I am unsure how I encountered the writings of Cory Gaines, but I am glad I did. Cory heads up an effort he calls the Colorado Accountability Project. I suggest you subscribe to receive his almost daily updates – I wish I was prolific a writer as is he! He tackles many topics that both interest and concern me.
Over the weekend, he wrote a reaction to an article featuring comments from Excel Energy’s president, Robert Kenney, who was speaking to a group of residents in the Sterling Ranch neighborhood (far southwest metro area in Douglas County) who have been experiencing multiple power outages. Mr. Gaines comments reflect my concerns, which I want to echo in this post.
First, here is my Five Bullet Brief of THIS CBS News article:
- Multiple neighborhoods across Colorado are experiencing frequent power outages, with many residents sharing concerns about Xcel Energy’s ability to manage the situation.
- Xcel Energy representatives, including the President, Robert Kenney, acknowledge the issue, attributing it to load growth and various infrastructure factors.
- Specific reasons for the outages vary by location. For instance, weather events, equipment failure, and crew safety issues are impacting Applewood; capacity issues due to a cable fault are causing problems in Denver’s Happy Canyon area; and no clear cause was found in Louisville.
- Residents, some of whom have experienced multiple outages every month, are calling for better notification systems and wondering about Xcel’s commitment to infrastructure investment, given their $8.5 billion earnings last year.
- In response, Xcel urges customers to update their notification preferences, report any power outage, and understand that factors like the use of air conditioners on hot days can strain the power grid.
Words matter. I perhaps study them too closely, but like Mr. Gaines, I pay attention to what is – and isn’t – being said by Xcel and their customers in THIS article…
“Have power outages been a problem over those 20 years?” CBS News Colorado reporter Karen Morfitt asked Marci Kalish of Louisille.
“No, we never experienced a problem like this before,” she responded.
So apply some common sense. What has changed over the last few years? The population has grown, but has the grid been fortified or has transmission and generation capacity been added? The state legislature continues to mandate more and more unreliable renewables.
Every community has its own distinct set of underlying causes. What we are seeing is load growth. And it’s not limited to Colorado. We’re seeing this around the country, where we’re experiencing load growth in ways that we have not historically seen.
Robery Kenney, Xcel Energy President
“Load growth” is simply more subscriber needing more power – its the demand side of the supply and demand equation. More people. More electric gadgets. If state legislators have their way, more homes with electric cook tops, electric furnaces, and electric cars. Many in the state legislature want to “electrify everything.”
At the sane time, the very same state legislature is raging against reliable electric generation from fossil fuels (natural gas and coal) and mandating an unrealistic amount of renewables (wind, solar). The state legislature/guv wants us 100% renewable by 2040. But can we get there from here? Many in the electric biz with whom I speak say we cannot. And if your goal is to truly “electrify everything” (which it should not be), you cannot be serious about that endeavor without having a conversation about nuclear power generation.
Xcel says the power grid is built to support customer energy needs, but various factors impact infrastructure, such as customers running air conditioners on hot days.
The audacity, customers wanting to use the appliances in their home that they paid for using the electricity that they are paying for – dearly. I can’t believe you rubes actually want to do that. You should look into Xcel’s “smart” thermostats and smart meters, which will automatically tell you when you can and cannot cool your home.
The title of this post is taken from a comment made by Amy Oliver Cooke, who is brilliant and has forgotten more about energy policy than most legislators have ever dreamed, on The Devils Advocate podcast/videocast with Jon Caldara. Yes, it is 45 minutes long, but it is time well spent to hear from someone with Oliver Cooke’s understanding of the power situation in Colorado and hear just how bad it can and will get. With the electrification dreams of the democrats, the answer has been and will be the fortification of our grid and the addition of reliable power generation sources like natural gas, nuclear, and hydroelectric.
