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Colorado arrives at the dawn of megafires
A version of “Colorado arrives at the dawn of megafires” originally appeared at Big Pivots. Colorado’s scariest wildfire in 2020 was not its largest. East Troublesome shocked because of its sprint and then its leap. It grew by 87,000 acres in a fiery dash across the headwaters of the Colorado River and past Grand Lake, […]
Colorado’s last standing coal plant?
“Colorado’s last standing coal plant?” originally appeared in Mountain Town News. Coal to feed the roaring blast furnaces of Pueblo’s steel mill was being mined a century ago at dozens of hamlets in the foothills of Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Range. Little remains today of those camps near Trinidad nor of the mine works at […]
A 15,000-foot view of Colorado’s legislative climate and energy landscape
“A 15,000-foot view of Colorado’s legislative climate and energy landscape” originally appeared in Mountain Town News. Carrots or sticks — or, more likely, what mixture? That will be among the questions as Colorado legislators sort through several dozen bills during the next few months that seek to build on the state’s ground-breaking energy and climate […]
With more renewables planned, Holy Cross Energy learns to match supply with demand
This story first appeared in Mountain Town News. Allen Best publishes the e-magazine Big Pivots. On the cusp of deep penetration of renewable energy that most would have thought impossible just a decade ago, Holy Cross Energy has now started working to contour demands around those intermittent renewables. Consider the six Tesla Powerwall battery packs […]
Colorado’s second-largest utility plans for shift away from coal
This story first appeared in Mountain Town News. Tri-State Generation and Transmission submitted plans to Colorado regulators this week that describe how the utility, the state’s second largest, plans to shift from a coal-heavy power-generation portfolio to one dominated by renewables during the next 10 years. It’s a house with the blueprints still incomplete but […]
Mount Evans name change subject of petition
This story first appeared in Mountain Town News. Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes have announced an official petition to rename Mount Evans, the 14,265-foot peak in the front tier of mountains west of Denver. Mt. Blue Sky, their proposed name, was arrived at after consultation with The Wilderness Society. The name seeks to represent the Arapaho, […]
As costs rack up in Boulder’s push to split with Xcel, voters to have the final say
“As costs rack up in Boulder’s push to split with Xcel, voters to have the final say” originally appeared in Energy News Network. A decade ago, Boulder set out to create its own municipal utility in hopes of accelerating its push to cut emissions. It has been a difficult path. Xcel Energy, the investor-owned utility […]