As a mother, I am concerned about the future of our planet. When a hail storm like the one we had last month wakes us all up in the night, it is a strong reminder that this is very real and happening now.
I t was not fiscally advantageous in the past to move toward renewables, but now it is quite the opposite.
The Sierra Club just released a report conducted by the independent energy consulting firm Strategen that supports this. It was determined that retiring all 10 of Colorado’s coal plants and replacing them with renewable resources would save customers $1.4 billion for solar replacement and $1.7 billion for wind replacement.
For coal plants, the option of utilizing securitization (a form of refinancing to access lower interest rates) to facilitate coal plant retirements would provide customers an additional $467 million. With securitization, jobs would be spared as existing workers would be trained!
Considering this is a win-win for all, I am hopeful that we can finally move in the right direction!
Shari Leidner
Denver
