Recorded on August 16, 2024

In episode 114 of the PetroNerds podcast, Trisha Curtis, CEO of PetroNerds, is joined by Chris Brown, VP of Policy and Research at the Common Sense Institute, to discuss the recent report Trisha co-authored on Colorado’s declining energy competitiveness.

Energy is not just a sector of the economy; it is the sector upon which all businesses rely. Colorado, along with the rest of the US, has witnessed a dramatic escalation in electricity and natural gas prices, despite natural gas prices being near all-time lows, below $/mcf, for multiple months this year.

In this podcast, Trisha and Chris discuss the main themes of this report, including the rising electricity and natural gas prices in Colorado, which are making the state less competitive from an energy cost standpoint. They also discuss where electricity is coming from in Colorado and the direct correlation between rising electricity costs and the increase of wind power into the grid.

Finally, they talk about Colorado’s CO2 emissions, which account for less than 0.3 percent of global emissions, and how Colorado shutting down coal-fired power plants is actually enabling higher CO2 emission growth out of China, increasing the cost of electricity and power generation in Colorado, decreasing grid reliability, and reducing the affordability of energy in the state.

The data is damning and alarming, and folks in Colorado need to be reaching out to the PUC, Xcel, and their local representatives, demanding a halt to more wind and solar power being added to the grid at the expense of the Colorado consumer, taxpayer, and household. The report, along with all the detailed charts and analysis, can be found here: https://commonsenseinstituteco.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/CSI-Report-CO-Energy-Competitiveness.pdf.

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