Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Renewable Energy

New Analysis Ties Net Zero Policies To Higher Household Energy Costs
No Comments
Just The News, Approved, National

New Analysis Ties Net Zero Policies To Higher Household Energy Costs

By Kevin Killough | Just the News “Blue States, High Rates” study analyzes climate and net-zero policies in each state and shows that the common factor when it comes to high electricity rates is whether a state has these policies in place. And those are primarily blue states. Polls consistently show that affordability is a top concern for voters, and that includes the cost of their utility bills. An Ipsos poll released in May showed that 79% of respondents would support a political candidate who promises to lower their utility bill. The poll also found that 58% of American bill payers don’t understand what drives their utility costs. Always On Energy Research and the Institute for Energy Research have been attempting to analyze the relationsh...
Read More
Colorado Voters Will Decide Right To Natural Gas in November
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Voters Will Decide Right To Natural Gas in November

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A citizen initiative that seeks to enshrine the right to natural gas has qualified for the November ballot, Colorado’s election office confirmed on Thursday. Petitions containing signatures for Initiative No. 177 were turned in to the Secretary of State’s Office for review in late June. On Thursday, the Secretary of State’s Office said 146,165 of the 189,508 signatures collected were valid, surpassing the threshold. The initiative from Advance Colorado establishes consumers’ right to purchase natural gas for cooking and heating their homes and businesses, as well as the right of distributors and utilities to sell natural gas to homes and businesses. “Natural gas is a clean, reliable and affordable form of energy...
Read More
Colorado’s Renewable Energy Milestone Looks Different When Coal Outages Are Counted
No Comments
Independence Institute, Approved, State

Colorado’s Renewable Energy Milestone Looks Different When Coal Outages Are Counted

By Sarah Montalbano | Independence Institute On July 9, 2026, I wrote an article for the Independence Institute breaking down the math behind Colorado’s renewable energy milestone in Q1 2026 and explaining why it is largely driven by the Comanche 3 coal outage, rather than a surge in wind and solar generation. For Coloradans, it’s worth checking if milestones like these are real, because figures like these are cited as proof that the state can shed its remaining coal and natural gas without consequences for reliability and affordability. The article’s main point, which was supported with EIA generation data, was that Colorado produced less in-state electricity in Q1 2026, and therefore the share of electricity generated by wind and solar looked larger beca...
Read More
Colorado Faces Growing Concerns Over Grid Reliability and Energy Costs
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Faces Growing Concerns Over Grid Reliability and Energy Costs

By Mike Krause | Complete Colorado In a recent episode of Independence Institute’s* PowerGab energy podcast, hosts Amy Cooke and Jake Fogleman look at the mounting consequences of Colorado’s forced energy transition to renewables, focusing on recent warning from Xcel Energy before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that the state could face a significant power generation shortfall beginning next summer, increasing the risk of rolling blackouts. Cooke and Fogleman contend that regulators have prioritized emissions reductions while giving short shrift to the costs and reliability challenges of replacing dispatchable generation with renewable energy and battery storage. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT COMPLETE COLORADO
Read More
Colorado’s renewable milestone deserves a reality check
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s renewable milestone deserves a reality check

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Sarah Montalbano, the author of the Complete Colorado piece below makes a great point in her article about renewables. In response to a recent article by fellow energy writer Allen Best, see the second link below, about Colorado hitting an energy milestone of “More than half the state’s electricity came from wind, solar and hydro during the first months of 2026”, Montalbano notes that perhaps it’s not time for celebrating yet. Quoting from her Complete piece, “The trouble is that this jubilant announcement of a ‘majority’ renewables power grid owes more to a stark drop in coal-fired generation than the wind and solar that was added. Percentages rely on both the numerator — how much wind, solar, and hydropower...
Read More
Behind Colorado’s Renewable Energy Headlines Are Critical Missing Details
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Behind Colorado’s Renewable Energy Headlines Are Critical Missing Details

By: Sarah Montalbano | Commentary, Complete Colorado Allen Best, at his blog Big Pivots, published recently that Colorado for the first time saw a majority of the state’s energy   generation come from renewables:   Colorado achieved an energy and climate milestone during the first quarter of 2026. During those three months, 53% of electricity in Colorado came from renewable sources, up from 43% in 2025, according to an Energy Information Administration report filed in May.  Details matter The trouble is that this jubilant announcement of a “majority” renewables power grid owes more to a stark drop in coal-fired generation than the wind and solar that was added. Percentages rely on both the numerator — how much wind, sola...
Read More
NERC Report Raises New Questions About Colorado Energy Reliability
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

NERC Report Raises New Questions About Colorado Energy Reliability

By: Sarah Montalbano | Complete Colorado The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) 2026 State of Reliability report contains lessons for Colorado’s electricity sector. While the grid as a whole “continues to deliver reliable electric service,” challenges are mounting thanks in part to the “declining availability of aging combustion generation.”  NERC’s report finds that power plants failed more in 2025, with the fleet-wide forced outage rate climbing to 9.2 percent against “historical norms rarely exceeding” 8 percent. Coal-fired plants saw their forced outage rate rise from 11.2% in 2024 to 14.1% in 2025. NERC surveyed owners of generators that s...
Read More
Energy Secretary Chris Wright Pushes Expanding Energy Supply To Lower Costs In Colorado
No Comments
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...
Read More
Before tearing down dams, remember why they were built
No Comments
GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, National

Before tearing down dams, remember why they were built

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com A Montana friend reminded me of an old cowboy adage: “Before you take down a fence, you ought to pause long enough to ask why it was put there.” It’s a principle called “Chesterton’s Fence,” coined by writer G.K. Chesterton who cautioned against acting rashly. He wrote, “a ‘modern reformer’ says of the fence, ‘I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.’ But someone more intelligent refuses until learning why it’s there.” It is the perfect analogy for today’s debate about removing dams, a popular global trend for the past few years. Chesterton’s 1929 book, The Thing, explains the logic that should prevail: “This paradox rests on the most elementary common sense. The gate or fence did not grow there. It was not set up by somnambulis...
Read More
PowerGab Examines the Cost of Energy Mandates as Xcel Seeks Massive Rate Hike
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

PowerGab Examines the Cost of Energy Mandates as Xcel Seeks Massive Rate Hike

By: Mike Krause | Complete Colorado In a recent episode of Independence Institute’s* PowerGab energy podcast, hosts Amy Cooke and Jake Fogleman look at Xcel Energy’s request for a massive electricity price hike in Colorado (originally $355 million, now pared down to roughly $245 million). The duo zero in on why utility bills keep rising, and how decisions made years ago are now hitting ratepayers hard. Cooke argues that rate hikes are “lagging indicators,” the result of layers of policy choices, regulatory approvals, and energy mandates dating back more than a decade. She points specifically to the Colorado Energy Plan and the decision to accelerate retirement of coal-fired power plants, with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) prioritizing emissions red...
Read More