Boulder Becomes 'Smart Grid City'
The Grid Gets a Brain
If all goes as planned Boulder will become the world’s first “fully integrated Smart Grid City,” says regional utility Xcel Energy. Envisioned as the first true innovation in electricity distribution in close to a century, the Smart Grid movement is essentially developing ways to bring digital Internet-based technology to power lines, giving utilities and business and residential customers greater control and efficiency in the flow of electricity.
Ultimately, once the Smart Grid takes over a significant chunk of the existing power distribution infrastructure, utilities and governments will be able to use the power of the Web to better manipulate how electricity is generated and delivered.
In other energy news: Democrats ready populist energy legislation; Colorado eyes fine print on electricity bills; and O&G executives foresee oil-price downturn by the end of the year.
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Against the Laws
Oil Price Off the Rails
The convergence of record high gas prices ($3.60 a gallon average across the U.S.), a presidential campaign, obscenely high earnings reports from Big Oil, and the prospect of $4 gas during the summer driving season has led to some rampant silliness, including the proposed “gas-tax holiday” being backed by candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Congress plans to get into the act, pledging to bring forth legislation to offer low-income Americans relief from high prices at the pump – legislation that President Bush will almost certainly veto.
The price surge is also leading to an alarming question: has the oil industry jumped the rails of basic economic laws?
According to economics, soaring prices would, in normal times, lead to increased output of oil, reduced demand and a subsequent reduction (or at least a flattening) in prices. But prices haven’t followed suit.
In other energy news: Colorado Wildlife Commission weighs in on oil and gas production; Xcel plans to shutter coal plants opposed by consumer-protection agency; and Colorado will study the economic effects of new oil and gas regulations on the industry.
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NewWest.Net Conferences
Designing the New West
The Designing the New West: Architecture and Landscape in the Mountain West Conference is wrapping up here in Bozeman at the historic Gallatin Gateway Inn. Put on by NewWest.Net and sponsored by the Sonoran Institute, the conference brought together designers from all over the country to explore innovative design ideas, identify best practices, and better understand how to bridge the gap between good architectural theory and sometimes-messy building practices in the fastest growing region in the nation.
A mix of presentations and engaging panel discussions tackled pressing Western issues like sustainable development, land design and the special challenges of urban, rural and resort design, historic preservation and affordable housing.
Click on the photo or here for a slideshow of the days' events. Click "more" for a recap of the conference.
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Protecting The Groundwater
Uranium Mines A Step Closer
The Colorado legislature pushed forward yesterday a bill that aims to protect groundwater and other natural resources from possible uramium mining in Colorado. HB1161, sponsored by state representatives from the Fort Collins area, would "require uranium miners to prove they could return groundwater to either pre-mining conditions or levels in line with existing state standards," reports Jason Kosena of the Daily Coloradoan.
While this bill, which is expected to clear the full Senate, is viewed as a victory for environmental activists, it could clear the way for the long-awaited rebirth of Colorado's dormant uranium industry.
In other energy news: new oil reserves in North Dakota will boost domestic production; Ken Salazar intros legislation to end the Roan Plateau drilling controversy; and natural gas prices shoot up in the region.
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Commercializing Energy From The Sun
DOE Funds Cheap-Solar Research
Aiming to jump-start the U.S. solar-power industry, the Dept. of Energy will put up $13.7 million in the next three years to support university-led projects to bring less expensive solar technology to market.
Hit in recent months by falling stock prices and the cost of commercializing sophisticated photovoltaic technology, the solar industry needs to find ways to hasten the development of cheap, wide-spread arrays. Under its "Solar America" initiative, the Bush Administration has set a target of bringing the cost of solar energy down to levels competitive with conventional electricity production by 2015.
All together, the projects could reduce the cost of electricity produced by photovoltaic systems from the current levels, 18-23 cents per kilowatt hour to 5-10 per Kw/hour.
In other energy news: Sen. Salazar sponsors a bill to recover and treat "produced water" from oil and gas production; Colorado lawmakers finally figure out how to distribute revenues from federal mineral leases; Colorado School of Mines' mountainside 'M' goes green with LEDs.
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energy
Outcry Muted Over New Colorado Oil and Gas Rules
After all the griping and gnashing of teeth over the new rules for oil and gas production in Colorado, it was perhaps inevitable that the actual draft regulations, which were released this week, were less inflammatory than the industry rhetoric would have led you to believe.
Brian Macke, regulatory compliance manager for Denver-based Delta Petroleum, told The Denver Post his company is "encouraged" by certain aspects of the proposed regulations, which call for more scrutiny of the potential environmental aspects of proposed drilling, among other changes.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association, the most vociferous opponent of the new regime, was not mollified.
In other energy news: state legislature tries to save federal mineral leasing revenue for higher ed; NASA scientist James Hansen challenges Duke Energy CEO; Bank of America adopts clean –energy principles.
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energy
Despite Demand, Oil and Gas Value Drops
With the price of a barrel of oil zooming past $106 and likely to continue rising, you would think that the value of the oil and gas coming out of the Rocky Mountain West would be setting records. That's not happening, mainly due to a lack of transport options to get the fiuel to big markets in the Midwest and East.
Colorado produced $6.63 billion worth of oil and natural gas in 2007, dropping 24 percent from '06, according to the Colorado Geological Survey.
Meanwhile, the opening of new pipelines from the producing fields of the Mountain West should relieve the pressure on prices.
In other energy news: state legislators over energy-efficiency bill; wind power producer relocates to Northern Colorado; coal demand soars, outstripping supplies.
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a posthumous presidential address
Mining Law Reform Movement Summons Ulysses S. Grant
No, you weren't caught in a time warp Wednesday morning if you drove past the Missoula County Courthouse. That was Ulysses S. Grant speaking behind the podium. As part of a campaign called "Farewell to 1872," the eighteenth president of the United States (or at least a very convincing look-alike) was in the Garden City to speak about reform of the Mining Law of 1872, which he passed himself, 136 years ago.
The speech was organized by the Pew Campaign for Responsible Mining, and Missoula was the first stop in the former president's four-city tour. With wife Julia standing by his side, the president formally bid farewell to the law by reading from and signing a proclamation. The law, which was passed seventeen years before Montana became a state, gives mining of gold, uranium and other hardrock metals priority over other land uses on most public lands regardless of the environmental impact the mining may have.
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Sun Power Stocks Sinking
Colorado Moves to Support Solar
Passed by a 43-21 vote by the Colorado House this week, HB 1164 requires the state Public Utilities Commission to "consider" the construction of large- scale solar plants, rather than coal or natural gas stations, to supply the state's future energy requirements. Whether the PUC can actually force big utilities like Xcel to change their supply plans the bill does not say.
Also unaddressed by the legislation is whether solar plants will be a wise business decision, as opposed to prudent public policy, in coming years. After enjoying a two-year run-up, solar company stocks have taken a beating in the recent market downturn.
In other energy news: CSU's "Clean Energy Supercluster" gets its first unveiling; mineral rights owners say new state regs on oil and gas won't damage the industry; and Xcel plans a pair of big new gas turbines.
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