Illegal Permits Action Alert, Multiple Upcoming Events, Colorado Legislative Update, and More! |
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CEA 15-Year Celebration Recap
Thank you to all of you who attended the celebration!
Leslie Glustrom gave a great overview of CEA's past, present, and future, and Xcel's Energy Resource Plan (ERP), with engaging discussion afterward. The slides can be viewed HERE, and a video from the event will be posted on the event page HERE soon!
Also, thank you very much to all of you who donated to CEA, supported local businesses with your dessert orders, and otherwise donate your time and resources for a livable planet. Everything we do has the potential to make a difference. We don't know how much, or which action will be the pebble that breaks through, but as Leslie said, 99% of the time you fail, and then you win. Onward!
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Action Alert: Formal Complaint Says CDPHE Illegally Approving Permits Without Environmental Analysis
Colorado air pollution control managers ordered staff to falsify data and approve permits “at all costs,” whistleblowers say. State employees allege a years-long pattern of illegal state actions designed to speed up permits and avoid scrutiny by the public.
See 350CO and Wild Earth Guardian's press conference HERE.
Send a message to the Governor Polis and Attorney General Weiser via 350CO HERE. demanding that they investigate these allegations.
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Upcoming Event: Xcel Energy Resource Plan Study Sessions
Clean Energy Action will be starting an Xcel 2021 ERP Study Group to take a deep dive into the plan. It will be followed this summer by more focused training sessions that will help prepare people to provide testimony during ERP public hearings, expected to be this fall. Sessions will generally be held every 2nd and 4th Monday until the ERP has been adequately covered.
Click HERE for more information, including expected topics.
First Session
When: April 26, 2021, 10:30 am and 7 pm,
attend whichever time works for you
Where: Virtual, 10:30 am link HERE
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Upcoming Event: Microgrid Conference
Microgrid Knowledge's Microgrid 2021 Virtual Conference is coming up and is both virtual and free this year. Sessions are often very informative and many of the sessions are on a general level. Attendance is limited so register early. More information on this event can be found HERE.
When: 11-2, Tuesday and Thursday for four weeks starting May 11 and ending June 3
Where: Virtual, register HERE
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Moving Beyond Fossil Fuels While Working for a Just Transition
There are two main populations that could be adversely affected by the transition to renewable energy if we don't take intentional action: marginalized communities, which might not reap the benefits of the transition, and people working in the fossil fuel industry along with the communities that support them. While there might be overlap between the two, a "just transition" has come to describe the transitioning of workers out of the fossil fuel industry.
To find out more about the challenges, solutions, and how a just transition is playing out in Colorado, please read the CEA blog article HERE.
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Value of (Distributed) Solar
Blog Series
Over the next few months, CEA will present a series of articles on the Value of Solar, particularly the benefit of distributed solar to the grid. The first entry is about how distributed solar affects the cost of the overall grid (spoiler: it makes it cheaper. By a lot.) Read the story on the CEA website HERE.
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Suncor Update
The recently released "independent" report into Suncor's environmental malfeasance, funded by the state and hired by Suncor, reveals as much as is to be expected: nothing. It underscores the importance of truly independent monitoring and oversight. Read an in depth Denver Post article HERE.
In related news, the EPA demonstrates that permits, in fact, can be denied. Read more HERE.
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Colorado Legislative Update
This legislative session is demonstrating that even though we passed landmark climate legislation two years ago with SB19-181 and HB19-1261, that was only the first step. The perhaps more difficult process is to carry those bills out with meaningful action that does not take us backward.
Several noteworthy bills have been introduced this month:
CEA in general supports the following:
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 the following bills:
More details can be found regarding these bills on CEA's website HERE.
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PUC Update
On March 29, the Colorado PUC responded to the PUC Staff’s report about ongoing operational problems with the Pueblo Unit 3 plant. The PUC directed Xcel to file a written response and to file other reports. The PUC stated, “One of the more troubling aspects of Staff’s report is the large number of findings in the various reports regarding improper operating practices, inadequate maintenance, and failure to adhere to industry standards,” noting that the investigation seeks to understand, “why is [Pueblo Unit 3], a unit still in the first decade of its 60-year useful service life, plagued with such poor unit reliability? In general, poor unit reliability is usually the result of a combination of poor equipment design and substandard operation and maintenance (O&M) practices. Staff’s investigation revealed that this is likely the case for the [Pueblo Unit 3] 2020 outages”. A more complete summary of PUC activities can be found HERE.
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What We Are Reading
Biden Administration Allows Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to Continue Operating
The DAPL is currently operating without a federal license, but despite this, the Army Corps of Engineers under the Biden administration has indicated in federal court that they will not shut down the pipeline.
Fossil Fuel Racism Report: How Phasing Out Oil, Gas, and Coal Can Protect Communities
This report synthesizes existing research and provides new analysis that finds that the fossil fuel industry contributes to public health harms that kill hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. each year and disproportionately endanger Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor communities. Read the Greenpeace report HERE.
Poudre Valley Electric Association to Build Microgrid to Serve Red Feather Lakes, CO
The Poudre Valley Electric Association will experiment with installing a microgrid for Red Feather Laker in northern Colorado. The town has recently lost electricity from extreme weather, a car crash, and a large wild fire. The microgrid will see increased resilience for the fire station, the library, and local businesses. Read more HERE.
Maine Trying to Move Beyond Being a
"Financial Extraction Zone"
Anne Butterfield, former CEA Board Member, currently lives in Maine and is working with Our Power to campaign for a state-wide public utility. She was interviewed for Bill McKibben's New Yorker newsletter The Climate Crisis. Go down to Passing the Mic, or enjoy the whole newsletter, HERE.
A Microgrid You Can Wear? Yep! And You’re the Energy Source
In this month's dose of out-of-the-box innovation, read about a human-scale "microgrid" or, more appropriately, a hybrid energy system, that is powered by your movement and... sweat. Explore this idea HERE.
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Thanks for staying educated on the constantly changing energy landscape!
- The Clean Energy Action Team
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