Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Energy

Weld County Gives Green Light to Colorado’s Largest Data Center Near Windsor
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Weld County Gives Green Light to Colorado’s Largest Data Center Near Windsor

By Peter Choi | Denver7 The 41-acre project could become Colorado's largest data center, but community members raised concerns about water, noise, the power grid, and outreach. GREELEY, Colo. — The Weld County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 Wednesday to approve a proposed data center that could become the largest in Colorado. The roughly 41-acre data center is planned for the former Carestream Health site in an unincorporated area of Weld County near Windsor. The New York-based company Global AI is proposing the project. During a public hearing on Wednesday, commissioners heard from the company and community members who raised concerns about the project's potential impacts, including water use, noise, the power grid, and the company's outreach to nearby resi...
Colorado Motorists Pay Record Gas Prices Over Labor Day Weekend
DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Motorists Pay Record Gas Prices Over Labor Day Weekend

By Alex Dowd | Denver7 Denver7's Alex Dowd shows how gas prices in the Denver area compare to rates around the country. DENVER — Gas prices in the United States hit record highs this Labor Day weekend. Still, AAA expected millions to travel during the three-day weekend, with Denver listed as the fourth most popular destination in the country. In Colorado, AAA put the average price of regular gas at $4.19, higher than the national average of $4.15. Both of those prices are well above the previous Labor Day record of $3.82 set back in 2012. Crude oil prices are higher than they were a year ago, experts say that makes up about half the price that consumers pay for gas. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7
Trump Venezuela Oil Deal Could Unlock $200 Billion and Expand US Energy Supply
Fox Business, Approved, National

Trump Venezuela Oil Deal Could Unlock $200 Billion and Expand US Energy Supply

By Michael Sinkewicz | FOX Business Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the agreement a 'huge win' that could bring nearly $100B in private investment. Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Saturday touted a "historic" oil agreement with the United States announced by President Donald Trump. Speaking during an evening address, Rodriguez celebrated the agreement, saying it would help revive Venezuela's economy. She said the deal would remain in effect for 25 years and initially target crude production of more than 1.5 million barrels per day while preserving the South American country's sovereignty over its natural resources. "This 25-year bilateral project envisages the development of 17 strategic oilfields with a production target of more than 1.5 m...
Colorado Cities Wrestle With Costs and Benefits of Data Center Expansion
Axios Denver, Approved, State

Colorado Cities Wrestle With Costs and Benefits of Data Center Expansion

By Alayna Alvarez | Axios Denver Colorado communities are taking dramatically different approaches to the boom in data center development, with a patchwork of moratoriums, incentives and new restrictions. Why it matters: The local experimentation is filling a vacuum left by state lawmakers, who failed last legislative session to agree on how Colorado should regulate the resource-hungry facilities. State of play: The fragmentation sets up another potential fight at the Colorado State Capitol next year over how to capture the upside of data center development without saddling communities with their enormous electricity, water and infrastructure demands. Driving the news: Denver — which already has 50 data centers — has&...
Douglas County Weighs Data Center Incentive as Front Range Restrictions Grow
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Douglas County Weighs Data Center Incentive as Front Range Restrictions Grow

By Nicholas Fogleman | The Denver Gazette At a time when Denver and Front Range governments are restricting or banning data center development, Douglas County commissioners are poised to approve a $19.3 million tax rebate agreement Tuesday for a new data center under construction in Parker. The contrasting approaches are occurring as the debate over data centers has taken center stage in Colorado and elsewhere in the country. Critics seek moratoriums or even a complete ban, citing worries about water and energy consumption, while proponents argue they bring in jobs and new revenue, not to mention their national security implications — America, they say, should not cede the battle for AI infrastructure dominance to global competitors. The proposed agreement would...
Tech Leaders Say Misinformation Is Driving Resistance to Data Centers
Just The News, Approved, National

Tech Leaders Say Misinformation Is Driving Resistance to Data Centers

By Christina Park | Just the News Facing NIMBY: Industry experts and lawmakers are pushing back against "disinformation" about data centers, arguing that they are vital for American jobs and technological leadership. State lawmakers and big tech are pushing back against misinformation surrounding data centers. Once welcomed for their local economic benefits, they say these facilities now face resistance due to fear and disinformation over water and electricity consumption, complicated by a global AI race against China. “What I want to do, and what President Trump wants to do is make sure we dominate the next revolution in technology, which is of course, AI and data centers,” economist Stephen Moore told the Just the News, No Noise show at the American ...
Months of Power Outages Leave Littleton Neighborhood Looking for Solutions
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Months of Power Outages Leave Littleton Neighborhood Looking for Solutions

By: Kelly Werthmann | CBS Colorado It's been a tough week in Colorado if you struggle with the heat, especially if you don't have access to any sort of cooling measures. Residents say that's what happened in the Columbine Hills neighborhood in Littleton when the power went out for hours at a time. And they say this has been happening since last summer. "We feel like prisoners in our own neighborhood," said resident Brandon Darnell. Darnell s ays he's pretty sick of losing power at his Littleton home. He says it's never a brief outage. "It's a while. It's like, I think at minimum usually four hours," said Darnell. He says it has cost him money. "I've had to throw a lot of money worth of meat away," said Darnell. And it's affected his job. ...
Energy Secretary Chris Wright Pushes Expanding Energy Supply To Lower Costs In Colorado
Colorado Politics, Approved, National

Energy Secretary Chris Wright Pushes Expanding Energy Supply To Lower Costs In Colorado

By: Mark Samuelson | Colorado Politics As a heatwave in the U.S. and Europe punctuated widespread calls for recommitments to solar and other “renewable” sources, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright doubled down on America’s current policy, telling a Thornton crowd on Monday that energy goals would be fixed on increasing the nation’s capacity — no matter what the source. “I went to college to work on fusion energy. I worked on solar energy in graduate school, and geothermal energy right after,” Wright told the Colorado audience. “I don’t care where the energy comes from,” Wright said. “The lights are kept on by gas, coal and nuclear. We have got to grow the capacity, and we are majorly focused on that.” Wright’s visit to Colorado coincides with new calls for le...
State Regulators Confront Fallout From Xcel’s Wildfire Power Shutdowns
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

State Regulators Confront Fallout From Xcel’s Wildfire Power Shutdowns

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun State utilities regulators collected testimony from 4,000 businesses, households with lifesaving medical equipment and the merely annoyed as they form rules for public safety power shut-offs. In December, Rainbow Schultz was preparing for Xcel Energy’s announced shutdown of power lines to cope with high winds since her restaurant — the Jamestown Mercantile — had lost $8,000 in the utility’s safety shut-off eight months earlier. Schultz was already reducing her supplies when she was told by Xcel Energy her town of 230 in western Boulder County would not be in the shut-off area and so she stocked up as usual.  Still when the 112-mile-per-hour gust of wind came Dec. 18, Schultz found herself in the dark wi...
Regulators Keep Pueblo Comanche Coal Unit Running While Xcel Repairs Newer Plant
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Regulators Keep Pueblo Comanche Coal Unit Running While Xcel Repairs Newer Plant

By Alexander Edwards | The Denver Gazette The Comanche Power Plant in Pueblo will continue to operate a coal-powered electrical generating unit that was slated for retirement this month for one more year. The move comes after Xcel Energy, the state’s largest utility company, petitioned in November to keep one generator operating after an outage at the coal-fired power plant. Gov. Jared Polis backed the petition. On Wednesday, the Public Utilities Commission approved a variance submitted by the utility. This allows Comanche 2, which was slated to be retired on Dec. 31, to continue operating as Xcel fixes the Comanche 3. “The Commission found that the outage at Comanche 3 was the sole justification for the extension of Comanche 2,” a fact sheet released by th...