Re: “A bright energy future”

Comment on guest commentary by Gov. Bill Ritter in the August 5th Denver Post.

Gov. Bill Ritter has succinctly described the benefits to Colorado’s economy of our state’s progressive policies encouraging the use of renewable energy technologies, such as solar. He is also correct in outlining the predicament of Xcel and other investor-owned utilities (IOUs) when their revenues decrease due to distributed generation on the customer side of the meter. This also applies when conservation measures, such as home weatherization, reduce electricity consumption.

The problem, of course, is that Xcel’s income, and by extension their profits, are directly tied to the quantity of electricity that they sell. If the citizenry wishes to see a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, then we must devise a method of “de-coupling” the revenues of IOUs from their electricity sales. California and Massachusetts have taken successful steps in this direction, from which we can learn some useful lessons.

The Colorado Renewable Energy Society, as a leading resource in providing renewable energy information to the people of Colorado, stands ready to contribute significantly to this effort.

Stephen L. Sargent, Golden

The writer is president of the Colorado Renewable Energy Society.