Boulder-Xcel Campaign, Colorado Green House Gas Roadmap, What We Are Reading, and More! |
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Boulder-Xcel Franchise No on 2C
If you haven't already, you still have time to add your endorsement at the Empower Our Future link below and choose to also get a yard sign for your yard or window.
A clarification on 2D: the No on 2C community is split on 2D. Some believe that we should not be throwing good money after bad by funding franchise-related projects if 2C passes, while others see this as a way to still advance Boulder's clean energy goals.
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COGCC Update
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has finalized its recommendation for 2000-foot well setbacks with the ability to apply for exceptions. While this is not the 2500-foot setback, without exceptions, that CEA, 350 Colorado, and others have advocated for, it is more than the 1500 feet suggested by staff and was strenuously opposed by the oil and gas industry. The final vote will be later this month. For more information click HERE.
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Colorado Releases its GHG Reduction Roadmap
On September 30th, the Colorado Governor’s office released a public draft of the collaborative Colorado Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Pollution Reduction Roadmap. The roadmap outlines compliance with HB19-1261, passed in the 2019 legislative session, to reduce GHGs by 90% by 2050. Proposed near-term actions include the adoption of Clean Energy Plans and to explore performance-based regulation. For an analysis of the draft, click HERE.
The state is hosting a public listening session today, October 20th from 5:30 to 8:30 and requesting comments until November 1.
To read the draft GHG Pollution Reduction Roadmap, and for more information from the state energy office, click HERE.
To register for the listening session today, click HERE.
To submit a public comment, click HERE.
Their model states that instead of some of the more expensive investments in decarbonizing transportation and buildings, "Our modeling shows that it would be cheaper and more feasible to achieve the state’s climate goals with much higher reductions from the electric sector—98 to 99 percent by 2030." As the figure below from page 45 of the report shows, Xcel and Colorado are on the gray path but we need to be on the green or dark blue path.
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What We Are Reading
Low-Income, Black, Hispanic, and Native American Households Face High Energy Burdens
ACEEE’s 2020 research found that low-income, Black, Hispanic, and Native American households all face dramatically higher energy burdens, spending a greater portion of their income on energy bills, than the average household. Click HERE to read more.
Town Municipalizes, Then Creates Innovative Microgrid
The California town of Gonzales formed a municipal utility in order to get around barriers in place with their investor-owned utility so they could create a microgrid to serve an entire industrial park and attract more businesses. At 80% renewable, businesses will have cleaner, more reliable power with lower rates than they're paying now. Read more HERE.
First Municipally-Owned Virtual Power Plant
The town of Chelsea Massachusetts is thought to be the first virtual power plant (VPP) owned by a municipality. Although the article also refers to it as a microgrid, a microgrid is normally thought of as physically distinct and usually able to isolate, whereas a VPP is an administrative collection of resources that are managed together, interacting with the market as a single unit. Click HERE for more.
FERC Issues Order Opening up the Market for DERs
In what could be a landmark change for distributed energy resources (DERs), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently issued Order 2222, allowing aggregated DERs to participate in wholesale markets. Currently, DERs are typically only allowed to participate as demand response resources and not combined in an aggregated fashion. Read a breakdown of this rule HERE.
China Pledges to be Carbon Neutral by 2060
While still slower than it needs to be, this is the first time China has committed to decarbonize to any degree, leaving the US as the largest emitter not to make a commitment to become carbon neutral. For more analysis, click HERE.
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Meet Operations Director
Luke Charbonneau
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Luke got his undergraduate degree in Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder in Spring of 2019. Through this degree, a universal perspective of how special our Earth truly is has been cemented in Luke's mind and is a cornerstone of his passion for advancing a sustainable planet.
Luke loves the great state of Colorado and is a lifelong fan of hiking, snowboarding, hammocking, being beside a river, and just about every other mountainous activity you can think of. This adoration of Colorado's beautiful outdoors and the desire to preserve it are pillars of Luke's involvement with clean energy. This is what drove him to become involved with Clean Energy Action during his undergraduate years. Since then, Luke has stayed with Clean Energy Action because he feels as though it is an intelligent team full of kind people who are eager to help with the climate crisis. Luke is happy to be working with such a progressive nonprofit and plans on continued contribution to Clean Energy Action success.
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