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Counties told to fix energy policy they didn’t create: Mesa commissioner pushes back
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Counties told to fix energy policy they didn’t create: Mesa commissioner pushes back

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Mesa County Commissioner JJ Fletcher said he wasn’t looking to start a political fight when he published a recent op-ed questioning Colorado’s rapid move away from natural gas. What he wanted, Fletcher said, was to put a practical concern on the record—one he hears repeatedly from rural counties. Fletcher said the problem has become harder to ignore in recent weeks. With power shutoffs in December, higher utility bills and public anger spilling into regulatory hearings, he said counties are being asked to answer for decisions they didn’t make. In an interview with RMV, Fletcher said the message from state leaders has been consistent: counties are expected to deal with the impacts of electrification, even though they don’t contr...
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El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen Announces Run for Colorado Attorney General
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen Announces Run for Colorado Attorney General

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice District Attorney of El Paso County Michael J. Allen has declared his intention to run for attorney general in Colorado. Allen served in the Navy and is in his second term as district attorney for Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District. His announcement comes as the state grapples with rising auto theft, higher insurance costs, and continued overdose deaths.Allen framed the decision as a gradual one. Allen framed the decision as a gradual one. “It was a long time coming to make the decision,” Allen said. “I’ve had people reaching out to me really starting January of 2025 — both statewide, local folks, and then even national folks — trying to talk me into running.” For Allen, the question was not simp...
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DEA Chief Says Cartels View Colorado as Safe Haven for Drug Trafficking
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

DEA Chief Says Cartels View Colorado as Safe Haven for Drug Trafficking

By The Denver Gazette | Colorado politics Colorado’s “sanctuary” laws, notably its prohibition against cooperating with federal authorities, are having a “chilling effect” on law enforcement’s ability to go after drug cartels operating in the state, an official of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency said. That situation sits atop Colorado’s “pervasive drug culture stemming back to the marijuana initiation,” said David Olesky, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Rocky Mountain Field Division. That “drug culture” is sustained by how Colorado and its political subdivisions treat criminality, he said, adding he is not making a “political” statement — just describing the challenges his agents face on the ground. Of particular worry...
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Meet the fellows: Who’s advising Colorado lawmakers
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Meet the fellows: Who’s advising Colorado lawmakers

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Meet the Fellows themselves (part 2) I want to wrap up the last of the posts on the Legislative Fellows by putting up the answers I got after sending them questions.If you want to see the earlier newsletters about the Fellows, the first link below will take you to the last newsletter where I showed what work was publicly available at that time. In that newsletter you'll find links to go back even further.Screenshot 1 shows you the questions I sent to all the Fellows. These were general questions I wondered about. Screenshots 2a-2c were particular questions put to Fellow Max O'Connor, FellowsDhivahari Vivek and Samantha Lattof, and Leena Vilonen respectively. The ...
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EPA Says Colorado Overstepped Law By Using Haze Rules To Close Coal Plants
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

EPA Says Colorado Overstepped Law By Using Haze Rules To Close Coal Plants

By Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun The federal government said the coal plants were needed for “grid reliability” and a regional haze-fighting plan violated the Clean Air Act. The Trump administration Friday further eroded Colorado’s longstanding mandate to close coal-fired power plants by 2031, saying the state’s required regional haze-fighting plan goes too far and violates the Clean Air Act. But the regional haze plan covers everything from emissions at the Suncor refinery and Colorado’s three major cement kilns to natural gas power and other pollution sources. In rejecting the entire plan, the EPA may throw many of Colorado’s pollution fighting plans into regulatory purgatory for years. Colorado’s coal plants are needed for “grid reliability,” the federal g...
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Defense reply raises stakes in Peters appeal, asks court to order immediate release
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Defense reply raises stakes in Peters appeal, asks court to order immediate release

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice With oral arguments just days away, Tina Peters’ legal team has raised the stakes in her appeal, filing a reply that no longer asks the Colorado Court of Appeals simply to weigh jurisdiction—but to declare it already lost and order her immediate release. The reply, filed on the Jan. 8 deadline, directly challenges the Attorney General’s position that the court retains authority over the case and frames Peters’ continued imprisonment as unconstitutional.  2026-01-08 A Peters Reply to Peoples ResponseDownload Her attorneys explicitly say the appellate court should find that it lacks jurisdiction and that Peters “must be released from custody forthwith.” The filing follows Peters’ Dec. 23 motion challenging the cou...
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Who decides where power lines go in Colorado? Meet CETA, the unelected authority
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Who decides where power lines go in Colorado? Meet CETA, the unelected authority

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Worried about land use for energy infrastructure? Save some time to watch CETA. There has been a lot of attention paid to Xcel Energy and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) over where and how electric infrastructure will run in this state.See, for example, Polis encouraging his cronies at the PUC to take up the appeal over Xcel's Power Pathway through Elbert and El Paso in an October 2025 newsletter linked first below for an example.There is another unelected board in this state that does similar work with far less news coverage, however.The second link below is to a 2021 bill (SB21-072) that does a whole lot of things.Screenshot 1 (from the bill's fiscal note) shows you what this bill does with regard to...
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Polis Signals Possible Clemency Review for Tina Peters as Final Year Begins
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Polis Signals Possible Clemency Review for Tina Peters as Final Year Begins

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Gov. Jared Polis says he has an ambitious agenda for his final year in office. He's been full throttle since he was elected governor seven years ago, leading the state through COVID-19, two school shootings, and four of the most destructive wildfires in Colorado history. "It's hard to sprint. You sprint for 8 years, and that's always the way we've approached it. Our team -- we say we're running through the tape. We're running through the tape here," he said. As he nears the finish line, he is not only focused on the state budget and issues like affordable housing, but also which state prisoners should receive clemency. Among those who have asked the governor for a reduced sentence is former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peter...
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Xcel Files $546 Million in Rate Hikes Amid Massive Colorado Spending on Clean Energy Transition
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Xcel Files $546 Million in Rate Hikes Amid Massive Colorado Spending on Clean Energy Transition

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette Colorado’s largest utility filed for major increases in both electric and natural gas rates within weeks of each other, a move that could add roughly $17 a month to the average household bill serving both services. Xcel Energy submitted a natural gas rate case to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Dec. 29, 2025, seeking $190 million in additional annual revenue — an 11.4% jump that would raise average residential gas bills by $7.59 a month. That follows a November filing for a $356 million electric rate boost, adding about $9.94 monthly bill for residential electric customers. If regulators approve both as requested, the combined hit for dual-service households would be around $17.53 a month, with increases likely ta...
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Colorado Rejects New CDC Vaccine Schedule, Maintains Existing Requirements for School and Daycare
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Washington Examiner, Approved, State

Colorado Rejects New CDC Vaccine Schedule, Maintains Existing Requirements for School and Daycare

By Claire Carter | The Washington Examiner Colorado became the latest state to criticize the newly released federal guidance for childhood vaccines on Tuesday. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released a statement rejecting the CDC’s new vaccine schedule and said Colorado’s approach “remains grounded in long-standing science, expert consensus, and transparency.”  On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention implemented a major change in the childhood immunization schedule, reducing the number of vaccines children receive from 17 to 11. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
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