Clean Energy Action Newsletter June 2019; Solar for NW Colorado, Xcel Rate Case, Oil and Gas Rulemaking and More!

Solar for NW Colorado, Xcel rate case, oil and gas

rulemaking, and keeping the coal in the ground !

Solar for NW Colorado Coal Country

Clean Energy Action has long advocated for transition planning and assistance for coal-dependent workers and their communities and is happy that the State Legislature has passed HB19-1314 ("Just Transition from Coal Act") to begin addressing this issue in our state, but the planning and implementation for HB19-1314 will likely take several years at least.

In early 2018, Clean Energy Action learned that Solar United Neighbors or "SUN," a solar co-op buying non-profit, would be coming to Colorado. CEA recognized the opportunity and worked to get SUN to include the very coal-dependent communities of Hayden and Craig in their efforts -and they have done just that, making NW Colorado some of the first communities served by SUN Colorado. A story from the Steamboat Pilot describing SUN's early work in NW Colorado can be found here .

Clean Energy Action also helped SUN obtain an anonymous donation to support solar installation training for members of NW Colorado communities. A story describing the newest members of Colorado's solar work force, trained with help from the donation, can be read here .

Solar United Neighbor's Colorado Program Director Bryce Carter summarized the benefits of the solar training this way in the Steamboat Pilot story -

"I don't think it's an option between coal and solar," Carter said. "As we look at coal big picture, the future of coal is a challenging one. One way or another, I think the question is how do you become a more resilient community and with or without coal industry, there's still a need for energy..."

Keeping the Coal in the Ground

What seems like a looong time ago (around 2006…), Clean Energy Action recognized that a powerful way to address climate change was to work to keep the coal owned by the federal government on our behalf “in the ground.”

The sadly misnamed federal coal “leasing” (of course, the coal is not leased, it is mined and then turned into carbon dioxide and never comes back on any time scale that matters) program is run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Clean Energy Action began submitting detailed comments and recruiting other environmental groups to engage in these federal BLM coal “leasing” decisions over a decade ago. After several years of work, many other groups began engaging and now Clean Energy Action was just one of 50 groups that signed on to a recent letter opposing the 15-day comment period given by the BLM to rescind a moratorium on coal leasing established by the Obama administration.

You can read the comment letter here and get more background information on the Trump administration proposal from the Columbia Law School’s climate law website here.

Clean Energy Action Celebrates Earth Day with Classroom Education

For Earth Day, Clean Energy Action board members Keats Dormont and Devon Reynolds teamed up with Maddie Ruben to bring a presentation to the students at Shining Mountain Waldorf High School. Students learned about clean energy, living zero-waste, and hemp production. Maddie showed students how easy it is to reduce one’s use of plastics and other non-sustainable resources. She also described the mental health benefits of the daily practice of honoring the earth through zero-waste. Devon debunked common misconceptions about renewable energy (that it isn’t technologically feasible, that it is too expensive), and presented options for students to get involved in the social movements pushing political will towards a sustainable society. Keats talked about the many potential uses of hemp to make biodegradable plastics, textiles, and building materials.

We give thanks to Matthew Messner at Shining Mountain Waldorf School for inviting us to do this presentation. We would be happy to come to your school to give presentations on a sustainable future and how we can all impact the world around us. Please contact us if you're interested.

Xcel Proposes 6.49% Residential Rate Increase

In late May 2019, Xcel proposed a "rate review" that would, if granted, lead to an overall 5.7% increase in Colorado revenue and a 6.49% annualized rate increase for Xcel's Colorado residential customers.

Clean Energy Action will be following this rate increase, including tracking the provisions related to adding investments in coal plants into base rates as well as several other aspects of the proposed changes in rates. Xcel had $551 million in after-tax net income in Colorado in 2018, which was an 11% increase over 2017's after-tax net income, so it isn't clear that Xcel needs to take yet more revenue from its Colorado customers.

A summary of the proposed rate increase can be read here and the proceeding can be followed on the Colorado Public Utilities Commission e-filings website under Proceeding 19AL0268E. Clean Energy Action will also provide future updates through our newsletters.

Oil and Gas Reform: Rulemaking by the COGCC (SB19-181)

On April 16, 2019, Governor Polis signed Senate Bill 19-181, reforming the regulation of oil and gas in Colorado. You can read the signed bill here .

For information from Colorado state Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) on the development of rules to implement the bill go here .

Clean Energy Action is grateful to the Colorado citizen groups that are working hard to make the oil and gas rules as protective as possible. To learn more about what they are doing, you can follow the links below.

Information from 350Colorado on SB19-181 can be found here . Information from Colorado Rising on implementation of SB19-181 can be found here . Information on oil and gas issues can also be found from the League of Gas and Oil Impacted Coloradans ( LOGIC ). To read an informative news summary of the COGCC rulemaking go here .