Colorado is rich in resources: rivers that help supply the West, some of the country’s largest natural gas reserves, lots of wind and sunshine fueling a robust renewable energy industry, and public lands that support a $28 billion outdoor recreation economy.
Disagreements over how to manage those resources — and which ones take priority — are front and center in the Colorado governor’s race, especially when it comes to energy.
The centerpiece of Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis’ energy policy is his goal that 100 percent of the electricity on the state’s grid come from renewable sources by 2040. Republican state Treasurer Walker Stapleton’s energy policy has few details when it comes to promoting renewable generation, but he embraces what he calls an “all-of-the-above” approach — while taking special note of the “230,000 collective jobs and $32 billion” economic impact of Colorado’s oil and gas industry.
As the candidates debated Tuesday night in their last faceoff before the Nov. 6 election, Stapleton again portrayed Polis’ energy plan as a budget-buster. He said the price tag could be as high as $45 billion and would be passed on to “Coloradans who are struggling to put food on the table.”
Polis disputes the $45 billion projection, which comes from an analysis published by the conservative-libertarian Independence Institute think tank — in large part because he says that study’s estimates incorporate heavy-handed mandates that aren’t part of his plan.
Here’s a closer look at the candidates’ positions on energy and the environment:
100 percent renewable by 2040?
Polis has set a goal of moving Colorado’s electric grid to entirely renewable sources by 2040, though he admits it’s more of an aspirational goal meant to inspire a faster pace of adoption.
But he says customers will save money on their electric bills, while an expansion in renewable energy production creates tens of thousands of new jobs and reduces pollution and health care costs. Polis says dramatically declining prices for renewables and battery storage as well as increasing public demand — not subsidies or mandates, as Stapleton asserts — will pave the way for a clean-energy future.
“We need to make sure that we encourage investment in renewable energy by making sure we can recognize the savings for all of us,” Polis said in Tuesday’s debate.
In fact, the costs for renewables have been dropping and are expected to keep doing so. State regulators and Xcel Energy said the utility received historically low bids for wind, solar and battery storage projects when it drafted its recently approved Colorado Energy Plan.
The plan calls for shuttering two coal plants while boosting Xcel Energy’s renewable energy sources to 55 percent of its mix by 2026. Carbon dioxide emissions would be cut by nearly 60 percent, the company says.
Statewide, Colorado currently gets nearly 55 percent of its electricity from coal, about 23 percent from natural gas and 22 percent from renewable sources.
“What’s happening in Colorado now is indicative of a trend across the country. Solar, wind and batteries have fallen in price by between 65 and 85 percent in the last 10 years or so,” said Mark Dyson, a principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute, which focuses on ways to make the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. “Just between 2017 and the first half of 2018, the average price paid for new big-scale solar projects, like (those) Xcel is putting in, fell by 46 percent.”
However, the projections of costs and benefits cited by Polis come in part from a paper by a Stanford University professor that other researchers have criticized as being overly optimistic. The 2015 paper by Mark Jacobson says wind, solar and hydroelectric generation could meet most of the country’s energy demands affordably by 2055.
“It is unwise to push for 100 percent renewables by 2040, as it is likely not feasible and it dismisses the value of other resources,” said Dan Haley, president and CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, a trade group. “Oil and natural gas is the underpinning of modern society. It’s not just fuel for our cars or gas for our furnaces, but rather it is a foundational building block of countless products that we all use every day.”
Stapleton and the analysis by Energy Ventures warn that closing coal- and gas-fueled plants before they’re due to retire would drive up utility bills because utilities would pass on the cost of paying off the debt.
The Energy Ventures report says the state’s existing fleet of fossil-fueled plans represents about $7.6 billion worth of investment.
In Xcel Energy’s case, customers indeed will pay some of the costs of closing coal plants earlier than anticipated. But a report by the Rocky Mountain Institute says customers still will pay less for renewable energy, per unit, than they do for coal-powered electricity. That is because the plant retirements will be offset partially by redirecting some of the money customers pay for a rate rider that helps Xcel meet the state’s current renewable energy mandate, and also because wind and solar are less expensive than coal.
Colorado voters became the first in the nation in 2004 to require utilities to obtain a certain amount of their energy from renewable sources, and the legislature since has increased the 2020 mandate to 30 percent for investor-owned utilities and to 20 percent for electric cooperatives.
Where does Stapleton stand?
Stapleton’s energy plan does not include many details, giving a nod to the “vital supply of energy” provided by Colorado’s wind, sunshine and rivers.
But he has been full-throated in his views about the importance of Colorado’s oil and gas industry and his intention to maintain a stable business climate for energy companies, which he sees as ensuring a low-cost energy supply.
“I am actually the only candidate in the governor’s race who supports an all-of-the-above energy policy,” Stapleton said during a debate earlier this month. “Congressman Polis’ ‘all of the above’ is ‘all of the above, minus one,’ and that one is fossil fuels.”
Still, Stapleton has said he supports an expansion of renewable energy, as new technology and innovation make it more competitive in the market. He opposes mandates and subsidies.
Polis has said during the debates that his renewable plan isn’t intended to drive out oil and gas production for other energy sources and for export to other states.
Both candidates oppose Proposition 112, a voter-initiated measure on the Nov. 6 ballot that would require new wells to be at least 2,500 feet from homes, schools and water sources. The current setback is 500 feet from homes and 1,000 feet from densely occupied buildings like hospitals and schools — and those are where Stapleton says the setbacks should remain.
Polis has taken heat for his position on Prop 112 because he financed a measure in 2014 that would have proposed 2,000-foot setbacks. He pulled the proposal when Gov. John Hickenlooper formed a task force to come up with a compromise.
While opposing 112, Polis says it’s important to give local communities a seat at the table to ensure schools and homes are better protected.
Here are the candidates’ views on other environmental questions:
A state-level carbon tax?
Polis: He’s long supported a federal carbon tax, which targets fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At a debate last week, Polis said he would consider a state-level carbon tax if elected governor, as long as the new revenue were used to reduce state income taxes. He later clarified that while he’s open to the idea, a carbon tax is “not part of my agenda.”
Stapleton: Campaign spokesman Jerrod Dobkin says Stapleton doesn’t support a carbon tax because he sees it as a “false choice” that will harm the state’s economy.
How should public lands be used?
Stapleton: He has said he supports a “multiuse” strategy that includes some potential mining and drilling on the 36 percent of Colorado’s land that is managed by the federal government. He argues that when done safely and responsibly, such development can be balanced with environmental protection.
Polis: He argues against against selling public lands and in favor of creating conservation and recreation districts and protecting public lands “from overzealous development.”
Tougher vehicle emission standards?
Polis: He backs outgoing Gov. John Hickenlooper’s launch this year of a process to adopt stricter, California-modeled emissions standards that will require automakers to improve fuel efficiency in vehicles they sell here.
Stapleton: He said last week that he’s “adamantly opposed” to Colorado setting its own standards, noting they could harm auto dealers in a state that sells a high share of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.
How to ensure Colorado has enough water?
Stapleton: He supports the Colorado Water Plan formed during Hickenlooper’s administration, a strategy still in need of an estimated $100 million a year. “I will make sure that we fund it,” he said earlier this month. His campaign’s water plan includes support for storage projects, including reservoirs and tanks, and conservation efforts.
Polis: His water plans focus more heavily on conservation, and he also says Hickenlooper’s plan should be updated, and he’d lead discussion about how to pay for its safeguards. But he’s been light on specifics on what the update would include. Polis has said he would oppose more diversions of water from the Western Slope to the Front Range without broad agreement.
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