As Governor, I am committed to continuing and building upon our leadership in addressing our climate challenges and protecting Colorado’s land, air, and water at a time when the Trump Administration’s climate denialism threatens our nation’s future. Our plan–outlined in more depth here–ensures that: (1) we will smartly advance our commitment to meet Colorado’s carbon emissions targets; (2) we will prioritize resilience, getting ahead of forest fire threats and limiting the need for electricity shutdowns–as well as addressing Colorado’s record increases in insurance premiums; and (3) we develop responsible approaches to data centers, including those powering AI, so that they do not harm our natural environment nor make the public foot the bill for their energy consumption through higher monthly electric bills. Together, we will meet these challenges, ensuring that communities moving away from coal-based jobs are not left behind (our commitment to a just transition) and that we protect those communities historically impacted by pollution or environmental harms (our commitment to environmental justice).
Smartly Moving Ahead to Meet Colorado’s Carbon Emissions Targets
Meeting our carbon emission targets is a critical challenge and opportunity for Colorado. We must be smart about what opportunities are both most urgent and cost effective across our economy, supporting reductions wherever we can find them. Managed appropriately, there are a number of win-win opportunities, like the current Denver plan to reduce methane emissions from landfills and create new sources of energy; continuing our EV leadership to reduce reliance on fossil fuel-powered cars, trucks, and buses; increasing efficiency wherever we can; and continuing our transition to clean energy.
The electric grid is a tremendous technological accomplishment that will require continued innovation to meet our carbon emission targets, ensure electricity is affordable, and maintain a reliable and resilient grid. There are obvious connections between these goals and it is imperative that we advance each of them. Consider that climate change is both making investing in resilience more important than ever (as the risk of wildfires and winds that cause power shutdowns rise) as well as highlighting why we must continue to do our part to advance the energy transition. It is also important to note that, given the increasing low cost nature of clean energy, we can both reduce carbon emissions from electric power generation and promote affordable access to electric power. Take, for example, the case of Holy Cross, an electric utility cooperative which “has not only reached high adoption of renewable power but also kept electricity rates low.”
A significant priority to address both our climate targets and to protect a more resilient future is how we protect and manage our forests. In short, we must take the risks of wildfires seriously. For example, fires in California emit an average of 19 million metric tons of carbon dioxide—the equivalent of around 75% of all homes there. Put differently, wildfire prevention and effective wildfire management is not just responsible to protect homeowners and our outdoors, but it’s also smart climate policy.
Prioritizing Resilience
In mid-December, over 100,000 Coloradans faced an unprecedented and exasperating situation—-days without power and uncertainty as to when the lights would turn back on. For my friend Rob, the scary part was that his parents were hunkered down in Evergreen with no power in a cold house. They did not have the ability to pick up and go somewhere for warmth and security. And for Rob, like many others, this event was a wake up call. In Rob’s 50+ years in west Jefferson County, the longest power outage he ever experienced before was 11 hours. But last month, on December 18th, he had a 31 hour outage, then a brief 11 hours of power turned back on, and then no power for 39 hours. And he was not alone.
No matter the reason, we cannot allow experiences like Rob’s to become Colorado’s new normal. After all, a lack of electricity–for both consumers and businesses–creates real costs that we need to do more to avoid, whether lost food or lost opportunities for businesses, including for small businesses that rely on the holiday season for a key part of their revenue.
For too long, we failed to prioritize resilience. Smart resilience planning means taking actions to lessen the risk of forest fires and the risk of shutting down electricity, particularly near the wildlife-urban interface (or WUI, as it is known). It means investing in up-to-date outage management system technology, protections like better protecting or burying lines, and wildfire risk mitigation (including investing in tree trimming and ensuring appropriate setbacks/protecting against overgrowth). It also means investing in and supporting local users’ resilience, including backup generation capacity and local storage, which protects them against outages. And we also must improve communications as how consumers learn about such shutdowns.
The lack of protective measures against wildfires also explains Colorado’s record increase in homeowner’s insurance. Colorado has the second highest percentage increase in homeowner’s insurance over the last year and Colorado’s vulnerability to wildfires, experts explain, accounts for that increase. As one expert explained, “more than 321,000 Colorado homes face ‘moderate or higher’ wildfire risk, with total potential reconstruction costs of $141 billion”–around 12% of Colorado’s 2.7 million housing units.
The importance of taking resilience concerns seriously–and taking protective actions now–means identifying and implementing effective solutions. This means thinking creatively and ahead of time to ensure we find solutions that meet our need to reduce carbon emissions as well as ensure affordability, reliability, and resilience across the economy. As Governor, I will empower a Chief Resilience Officer to lead resilience efforts across the state, including the ones focused on smarter utility management, wildfire mitigation, and wildfire management.
Addressing the Data Center Challenge
Like all states, Colorado is seeing an explosion of interest in locating data centers to power AI. When done responsibly, these opportunities can be important for our state. But if done irresponsibly, like in other states that haven’t planned effectively, there are risks of data center energy demands driving up consumers’ electricity bills. And in some of those states, the energy demands of data centers are keeping coal plants open and delaying our necessary energy transition. In Colorado, we can do better, putting policies in place that protect consumers and ensure that data center development is accompanied by investments in clean energy.
I have two strategies to ensure that future data centers in Colorado do not raise electricity rates and do not undermine our emission reduction efforts. First, public reporting of tariffs and contracts with utilities, energy usage, and water usage for uses above a large load threshold should include appropriate and responsible protective measures, such as upfront deposits, direct cost recovery for infrastructure, and enforceable requirements to protect consumers from stranded asset risks. Second, we must ensure that data centers sponsor new forms of clean energy to support their development. This could take the form of traditional solar or wind projects tied into the grid, or it could be an opportunity for innovation. One particularly promising opportunity is siting data centers with new clean geothermal or other clean sources of power where legacy power plants (namely, from coal) are closing down. When coupled with commitments to providing training, new jobs, and economic growth to these areas, such a project could constitute a win-win and honor our state’s “just transition” commitment as well as protect the affected communities.
Leadership Takes Vigilance
As former Governor Bill Ritter put it, Colorado has a deserved reputation as “among the top in the nation for clean energy development, thanks to policies that prioritize wind, solar, and efficiency.” Colorado already is and must continue to advance strategies that ensure we conserve our natural resources (particularly water), reduce carbon emissions, and build strong economies powered by 21st century technology.
To advance our climate goals and invest in resilience measures, we must look for opportunities across the economy and identify appropriate sources of revenue. By ensuring effective enforcement of our laws against pollution (making sure that polluters pay for the damage they do), we can not only hold polluters accountable, but also provide revenue resources for these efforts. To ensure enforcement is a priority that is taken seriously, I am committed to appointing people to CDPHE leadership, the Air Quality Control Commission, and the Water Quality Control Commission that will take enforcement as a top priority and a solemn duty. But even with this effort, we must do more.
In the State of Washington, they are now making such investments as part of a “cap and invest program.” This is a promising model—and I am committed to determining whether it can work legally in Colorado and how we could build out a “cap and invest program” that does not regressively pass costs on to consumers. There are other emerging strategies for ensuring that those who are responsible for costs to society pay their fair share, and I am committed to finding the best approach that works for Colorado.
* * *
In Colorado, we have a proud tradition in leading on clean energy, adopting smart climate actions, and protecting our land, air, and water. Together, we can continue this tradition and put our state in a strong position for a future to answer the dire threat of climate change.