Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Natural Gas

Colorado Seniors Feel Heat as Xcel Seeks Double-Digit Rate Increase
DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Seniors Feel Heat as Xcel Seeks Double-Digit Rate Increase

By: Maggie Bryan | Denver7 Xcel Energy is proposing electric and gas rate increases that would raise the average customer's bill by about 10% as early as August. DENVER — Some Coloradans are facing tough decisions as they try to stay cool during this week's heat wave, especially those on fixed incomes. Jimmy Cano and his wife, who live in Aurora, received a free portable air conditioning unit Tuesday night thanks to local nonprofit Bright Leaf, an organization that provides food assistance and other resources for seniors in the City and County of Denver. "Usually right at this time, I would probably be sitting here dripping sweat," Cano said. He said the portable AC unit has been a game changer for them as their home does not have a central AC system. B...
Lawmakers Put Reliability And Energy Costs Ahead Of New Climate Mandates In 2026
The Sum & Substance, Approved, Commentary, State

Lawmakers Put Reliability And Energy Costs Ahead Of New Climate Mandates In 2026

By: Ed Sealover | Commentary, The Sum & Substance This legislative session was supposed to be a defining one for the utility and energy sectors — one in which legislators would debate and pass a long-discussed plan to move up the net-zero emissions deadline by 10 years and also remake the Public Utilities Commission. But the story of the 2026 session for energy advocates instead turned out to be all about what didn’t happen. No 2040 net-zero plan got introduced. No radical changes came through the extension of the PUC. And for the first time in over a decade, no existential threats to the oil and gas sector received debate in the 75th General Assembly. The topics that took center stage instead were reliability and affordability of energy sources. Legislators h...
Signature Gathering Intensifies As Colorado Ballot Battles Take Shape
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Signature Gathering Intensifies As Colorado Ballot Battles Take Shape

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER– A large-scale signature gathering effort is underway in Colorado as proponents rush to get numerous citizen-initiated ballot measures qualified for the November statewide election, with issues ranging from from a right to hunt and fish to capping the stat income tax rate. The conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado, for example, is hip-deep in the effort, with two measures already on the ballot and at least three others are in the signature gathering phase. Already on the ballot is “Penalties for Fentanyl Crimes,” a statutory change that reinstates certain penalties related to fentanyl that the Democrat-controlled legislature has weakened or removed over the years. A second measure, “Law Enforcement Reporting Requ...
GOP Opposition Halts Last-Minute Bill Challenging Natural Gas Amendment
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

GOP Opposition Halts Last-Minute Bill Challenging Natural Gas Amendment

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics Colorado lawmakers pulled back plans to counter a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of consumers to use natural gas. The bill’s backers said the legislation would not have significantly affected the initiative’s impact, even as debate intensifies among environmental groups, the oil and gas industry and policymakers. The bill — initially planned by House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D‑Dillon, Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, D‑Denver, and Sen. Lisa Cutter, D‑Evergreen — would have addressed how the ballot measure might affect the state’s air quality. Bacon said the initiative’s wording is overly broad and could create unintended consequences. The proposed constitutional amendment, introduced b...
Colorado Democrats Drop Effort To Limit Natural Gas Ballot Proposal
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Democrats Drop Effort To Limit Natural Gas Ballot Proposal

By Taylor Dolven | The Colorado Sun The initiative would give Coloradans a “right to natural gas” in the state constitution. State Democratic lawmakers abandoned their effort to blunt the potential impact of a proposed ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to give Coloradans a “right to natural gas.” Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, Assistant Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, and Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Littleton, had pledged Friday to introduce a bill that would ensure the amendment doesn’t threaten public safety or local air quality. They would have had to introduce the bill on Monday in order to have enough time to get it passed by the end of the legislative session on Wednesday. Republican House members asked t...
Colorado’s War On Natural Gas Could Cost Coloradans Dearly
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s War On Natural Gas Could Cost Coloradans Dearly

By Elizabeth Caven | Commentary, The Denver Gazette In a state where winter isn’t optional, you’d think reliable heat wouldn’t be either. Yet, Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission seems increasingly comfortable with discarding the very energy source that keeps the majority of households in the state warm: natural gas. Residents are not thinking about long-term regulatory frameworks when they go to turn up the heat in January. They are asking much simpler questions: Will their homes stay warm, and can they afford it? This is what makes Colorados current energy trajectory so puzzling and, increasingly, troubling. Natural gas continues to be the backbone of the states energy sphere even as lawmakers at the Capitol seem determined to ignore that fact. A recent report published ...
Gas Turbines Ramp Up As Colorado Joins Regional Grid System
The Coloradoan, Approved, State

Gas Turbines Ramp Up As Colorado Joins Regional Grid System

By Rebecca Powell | The Coloradoan In the month since Platte River Power Authority joined a regional energy market, its combustion gas turbines have been operating at a higher level and the Craig 1 unit that was supposed to have been retired instead began burning coal again. The combustion turbines have been operating at a "much higher capacity factor" and prices have been volatile, Melie Vincent, PRPA's chief power supply officer, told the board of directors on April 30. "A lot of this is just SPP operators trying to figure out the western side," Vincent said, referring to the Southwest Power Pool regional transmission organization's expansion into the western United States with nine utilities in Colorado, Arizona, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah and Wyo...
Trump Signs Executive Orders To Fast Track U.S. Energy Infrastructure
Approved, Just The News, National

Trump Signs Executive Orders To Fast Track U.S. Energy Infrastructure

By Kevin Killough | Just the News The five orders seek to address a number of bottlenecks and impediments to coal, natural gas and petroleum production, including financial support, infrastructure development, improved supply chains, and permit expediting. President Donald Trump has signed five executive orders that address critical segments of the nation’s energy infrastructure – a move made under the presidential determinations of the Defense Production Act that allows a U.S. president to mobilize industry for purposes of national security.  The two-term president has long pushed for energy development and the infrastructure to support it as a key aspect of national security. The orders, signed amid the U.S. war with Iran, seek to address issues with the aging...
Colorado Energy Fight Intensifies With New Ballot Measures Targeting Oil And Gas
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Energy Fight Intensifies With New Ballot Measures Targeting Oil And Gas

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A group has introduced four ballot measures it says are meant to counter an initiative that aims to enshrine Colorado businesses and consumers’ right to purchase and sell natural gas in the state’s constitution. Filed with the Secretary of State’s Office today, Conservation Colorado’s measures would do the following: Establishing statutory liability for oil and gas companies operating in Colorado found to have damaged the state’s air, water, land or communities Establishing joint and several liability for current and past oil and gas operators and producers if found responsible for damage to the environment or a community Prohibiting oil and gas distributors from requiring customers to pay for pipeline extensions or decom...
U.S. Energy Secretary Warns Colorado Energy Policies Could Raise Prices Drive Jobs Away
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

U.S. Energy Secretary Warns Colorado Energy Policies Could Raise Prices Drive Jobs Away

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Monday warned that Colorado’s energy policies could lead to higher electricity prices and deter businesses, such as data centers, from locating in the state. Wright, a former executive of a Colorado-based energy company tapped by the Trump White House to lead the energy department, urged state policymakers to focus on natural gas and nuclear power during a news conference with U.S. Rep. Gab Evans at Xcel Energy’s Fort St. Vrain Generating Station on Monday. State policymakers have maintained that Colorado’s energy policy is balanced, taking into accounts the needs of consumers in their push for “net zero” carbon in just a few decades. Democrats have also argued that Colorado should take advantag...

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