skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Colorado Lawmakers Take on High Utility Bills

play audio
Play

Monday, April 24, 2023   

Colorado lawmakers have advanced legislation aimed at addressing a growing chorus of concerns about spikes in utility bills by reducing the state's dependence on natural gas, a volatile globally traded commodity.

Sarah Snead - senior campaign representative with the Sierra Club - said she believes the proposal will address the root cause of rising energy prices, in part by removing financial incentives to continue building out natural gas infrastructure.

"To us the solution is simple," said Snead. "We need to take steps to transition from methane gas to proven technologies - cheaper, efficient, all electric alternatives - especially for low-income customers who are facing the highest energy burden."

Senate Bill 291 is the product of a committee formed this year after some Coloradans saw their heating bills triple due to spikes in wholesale natural gas prices.

Xcel Energy called the bill fatally flawed, and told the Denver Post it could blunt investments by creating a hostile regulatory environment. Black Hills Energy said the measure would slow progress on the state's clean energy goals.

SB 291 calls for utilities to shoulder part of the burden of high fuel prices, as an incentive to secure the best prices possible.

Snead said rules are needed to push utilities away from methane, the primary component of natural gas, which is more than 85 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

"Xcel Energy says that it's not responsible for these high gas prices," said Snead, "when the company itself is deciding to keep customers hooked on a volatile and climate-wrecking fuel like methane gas."

The measure would also limit the sorts of expenses utility companies can pass along to customers, including the cost of lobbying lawmakers and advertising.

Snead said SB 291 is not a silver bullet, but it's a good step toward holding utilities accountable, and building long-term solutions.

"And this bill is really a first step," said Snead, "to make sure we're putting policies in place that transition us away from a volatile and expensive gas system that will only continue to cost rate payers more money, and prevent us from moving towards cheaper, cleaner solutions."



Disclosure: Sierra Club contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, Environment, Environmental Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021