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Colorado Lawmakers Close 2026 Session With Greater Government Control And Higher Fiscal Risk
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Close 2026 Session With Greater Government Control And Higher Fiscal Risk

By Jake Fogleman | Complete Colorado The Colorado legislature officially adjourned May 13, after weighing more than 600 bills over the course of 120 days. Lawmakers entered the 2026 legislative session facing a set of familiar problems: another billion-dollar budget deficit, rising voter frustration over affordability, and growing concerns about Colorado’s economic competitiveness and business climate. Yet despite those warning signs, the Democrat-dominated legislature largely doubled down on the same governing philosophy that has increasingly defined the Capitol in recent years—more fees, more special interest tax benefits at the expense of other taxpayers, and more attempts to carve revenue streams out from under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). To be sure, not...
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Nuclear Energy Proposal Divides Colorado Democrats And Environmental Groups
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Nuclear Energy Proposal Divides Colorado Democrats And Environmental Groups

By Michael Booth | The Colorado Sun Colorado bill would set a nuclear permitting czar, help utilities find a location, and allow them to charge customers for $20 million in studies. A major effort to smooth the way for a return to nuclear-generated power in Colorado gets a first hearing Thursday in a legislative committee, as boosters of the out-of-favor technology claim growing energy demands and better design prove the time is right for a revival.  The state’s longstanding coalition of nonprofit groups that advocate for environmental and economic justice, meanwhile, vow a united front against the nuclear-friendly effort, and say some of their allies have betrayed the clean energy cause in favor of risky economic development.  House Bill 1337, up for deb...
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Planned Outages And Policy Goals Fuel Concerns About Colorado Energy Future
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Planned Outages And Policy Goals Fuel Concerns About Colorado Energy Future

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado I’ve lived in Colorado since 1970. And you know what Colorado had back in 1970? High winds blowing down the Front Range. I moved to Boulder in 1984 and have been there ever since. And you know what Boulder has had all that time? A freakin’ lot of high winds. I remember as a college kid walking around the CU campus after windstorms, stepping around uprooted trees and massive broken branches that made the sidewalks impassable. I’ve seen rooftop shingles go flying off Boulder buildings, signs ripped down, and semi-trucks overturned. All of which is to say that for the last 55 years I have personally witnessed a crap-ton of high winds in our mountain state. But only in the last few months have I witnessed our ...
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Two visions of Colorado’s energy future collide in committee hearing
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Two visions of Colorado’s energy future collide in committee hearing

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Xcel shut off power Saturday afternoon in parts of Boulder and Jefferson counties—roughly 18,000 customers in all. The wind was up, fire danger was high, and outages weren’t limited to the shutoff areas—some hit in the foothills, others farther into the mountains, where crews were still working Sunday. House Bill 26-1246 had come up earlier in the week during a committee hearing. Rep. Ken DeGraaf pointed to those kinds of events as a warning. “Public safety power shutoffs… have become increasingly normalized,” he told lawmakers. What followed wasn’t just a debate over one bill. It was a clash between two different ways of thinking about how Colorado should power its future. At its core, the disagreement comes down to this: should...
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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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Logan County Families Fear Foreclosure as Water System Fails
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Logan County Families Fear Foreclosure as Water System Fails

By Jaclyn Allen | Denver7 Sage Pointe residents told Denver7 Investigates their fight is part of a bigger rural infrastructure problem. STERLING, Colo. — Just west of Sterling, Colorado, the Sage Pointe neighborhood is in crisis. Families say their private water and sewer system is failing, and they are being asked to foot a skyrocketing bill. “There’s roughly 90 plus homes here,” Jason Sanders told Denver7 Investigates. “We had no awareness of it, no disclosure of it, but now we’re having to front the bill.” Sanders said his family was never informed that the community operates on its own well water and septic system when he purchased his home in 2023. That system is currently under a state cease-and-desist order due to past code violations. Heather Gage, secretary for b...
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