Woke Colorado Dems target natural gas: 70% of homes face skyrocketing bills for unreliable electric heat
Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Image
Colorado Energy Office director Will Toor is among those who have expressed skepticism about the aggressive nature of the switchover from natural gas to the state’s already strained electric grid, a system that Xcel Energy indicated will likely face skyrocketing demand in the form of 400,000 electric vehicles and 300,000 new heat pumps by 2029.
“The 41% target, from our perspective, is a pretty challenging target for utilities,” Toor told the Colorado Sun. “We certainly hope that utilities get there. I think we thought that 30% was probably more realistic.”
The Colorado Energy Office and the state health department’s Air Pollution Control Division reportedly asked for a 30% target by 2035.
In order to meet the new targets, the PUC noted that “utilities can propose to meet the clean heat targets using combinations of energy efficiency, electrification, recovered methane, green hydrogen, thermal energy, and pyrolysis of tires.”
Alternatively “customers may voluntarily participate in these plans by taking advantage of rebates and incentives to adopt electric heat pumps or complete energy efficiency upgrades in their homes and businesses,” said the PUC.
Before incentives, customers looking to satisfy climate alarmists by electrifying their gas appliances and homes are looking at costs in excess of $20,000 per home, Xcel noted in testimony about the state’s so-called clean heat plans.
Jake Fogleman, director of policy at the Independence Institute, a Colorado-based think tank, noted that the targets “will necessarily require removing customers from the system.”
“Utilities like Xcel, Black Hills, and Atmos may be able to nibble around the edges of the target by relying on recovered methane, improved pipeline leak detection and repair, and other non-demand-destroying strategies, but such approaches will not be enough to comply with state law,” wrote Fogleman. “This all but guarantees that gas customers around the state will soon face higher utility bills to subsidize households into switching from gas to electric heating and appliances.”
Those who can afford to make the switch will likely still be looking at jacked prices. Fogleman noted that last year, “Electricity was more than four times more expensive on average per unit of energy delivered to Colorado households” than natural gas.
Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, told the Denver Post, “They’re trying to regulate us away from any fossil fuels and taking away our appliances and our heaters. You’re increasing the load on electrification without there being any way to fill it.”
Republican state Rep. Ty Winter told the Post that when constituents raise concerns about the climate alarmist requirements, he tells them that “the only way to fix this is at the ballot box.”
“We’re going to fight this tooth and nail, and we’re going to use every avenue we have,” said Winter.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.