Energy News Beat Publishers Note (ENB): Very interesting from a state’s perspective on the Colorado SB 181 and the impact on oil. Considering that Colorado legislation has been presented to the Biden Administration to be used as a national template, it will be interesting to see how all of the states react to upcoming federal mandates.
A new Wyoming law that sets aside money to sue states whose policies hamper the use of Wyoming coal was passed in part with Colorado in mind, the sponsor said.
The bill recently signed into law allocates $1.2 million to the governor’s office for lawsuits against states with laws and regulations that impede Wyoming’s ability to export coal or force the early closures of coal-fired plants in the state. Wyoming is the country’s No.1 coal producer and the move to more renewable energy because of dropping prices of wind and solar power and concerns about climate change have battered the Cowboy State’s coal industry.
Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, a Republican from Wheatland, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that Colorado laws setting targets for renewable energy and greenhouse-gas emission generated by utilities infringe on his state’s commerce. One of the issues, he said, are Colorado laws passed in 2019 that established goals for reducing emissions and the impact they could have on a coal-fired power plant partially owned by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.
Tri-State, a Westminster-based provider of wholesale power to several rural electric associations in Colorado, has a part interest in the Laramie River Station coal plant in Haroldson’s legislative district.
As a result, Tri-State’s new energy resource plan includes “the off-loading” of the Wyoming power plant in the utility’s portfolio, putting the plant’s future in jeopardy, the legislator added. He thinks curtailing coal and other fossil fuels will also endanger the public because he doesn’t believe renewable energy is reliable enough yet.
During a hearing on the bill, Shawn Taylor, the executive director of the Wyoming Rural Electric Association, said his members had asked Haroldson about a response to Colorado’s policies.
Tri-State’s plan filed in December with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission proposes limiting the power from the Wyoming power plant to Colorado, company spokesman Lee Boughey said in an email. Tri-State also plans to boost its renewable energy sources to 50% by 2024 and cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 90% by 2030 from Colorado facilities it owns or operates.
Boughey said Tri-State didn’t give input to the bill or take a position on it. As a company that operates in four states, “We recognize and respect that each state has its own values on, approaches to, and concerns about energy and environmental policy, and its own jurisdiction over utility facilities and resources in their state.”
