The energy industry is in the midst of an unprecedented period of transition. As this energy revolution unfolds, a modern, interconnected and reliable electric grid has never been more important. By staying connected to the electric grid, your home is part of a larger system. You can usually feed extra energy back into it when you don’t need it, but more importantly, the grid is there to make sure you always have enough power when you need it.
Colowyo Mine near Craig, Colo., is one of the many facilities across the country producing the coal that provides affordable, reliable electricity for thousands of homes, farms, businesses and communities in the West. Unfortunately, a misguided lawsuit threatens to close the mine – impacting the local economy, families and, potentially, electricity prices for consumers. The good news is that you can have a say in what happens to Colowyo Mine.
The Colorado Electric Consumers’ Protection Act (Senate Bill 258) was introduced to give Coloradans a greater say in how to make the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan work in our state.
The bill had won bipartisan backing in the Colorado Senate, but Monday it fell short of the needed votes in the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.
On Saturday, the Pueblo Chieftain showed its support for The Colorado Electric Consumers' Protection Act (Senate Bill 258), which it calls "a reasonable check" on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Chieftain says: "The Federal Environmental Protection Agency has proposed guidelines regulating ... how electricity can be produced, transmitted and distributed to customers. Which means they could have a serious impact on the source, reliability and cost of our day-to-day energy."
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan threatens Coloradans’ access to the affordable, reliable electricity that powers our lives at home and work. If this EPA mandate stands, it will be up to Colorado to decide how to make it work in our communities. Coloradans deserve a plan that promotes accountability, openness and collaboration.
Keep Electricity Affordable typically focuses on the impact that rules and regulations could have on the cost of electricity to households, businesses and communities. But affordability is not the only issue of concern to consumers, who also want to know that their power supply is going to be reliable. Reliable power keeps life-saving medical equipment operating at hospitals, electronic teaching tools functioning at schools and our food fresh and safe at grocery stores.
