth in preschool enrollment enabled by the Colorado...
Read More
Former GOP Congressman Greg Lopez Secures Spot on Colorado Governor Ballot as Independent
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Former GOP Congressman Greg Lopez Secures Spot on Colorado Governor Ballot as Independent

By: Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Unaffiliated gubernatorial candidate Greg Lopez, a former Republican congressman from Elizabeth who left the GOP to run as an independent, has qualified for the ballot by submitting enough petition signatures, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Tuesday. He’ll face Democratic nominee Phil Weiser, the state’s two-term attorney general, and Republican Victor Marx, a first-time candidate who runs a Christian ministry in Colorado Springs, as well as several candidates who belong to minor political parties. Lopez and his pick for lieutenant governor, Taralyn Romero, a Jefferson County property rights activist and health care worker, needed to turn in 1,000 valid signatures from registered voters in each of the state’s eight co...
Read More
Colorado Independents Put Two-Party Politics to the Test in 2026
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Independents Put Two-Party Politics to the Test in 2026

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado It appears Colorado will have a three-way race for governor. Former Republican Congressman Greg Lopez, who is running for governor as an independent, says the Secretary of State's Office has certified him for the ballot. Last Friday, Doctor Shimon Blau also qualified as an independent in the 1st Congressional District, which encompasses Denver. While independent candidates are underdogs in most races, CBS Colorado analysts Mike Dino, a Democrat, and Dick Wadhams, a Republican, say don't count them out. For years, Coloradans have been moving away from the two major parties and registering as unaffiliated. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
Read More
Colorado Schools Receive $24 Million to Expand Free Meals Program
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Schools Receive $24 Million to Expand Free Meals Program

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The Colorado Department of Education is providing Colorado schools with nearly $24 million in grant funding to implement a free lunch program. Approved by voters in 2022, the Healthy School Meals for All provides free breakfast and lunch to all public school students in the state, as well as wage increases for cafeteria staff. The program is funded through a tax increase on households making more than $300,000 a year. Because initial estimates fell short of the actual costs, the program ran into fiscal challenges right from the start and had never been deployed in its entirety. A pair of ballot measures approved by voters last year allows the state to keep additional revenue and interest from income tax deductions to help pay f...
Read More
Colorado’s newest coal plant hasn’t run since August 2025. A national report suggests why.
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s newest coal plant hasn’t run since August 2025. A national report suggests why.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Xcel Energy's Comanche 3 power plant in Pueblo went offline on August 12, 2025, after elevated vibrations damaged the turbine. Nearly a year later, it still hasn't produced a single watt. According to Xcel's most recent monthly report to state regulators in Proceeding 25V-0480E, filed July 22, the plant's turbine rotor had to be shipped off-site for repair by Mitsubishi. The parts came back this summer. Workers are now in the middle of reassembling the unit. The company's current estimate for return to service is mid-August 2026. That's twelve months offline for Colorado's newest, largest coal plant, a 750-megawatt facility that cost $1.3 billion to build and runs about $34.5 million a year to operate. The outage ha...
Read More
Colorado Election Officials Allege Victor Marx Campaign Repeatedly Exceeded Donation Limits
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Election Officials Allege Victor Marx Campaign Repeatedly Exceeded Donation Limits

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado The Colorado Secretary of State's Office says the Republican gubernatorial nominee Victor Marx's campaign received nearly 200 illegal campaign contributions during the primary election. Campaign finance law caps individual donations at $1,450 to reduce the outsized influence of wealthy donors and prevent quid pro quo corruption. Colorado Secretary of State The Election Division received complaints alleging the Marx Campaign had repeatedly violated the law. It launched an investigation and found the campaign accepted 197 illegal contributions totaling more than $78,000 over the limit. It says he also accepted another $1,000 in illegal cash donations. Darcy Schoening filed the complaints against the campaign. She says Marx m...
Read More
Independent Candidate Enters High-Profile Congressional Race Against Socialist Melat Kiros
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Independent Candidate Enters High-Profile Congressional Race Against Socialist Melat Kiros

By Ernest Luning and Mark Samuelson | The Denver Gazette      Unaffiliated congressional candidate Shimon Blau, a Denver doctor, has qualified by petition for the general election in Colorado’s 1st District, where Democrat Melat Kiros defeated 15-term U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in last month’s primary, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Friday. Blau, a newcomer to politics, submitted just shy of 2,000 valid signatures on July 8 days after starting his petition drive in response to Kiros’s upset primary win over DeGette. Election officials said 1,918 of the 2,212 signatures gathered by Blau were accepted, easily clearing the 1,500 signature requirement. Shimon Blau, who qualified to run for the 1st Congressional Distri...
Read More