The Road To New England Takes A Detour Through Colorado -- July 25, 2014

This is from The Washington Post -- yes, the liberal media newspaper -- not from Fox News. As you read the story, remember that the US has the least expensive energy in the world, and is currently experiencing a glut of natural gas -- so much natural gas that a lot of folks want to export it.

It turns out that Germany is not the only place where electricity is considered a "residential luxury." A big "thanks" to Steven for sending the link. The Washington Post is reporting (at the link, scroll down):

Colorado is way ahead of the rest of the country on moving towards cleaner energy. But if that's not managed carefully, energy bills can skyrocket. 

That's the headline. Actually, the headline seems to be very, very off the mark. Energy bills in Colorado have already skyrocketed, at least for some.

It’s not just the light switches, though. Ever since her power was shut off in 2010, Garcia has adopted a Depression-era obsessiveness: She doesn’t use the oven in the summer, because it heats up the house, and uses only one small air conditioner.

Oh, and forget about machine-washed dishes; Garcia does them by hand (the battle is evident in the pile at the sink). The toaster and microwave bear sticky notes ordering the user to unplug them afterward, lest they continue drawing energy from the sockets. “You think turning it off is enough, and it’s not,” she admonishes.

And yet, no matter how much she rations and cuts, Garcia cannot keep ahead of the fast rise in rates. She runs a daycare out of her home, so her monthly bill of about $200 is already higher than average in Pueblo, where the residential rate per kilowatt hour has risen 26 percent since 2010 — and on a per-household basis, is now among the highest in the state (which seems odd, consider her rent for the house is only $850).

So what's the story?

Garcia’s extreme frugality is, indirectly, the result of coal plants shutting down as Colorado transitions to renewable energy. But in Pueblo, it happened in a way that has left poor consumers gasping for relief.

To a wealthy community, skyrocketing electricity rates might not have much of an impact: When you have a decent-paying job, what’s a few more dollars a month on your utility bill?

Pueblo is not that kind of place. With a poverty rate of 18.1 percent, incomes far below the state average and a third of the population on some sort of public assistance, those few dollars can make a big difference here.

So why have rates jumped so much, so fast? The local utility would point to environmental regulations and the sudden disappearance of supply from its competitor. Local officials and environmentalists would cite the utility’s business strategy.
The customers were caught in the middle.

Soon after buying the local utility, Black Hills Energy opted to replace nearly all its cheap coal capacity with natural gas essentially overnight — which means ratepayers are footing some big infrastructure bills all at once.

This is why today's RNB Energy post is so relevant.

It looks like the road to New England took a detour through Colorado.

[Later: when I wrote the above, I was going to add a note that this whole story sounds a bit bogus -- I find it incredible that someone as frugal as Ms Garcia could be paying as much as $200/month and, at that, she is paying more than other residents.

A close reading of the story provides the explanation, perhaps, something the Washington Post writer conveniently attempted to gloss over: Ms Garcia is running a business from her home. Of course, her electric bill would be higher if she is running a business from her home. It would be interesting to know the square footage of her business, and exactly what is meant by "a small air conditioner." Small, compared to what? It would be interesting to know what the utility costs directly associated with her business are.

Don sent me the Black Hills Power utility rates for Colorado and the rates are among the least expensive in the nation:

• 8 cents/kWh for the first 1,000 kWh
• and as little as 6.6 cents/kWh for any usage above 1,000 kWh during nine months of the year (October through May)

This whole story sounds a bit bogus. I agree that switching from coal (really, really cheap) to natural gas (really cheap) all at once, and adding in mandated wind and solar (really, really expensive) is the "road to New England."]

Don, with a fairly typical midwestern home says he will use about 550 kWh in the month of June. Figuring backwards, Ms Garcia, at $200/month utility bill, was using, in comparison, about 2,215 kWh of electricity. Something fishy is going on. We don't know the whole story.

Don reminded me that 24/7 lights to grow marijuana is extremely energy intensive; Colorado allows personal marijuana production, I believe, but don't take my word for it. I don't follow the Colorado marijuana laws all that closely.

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A Familiar Story

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