Colorado

PUC to Xcel Energy: That $16.6 Million you Wanted? No Dice

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The Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Thursday ruled that Xcel Energy will not be able to collect the $16.6 million balance it says it is owed for work performed on the SmartGridCity project in Boulder.

The ruling is in line with an earlier decision by an administrative law judge that the utility should not be allowed to collect the remaining $16.6 million in costs it incurred in the project because it had not met established criteria demonstrating customer benefits, according to a story in the Boulder County Business Report. Keep reading →

Published March 22, 2013 at 12:00 PM

US Auto Dealers Submit Strong Bids for Fleet NGVs

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An effort by 22 U.S. states to spur demand for natural gas vehicles has produced a strong response from auto dealers to a request to supply CNG-powered cars, vans and trucks for state fleets.

Dealerships in 28 states representing the three big U.S. manufacturers plus Honda submitted more than 100 bids in response to a joint request for proposals by the states, which are seeking to boost demand for abundant domestic natural gas, and support the price after it fell to a decade-low in spring 2011. Keep reading →

Published October 9, 2012 at 10:15 AM

What Voters Don’t Know About Energy

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Funny thing about Americans. We’ve got strong opinions about what’s wrong with energy, especially when gasoline prices rise, but our passion tends to exceed our understanding.
Polling indicates we hold strong sentiments about energy independence and renewables. Yet key details elude us.

More than half of Americans cannot name one type of renewable energy and nearly 40 percent can’t identify a fossil fuel, according to New York-based research organization Public Agenda. Many wrongly think the US gets most of its oil from the Middle East, and few realize that it will be years before green energy makes up a large portion of our resource mix. Keep reading →

Published August 8, 2012 at 1:30 PM

Wind Power Hits 57% Mark in Colorado

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During the early morning hours of April 15, with a steady breeze blowing down Colorado’s Front Range, the state’s biggest utility set a U.S. record — nearly 57% of the electricity being generated was coming from wind power.

Published August 6, 2012 at 1:30 PM

Colorado Solar Industry Faces Transition

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Is the sun setting on Colorado’s renewable energy sector? Has the wind left our sails? Can we conjure more stale metaphors for renewable energy that relate to the industry’s possible contraction? The answers are maybe, perhaps, and one emphatic yes. The last decade in Colorado has seen a trio of legislative efforts increasing renewable energy production in the state. Amendment 37, passed in 2004, originally set a quota of 10 percent green energy supply in the state by 2020. This quota was upped to 20 percent in 2007 with HB 1281, and then 30 percent with HB 1001 in 2010 (This brief history neglects finer points of the legislation, including rebate amounts and quota distinctions between Xcel and smaller energy cooperatives).

Published January 24, 2012 at 9:50 AM