RIO BLANCO COUNTY STANDS BY
ENERGY FEES

By David O. Williams/Colorado Independent

In the nearly 25 years Rio Blanco County Commissioner Ken Parsons has been living west of Rangely in rugged and remote northwestern Colorado, he has experienced three significant downturns in natural gas drilling. During the first two he was working for Texas-based Halliburton.

Now he’s known in the county of some 6,600 residents as the chairman of the all-Republican board of commissioners that in 2008 passed a first-of-its-kind impact fee on gas wells to fund road improvements and other county infrastructure.

Oil and gas companies fought the fees at every turn, in part leery of the precedent it might set not only for other gas-rich counties in Colorado, but also around the nation. The possibility of impact fees quickly became a campaign issue in neighboring Garfield County during the 2008 county commissioner election.

But for Parsons the fees, which are levied against all development — including residential and commercial construction — and based on a formula of truck traffic (axel loads) needed to complete a project — are a fair way of making industry pay for its upfront impacts. Parsons does admit he’s taken some grief from fellow politicians in energy-producing counties and from some officials in the oil and gas industry.

“Obviously, nobody that’s impacted by these impact fees likes them, and if I was in their shoes I’d probably feel much the same way, but on the other hand when we began this — and Garfield County keeps speaking with pride of all the things they’ve done with industry down there — we found that whenever we approached industry here it was very spotty,” Parsons said, referring to talks about alternatives to the fees. 

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HOLY CROSS ENERGY ADDS MORE SOLAR FUNDS

In May, the energy cooperative announced its nearly $1.1 million budget for renewable energy generation projects had been allocated.

Participation in Holy Cross’s rebate incentive program has grown exponentially — from the first 1.6-kilowatt-system installed in 2004, which generated a $3,200 rebate to a projected addition of 625 kilowatts worth $1.25 million in 2009. The 2009 projection is more than double the 2008 total of 284.7 kilowatts installed.

By the end of 2009, Holy Cross expects to have added 1,210 kilowatts of renewable energy generation to its system in the last five years. Colorado Energy News readers in the service area of Holy Cross can find more information about the company’s renewable energy generation incentives, or other WE CARE program incentives, by visiting www.holycross.com or call the Member Services Department at 970-945-5491.

VAIL RESORTS EXCEEDS COMPANY GOAL OF ENERGY USE REDUCTION

Vail Resortshas exceeded a company-wide goal to reduce energy use by 5 percent during fiscal 2009. According to Company CEO Rob Katz,  energy consumption went down by 6.1 percent and the company is well on its way to reaching an overall 10-percent goal during the first two years of the initiative.

Using a variety of energy sources such as natural gas, diesel, gasoline and electricity, different operations within the company converted energy use to British thermal units, or Btu, for a common measuring unit. In an e-mail to employees, Katz credited “CFL lighting conversions, reducing idle time for vehicles, more efficient grooming and snowmaking operations, better management of hotel and facility heating systems and a continuous improvement in overall efficiency” for the energy savings.

Vail Resorts’ primary business includes five ski areas: Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, along with Heavenly in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

SOME ASPEN HOMEOWNERS GET SMART METERING

ASPEN — The town of Aspen has taken the initial steps toward implementing a smart grid — using digital technology to deliver electricity, save energy, reduce costs and increase reliability.

More than 200 meters have been installed, most of which have been at an affordable housing development called Burlingame Ranch located near the Buttermilk ski area. The City says the smart meters are designed to help customers understand their utility bills better, narrow down discrepancies and point out places for conservation.

Aspen officials hope the meters will eventually be tied to an Internet interface where customers can log on and see their usage in real time. Currently they can phone the utility billing department for a report if they have a smart meter installed.

“This is really the first step in transitioning to a smart grid system, which will increase response time for outages in addition to providing insight for customers and the city into energy and water consumption histories,” Ledesma told the local media. She also added that Aspen also has roughly 100 smart meters available to gauge water usage.

GUNNISON COUNTY GAS CASE CREATES INTRIQUE

Now, some Garfield County political activists are hoping that something similar can happen in Garfield County with regard to how close a gas drilling rig can come to a home, although no formal action has been taken yet.

“It’s hard to step forward with anything until the company submits an actual application,” said Leslie Robinson, a member of the Grand County Citizens Alliance, which is actively working on plans by Antero Resources to drill up to 200 gas wells in Battlement Mesa. Antero has not yet filed its formal application with the COGCC, which rules on drilling permits.

State rules covering oil and gas exploration state that a gas well can be drilled as close as 150 feet from a home.

In Garfield County, some feel that 150 feet is far too close for comfort and would like to see the rules changed to 1,000 feet. Specifically, some residents of Battlement Mesa have demanded the rule change due to worries that the drilling rigs would be too noisy, generate too much traffic and pollution of the air and water, and post wildfire and other hazards.

The county government has yet to address the issue in a formal way, but it has come up numerous times at meetings regarding Battlement Mesa, a community of some 5,500 near Parachute. At least one local organization, the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, has demanded the rule change in public before the COGCC, at recent meetings in Battlement Mesa and Glenwood Springs.

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