Press Releases
Boyd working on energy
conservation bill
Steven Graham - Jeffco News
1/8/04
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Rep. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, is working out the details of
a legislative proposal that would encourage more household
energy savings through incentives and other financial measures.
Although the bill is not finalized, Boyd announced
her plan at a Jan. 3 town meeting on energy at the Belmar
Library in Lakewood. Rep. Ramey Johnson, R-Golden, and Sen.
Deanna Hanna, D-Lakewood, also attended the meeting.
The meeting preceded the legislative session
by five days, and the legislators used the opportunity to
tout their proposals for 2004 and weigh in on the political
process.
When Walt Heidenfelder of Lakewood asked the
panel why better energy efficiency measures were not mandated
for new home construction, the question launched a flurry
of attacks on special interests.
“The bottom line is dollars,” said
Hanna. “The person with the highest number of dollars
wins. ... The person with the biggest number of dollars ends
up compromising what is right.”
The other politicians rose to their feet and
launched their own attacks on corporate contributions and
lobbyists. However, they were forced to temper their talk
by the presence of Jim Wexels, a lobbyist for Xcel Energy.
After attacking lobbyists, Hanna backpedaled and said Wexels
is a good lobbyist who presents “both sides of the story.”
The other legislators agreed.
However, residents in the audience weren’t
as kind to Wexels. They were sharply critical of Xcel for
a sharp increase in gas prices. Even though Johnson had justified
the increase by arguing that rates used to be artificially
low, some residents were not mollified.
A resident asked Wexels why the firm failed
to plan for the Colorado population increase by gradually
increasing natural gas production, preventing a sudden spike
in prices.
“We haven’t run out yet,”
Wexels said. “The supply has been there to meet your
demand.”
The other topic also on many residents’
minds was renewable energy. Wexels also drew fire for his
firm’s failure to commit more than one percent of its
energy production from wind power and other alternative sources.
John Thornton, chief engineer at the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, listed the projects
and power sources being developed at the lab. However, he
said most of the projects face high political or financial
hurdles.
“Most of the problems with renewables
aren’t technical in nature,” Thornton said. “They’re
institutional in nature or economic in nature.”
Hanna noted that House Speaker Lola Spradley,
R-Beulah, is expected to again sponsor a bill mandating a
higher percentage of power production from renewable energy.
However, she also noted that the bill is likely to fail again.
Boyd said her proposal would provide state incentives
for purchasing energy-efficient home appliances. She also
wants to see Xcel and other power providers add 25 cents to
each power bill to build a fund that would help low-income
families pay their utility bills.
All the legislators and panelists agreed there
are no easy answers to energy issues. However, Thornton credited
Johnson with helping solve another Colorado problem: the ongoing
drought. He noted a familiar trend at each of Johnson’s
recent town meetings.
“Representative Johnson is good for us,”
Thornton said. “Every time she has one of these (town
meetings), it snows.”
