CEA 15 Years of Hard Work, PUC Update, Colorado Legislative Update, and More! |
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Join Us! Celebrating 15 Years of CEA and Xcel ERP Sneak Peek
- Now with Treats!
Join us on March 31, 2021, to celebrate CEA's 15 years of hard work advocating for clean energy and get a sneak peek into Xcel's 2021 Electric Resource Plan, scheduled to be released that day.
When: Wednesday, March 31, 7 p.m.
Where: Virtual, register HERE
We also invite you to bring your favorite beverage and dessert, and perhaps also support a local business. See the full invitation, including dessert recommendations for local businesses, HERE.
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Upcoming Event: Community Choice Energy (CCE), A Deep Dive with Rep. Hooton
Learn more about Rep. Hooton's bill to study how Community Choice Energy (CCE) would work best in Colorado. CCE allows communities to choose alternative wholesale electricity suppliers, while the utility continues to deliver the electricity and manage customer service and billing. CCE has good potential for faster progress on climate change and more competitive rates. Subject matter expert Larry Miloshevich will be on hand to answer questions.
When: Thursday, March 18, 6 p.m.
Where: Virtual, Register HERE
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Suncor Update
The nonprofit Cultivando has submitted an application to perform independent air-quality monitoring in Commerce City using Suncor settlement funds. They would contract with Detlev Helmig's Boulder A.I.R. Read more about this development HERE.
On February 17, WildEarth Guardians sued Colorado regulators over their years-long, illegal delay in reviewing and updating air pollution permits for Suncor Energy’s oil refinery north of Denver. Read WildEarth Guardians's press release HERE.
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PUC Investigation Chronicles Pueblo Unit 3's Chronic Failures
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission has reported (see filing HERE) that Xcel's Pueblo Unit 3 coal plant (also called Comanche 3), built against CEA's vociferous objections in 2010, has had almost two years' worth of unscheduled shutdowns and has cost 44% more to operate than originally proposed. For more information from the Colorado Sun regarding these findings, click HERE.
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Blue are planned outages
Red are unplanned outages
Numbers in parenthesis are number of days plant off line
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Lessons Learned from the Cold Snap
1. Microgrids, microgrids, microgrids
- The conversation about (and benefits of) microgrids is hitting the mainstream, listen to an NPR story regarding the resilience microgrids can offer HERE.
2. Natural gas is not immune to outages
- In Colorado, Xcel wants to charge each customer $264 for the cold snap. Read more HERE.
- Natural gas plants might not actually be any more reliable than solar-plus-storage, demand response, and other distributed energy resources. Click HERE for more.
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Clean Energy Action in the News
CEA's Leslie Glustrom was a guest on a recent Institute for Local Self-Reliance's podcast to discuss securitization and CEA's white paper, Privatizing the Risks & Not Just the Profits. Check out the Podcast episode HERE.
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Colorado Legislative Update
Over two-dozen climate-and-energy-related bills have been introduced in the Colorado legislature.
CEA in general supports these:
SB21-108 | PUC Gas Utility Safety Inspection Authority - CEA supports, but would like to see inspection authority consolidated under one agency, like the Air Pollution Control Division, which already has inspection capabilities
CEA opposes these:
Details can be found about CEA's positions HERE.
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PUC Update
On February 23, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) held an interagency workshop to discuss clean energy plans and goals. The PUC filed a presentation titled, “Implementing Colorado’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap,” referencing the roadmap that was published in December 2020. The presentation describes the main requirements of Colorado’s climate legislation and Xcel's forthcoming Clean Energy Plan. The filing, expected on March 31, 2021, will comply with 2019 climate legislative direction, including examinations of high building and transportation electrification scenarios.
On March 1, the Colorado PUC published its two-volume staff report on the history and continued operation of Xcel’s Pueblo Unit 3 plant. The report reviewed the continued operations and equipment problems that “have plagued Comanche Unit 3” since its operation in 2010, including boulder tube leaks; stack noise issued; reduced capacity factors due to planned outages; replacement of superheaters (the subject of a $11.7 million disallowance on investments); and the extended outage from January to December 2020 for repairs. See Colorado Sun story above.
21A-0096E Colorado Power Pathway Transmission Project
On March 2, a few weeks ahead of the Clean Energy Plan filing, Xcel filed a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) application for a $1.7 billion high-voltage transition system project: the Colorado Power Pathway. The project includes five segments of 345-kW transmission line covering over 560 miles. Xcel claims that the transmission project is necessary to meet the requirements of Colorado’s 2019 climate legislation and the upcoming Clean Energy Plan. Construction was anticipated to begin in 2023, with segments in-service in 2025-2027.
A more complete summary of PUC activities can be found on the CEA blog HERE.
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What We Are Reading
U.S. Battery Storage Installations Surged in 4th Quarter 2020
The blockbuster fourth quarter capped a year that saw a total of 3.5 GWh installed — more than the 3.1 GWh that went into operation in the previous six years combined. Read more HERE.
Clean Transportation Can Help Prevent Pollution that Damages Our Health and Heightens COVID Risk
The promotion of clean transportation can help improve health outlooks for residents, especially in marginalized communities, which are often where transportation corridors are built. Click HERE to read more.
Fossil Fuel Troubles
Blackjewel coal mining company, the nation's sixth largest coal mining company, filed for bankruptcy recently. This huge move could be a sign of things to come to the coal industry. Read more HERE.
In other troubling fossil fuel news, an aging pipeline in North Carolina was leaking hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline last fall, and the wider public is just now learning about the extent of the spill. Click HERE to read more about this story, including the company that controls the pipeline and potential reasons why it took so long for the public to learn about this issue.
Deb Haaland Confirmed as Interior Secretary
Former U.S. Representative from New Mexico Deb Haaland has been confirmed as the first Indigenous Secretary of the Interior by a 51-40 Senate vote. We're excited for what this means for U.S-Tribal relations and environmental stewardship! Read more HERE.
Poet Amanda Gorman's 'Earthrise' Climate Change Video
To send us off with a note of inspiration, many of us have only recently become aware of the powerful storytelling of the Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, Amanda Gorman, after she presented a poem at the Biden/Harris inauguration. Two years ago, Amanda recorded Earthrise, an equally inspirational poem on climate change. To read a bit about this piece, and to see the video, click HERE.
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Stay warm and engaged!
- The Clean Energy Action Team
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