No point in waiting until Christmas morning; Coloradoans just getting coal this year

Every few years, Xcel is required to submit a report to the Colorado electric regulatory board,called the Public Utilities Commission. In this report, Xcel outlines future projects and includes an analysis of their energy needs, future energy demands, and how they will meet those needs.

On Halloween, Xcel submitted their most recent report with a truly spooky update: They don’t have any plans to significantly expand renewable energy capacity until 2028.  That is more than 15 years! Imagine what the world will look like in 15 years. Exactly the same? Well according to Xcel, our energy mix will.

Right now, the cost of renewable energy in Colorado is falling. Transmission and storage technology is improving every year. Data from the National Renewable Energy Lab has found that Colorado can supply at lease 96,000 MW of wind energy. We can harness over 20,000 MW of energy from the sun. Compare that with Colorado’s current peak energy needs of about 12,000 MW, and it is clear we can do a lot better than we are right now.

While Xcel plans to put the brakes on renewable energy projects for over a decade, they are moving forward with costly upgrades to two of their aging coal plants. Hayden and Pawnee coal generating stations are slated to receive $380 million in pollution controls between now and 2017. Nearly all of that cost will be recovered by Xcel (with interest!) through rate increases (like this) on our monthly utility bills. So over the next 15 years, our rates will go up and up but our energy mix will stay the same.

Whether we are good or bad, Xcel just wants to give Colorado more coal. Bahhh humbug!  That's why we are sending emails to Xcel's Colorado CEO this holiday season! Sign the petition and join our community forum at www. pawneecoal.com. We won't let Xcel stand in the way of Colorado's clean energy future. Xcel move beyond fossil fuels or we move beyond you!

Get excited for 2012...