REPORT: New Energy Economy Comes With Hefty Price Tag

A report from an analyst with the Independence Institute and Competitive Enterprise Institute released Tuesday found that initiatives undertaken as part of Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter’s energy agenda cost the state nearly $484 million in 2012.

What’s more, much of the energy generated under the agenda exceeded demand for electricity, meaning that ratepayers were billed nearly half a billion dollars for electricity that they did not use.

William Yeatman, energy policy analyst for CEI and the Institute, said that the Ritter administration changed the state’s mandate from providing the least expensive energy to providing clean energy.

“In fact, it seemed not to matter whether the electricity generated by these ‘new energy technologies’ was even needed,” said Yeatman. “The bill is now coming due, and it is not pretty. In 2012, Colorado ratepayers spent almost half a billion dollars on New Energy Economy policies, in return for unneeded energy.”