Feature Articles
Viewpoint: The Billion Dollar Block of Concrete
The insider joke is that utilities always want to build the next “billion dollar block of concrete” — not for the power, but because it can be added to their “rate base” and thus earn these returns. Why is their return on capital far higher than you or I can make on a secure investment?
13Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Colorado Legislature Approves 30% Renewable Energy Requirement
The new bill was finalized after a few housecleaning tweaks and will soon have the Governor’s signature on it. HB-1001 has been a major goal this year for the Ritter Administration and once law, will make Colorado second only to California in highest mandated percentage of renewables for power generation.
10Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Wind Turbine Development Sought Along
Stretch of I-70
Picture yourself heading westbound out of Denver for a day of skiing, only imagine it is two or three years into the future. No, you won’t see a high-speed train racing along side; but you may encounter dozens of wind turbines rotating high above on the mountain ridges between Idaho Springs and Georgetown.
9Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
EPA: No Plans for Own Carbon Trading Program
The Obama administration has no plans to set up a “cap-and-trade” program for greenhouse gases under existing law if Congress doesn’t pass legislation doing so, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in remarks at the National Press Club in Washington.
9Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Interior Expands “Common-Sense” Efforts to Conserve Sage Grouse Habitat in the West
The federal government will start to protect the sage grouse as a “candidate” species under the Endangered Species Act. The Interior said the compromise decision embraces the latest science indicating that sage grouse need help to avoid extinction in the face of energy development, grazing and home-building.
5Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
State PUC Approves Xcel’s Two-Tier
Rate Structure
The plan essentially means the more electricity consumers use, the more they would pay. From June through September, Xcel’s 1.1 million residential customers will be charged a lower rate for the first 500 kilowatt-hours per month and a higher rate for all electricity above that amount.
4Mar2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Reasons for State’s Drilling Slump Depend on Who (and WHERE) You Ask
One can understand why energy stakeholders on the West Slope are particularly sensitive to the drilling regulations issue. In fact, the divide in thinking on the subject between the eastern and western halves of the state seems at times nearly as large as the mountains and passes that geographically divide Colorado.
3Mar2010 | admin | 3 comments | Continued
Natural Gas Can Illuminate the Path to Renewable Energy Development in Colorado
Xcel Energy’s Comanche 3, a 750 MW coal-fired power plant in Pueblo now scheduled for start-up in late March, is the first new coal-fired plant built by the utility in nearly 30 years. Yet, in light of impending federal regulation of carbon dioxide emissions, it may also be the last one built in the state. A CEN White Paper
2Mar2010 | admin | 3 comments | Continued
Festering Issue — The Cost of Smart Grid and
Who Should Pay
The price tag for upgrading the country’s system is set at $165 billion over the next two decades according to industry experts. As the costs mount, consumer advocates in Colorado and across the country are questioning how smart grid should be financed and who should pay the bill.
15Feb2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
NREL Battery Testing Capabilities Get a Boost
The Department of Energy is looking to help the U.S. battery industry with a simple goal — to mass produce better batteries domestically while addressing safety, affordability, life, and performance. As a result, more work and funding for battery research is coming to the NREL in Golden.
12Feb2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Administration Proposes $1.1 Billion BLM Budget
While focusing on renewable energy development and climate change adaptation, the budget also includes a $2.0 million increase in BLM’s Soil, Water, and Air Management program for air quality monitoring that will be targeted to areas with current or anticipated intensive oil and gas development.
3Feb2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
GridPoint and SRE Sign Acquisition Agreement
Arlington, VA-based GridPoint, Inc. and Standard Renewable Energy (SRE) have announced that the companies have entered into an agreement for GridPoint to acquire SRE. GridPoint expects to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2010, subject to closing conditions.
2Feb2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Renewables Biz Watch — C02 Capture Partnership, Biofuels Pact, Solar BioRefinery Dream
New Sky Energy says it has signed a research agreement with the School of Mines to build a fully operating, scalable model of its CO2 capture technology. In other news, Abound Solar inked an agreement (of understanding) with a Canadian vendor to recycle its scrap material; and Sundrop Fuels is seeking major funding to build the world’s first solar-powered biorefinery.
29Jan2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Oil Shale Dialogue Intensifies –Headwaters Economics Responds to Boak’s Criticism of Report
“In fact, what we concluded,” says Haggerty, “above all from the Conference–and what our ‘14 Questions’ report emphasizes–is exactly what Boak himself wrote in his post here: Economic viability of any amount does remain to be validated, as no production has yet been established.”
28Jan2010 | admin | 0 comments | Continued-
Colorado is NOT Arizona
His critics will never acknowledge it, but executive leadership like the kind provided by Colorado’s governor can make a critical difference in a state’s economic well-being, even in the depths of a severe recession. Think we’re overstating the case? Take a look at what recently took place in Arizona, a state never known for consistent legislative policy-making.
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Thank you for the leadership. I was thrilled when we approved a 10% renewable energy standard, ecstatic when Xcel ...
The key point is their is a 90 yeear supply supply gas in the lower 48 ALONE.
This doesn't take ...
Cogeo - thanks for the comprehensive comment. You're prolific, indeed; however, overall, we just don't see the doomsday scenario for ...
Projections of reserves and years of consumption are historically wrong. Reserve estimations are more important in pumping up stock ...
Thanks Ann. I've heard that 100 year claim too, but at current consumption rates. I guess I could ...