WHAT!!??
Posted on 02/10/2023 10:30:25 AM PST by george76
Irate customers complained about soaring energy costs at a recent meeting of the Colorado Public Utility Commission. Gov. Jared Polis responded, directing state agencies to do something — to fix a problem he caused.
“The Governor has directed the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which regulates state utilities, and the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) to implement several immediate actions to alleviate the natural gas energy burden on Coloradans,” states a Feb. 6 press release from the governor’s office.
“I am laying out ways state entities and utilities can take action to help save people money on their energy costs, to identify and implement opportunities to protect Colorado consumers, lower costs, and avoid price swings," Polis wrote.
His letter recommends improving access to “bill pay assistance programs”; “incentivizing utilities to reduce customer costs”; “analyzing ways to limit bill spikes”; “outreach about payment options for those behind on their bills”; “consider establishing new statewide building energy codes”; and other non-solutions to a supply/demand dilemma he created.
The governor's directive came after members of the Public Utilities Commission reportedly smirked and laughed at ratepayers who told tragic stories of utility bills quadrupling.
“I just spoke with an older gentleman on SSI… and has his heat all the way down to 60 degrees to keep his bill down,” testified Sabrina Padilla, of the Chronic Care Collaborative, at the PUC meeting. “He's sacrificing his body temperature to wear his oxygen to keep his bill down.”
Polis emerged as an anti-energy crusader while representing Boulder in Congress in 2013. With a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars, Polis filed a suit to stop Weld County hardhat workers from drilling for oil and gas near one of his vacation homes.
In his lawsuit, Polis claimed the temporary fracking work caused “mental suffering, annoyance and the loss of use and enjoyment” of the property. In an article he wrote for The Boulder Daily Camera, Polis said oil and gas extraction caused relatives to live in his Boulder home as “refugees” from the rural estate.
“I have fought for sensible fracking laws — I have written op-eds, introduced legislation to close oil and gas loopholes in the Clean Air Act, and I have even testified before the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission,” Polis wrote in 2013.
...
As governor, Polis has promoted an expensive transition to "renewable energy" power plants that raises utility rates. He championed and signed into law Senate Bill 181 in 2019. The bill eliminates traditional exemptions granted to oil and gas operations from county noise restrictions. It authorizes sweeping local restrictions on oil and gas. It amended the Oil and Gas Conservation Act to emphasize environmental protection over production.
The new law transformed a part-time voluntary panel, the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, into a “professional” regulatory board with full-time staff. It reduced to one the former requirement that three commission members have “substantial experience in the oil and gas industry.” It added a mandate for commissioners with substantial experience in “wildlife” and “environmental” protection.
The Polis law transitioned the commission’s original charge to “foster” oil and gas production to an emphasis on environmental protection with the country’s strictest regulations.
Since the law took effect, the commission has reduced oil and gas well approval by more than half. The amount of Denver office space leased or owned by oil and gas companies has dropped from 20% to 10%. The Department of Labor reported one-third fewer Colorado oil field jobs in 2022 than in 2019.
Because Colorado ranks among the top five states for oil and gas resources, curtailing production disrupts the country’s supply. Even worse, Colorado’s regulations inspire anti-energy activism nationwide.
“Industry watchers say Colorado's approach seems destined to spread as the shale industry matures,” explains a recent article published by Energy Wire. The article quotes an investment adviser saying, "Colorado will be used as a model."
None of this will substantially mitigate climate change, as India, China and a host of developing countries increase dependence on fossil fuels. Yet, by obstructing oil and gas, Polis exacerbated the energy poverty explained to the Public Utilities Commission. He and the legislature caused empty cupboards, utility shutoffs and evictions. Their actions explain the plight of a disabled elderly man who sits in the cold.
Polis cannot fix this with the optics of a demand letter to regulators — the people he directed to cause the problem. Prices are high because production is low — at the behest of Gov. Polis and extremists in the legislature.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4126539/posts
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
$1.80 in Oct 2022
$8.80 in Jan. 2023
Just played $4/gallon for mid grade. Yup, Pollis is succeeding in Californicating our once wonderful state. Eff him and the horse he rode on and probably slept with. Hey fat boy, resign, get a room, and STFU.
Holy crap. Do these environazis understand how regressive this? Or do they not care about poor people in favor of their Mother Gaia?
Leftists want the useless eaters to freeze in the dark.
XCEL provides both Electric and Gas.
Daily i see several (4-5) long, long trains, over 120 cars, five diesel engines at the fore, two or three diesel engines in the middle, and two or three diesel engines at the rear. The cars are either open top coal hoppers brimming with coal, or black heavy coal tar tankers. All of these trains are headed east through Glenwood Canyon on their way to Denver.
All For eastern Colorado energy supply. Here’s the thing, coal production is supposed to cease in 2030, by state/federal mandates, IIRC (i am new to western slope, just a year here.)
Where do i set up my treadmill to help supply electricity? And where is the best place to set up my beeswax candle shop?
If I were smart, I would have gone into politics.
There are not many fields where you can get paid to create a problem and then blame others before you get paid to fix the problem.
Damn! This is some Machiavellian genius!
All of the Democrat legislators need to be removed as well.
I have no idea how that will ever happen. Republicans aren't going to get it done; they are just trying to keep their spot on the gravy train of government. They refuse to notice that the Democrats don't need them anymore. As a political power in the State, they are almost irrelevant now. The 2024 "election" will probably wipe them out.
The State continues to sink into California-style madness.
Polis is a radical leftist..clever at disguising that
Nothing says clean government like outlawing audits.. Colorado Secretary of State : Mohamed Enab’s wife : Jena Griswold banned election audits...
Griswold sent out 30 thousand postcards to ineligible voters ( non citizens, dead .. ) in 2020 telling them to register to vote.. She did it again. - 2022.
If Colorado can be fixed ever, it won’t be done by “voting” and “elections”. We have already passed that point. I am not happy with future prospects.
Morons who vote demonrat deserve to suffer.
The others who are sane need to leave.
Sadly, Colorado is like too many other states where the liberals in the cities, along with the gimmedat’s, can sway an election, even if the rest of the state is Conservative.
Happens even in places like California, NY, NJ, and far too many other places.
I’ve lived in Littleton since 1980. The last 5-7 years have got so bad with crime; homelessness; traffic; cost of living; the constant stench of marijuana all over town; street communist; stupid nanny laws; even the new ban on plastic bags. I doubt this place can be saved. My wife and I are out of here as soon as she finishes her Nurse Practitioner program. I’ll miss the weather and the views but not the people!
Who did they endorse for Governor?
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