October 2009
By Jerry Forte, P.E.
Chief Executive Officer
The President and Congress have indicated that passage of cap-and-trade legislation, intended to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, is a top priority. In response, The House of Representatives recently passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, or ACES. The Senate may begin work on their version later this year.
The decisions made by the Senate on this legislation will affect the daily lives of all Americans and have a significant impact on what you may pay on your utility bills.
Colorado Springs Utilities does not support ACES as passed by the House. The bill does not offer our ratepayers sufficient price protections, benefits certain regions of the country at the expense of communities like Colorado Springs, relies on unrealistic targets and timelines, and does very little to actually address emissions.
To be successful, a climate bill must:
• protect ratepayers from excessive electricity cost increases;
• treat states equitably;
• be based on realistic and workable targets and timetables; and
• rely on available and affordable emission reduction technologies.
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is best achieved through the continued advancement of renewable energy options combined with the development of radical new emissions reduction technologies for fossil-fueled power plants. Legislation must be founded upon the availability of these technologies to be effective and ACES simply fails this test.
As utilities customers, you have a huge stake in this debate, and so do we. That’s why we’re already making progress locally to help mitigate mandates handed down from the national level.
• Biomass: We’re testing pine beetle kill, forest thinnings and other wood products in our generation process, reducing the amount of coal used at our power plants.
• Hydro power: A fourth hydro power plant is being built in Cascade to provide clean, low-cost energy.
• Solar: We’ve teamed up local businesses and the U.S. Air Force Academy to harness the sun and create renewable energy.
We will continue to fight to protect our customers from unnecessary costs that will harm the economy and reliability of our utility system. You can continue to do your part by using only the electricity and natural gas you need. We have tools designed to help you do just that. Visit the new csu.org to start today.
