Mark Jaffe

Denver

Colorado Sun energy writer keeping on eye on the the sun, wind and what's below ground while hiking up peaks and skiing down slopes. Former Denver Postie

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Articles

Xcel’s $30M plan to join regional "power pool" panned for high cost, lack of benefit

1 week ago | coloradosun.com | Mark Jaffe

Xcel Energy’s plan to join a short-term, wholesale electric market is drawing fire from critics who, in hearings before state regulators this week, said that the price tag is too high and the benefits are minimal. The market for purchasing day-ahead power Xcel Energy wants to join, Markets+, is run by the Southwest Power Pool, or SPP, whose grid stretches across all or parts of 14 states from Texas to North Dakota.
Xcel says it has moved to solve service problems. Colorado regulators want to verify the progress.

3 weeks ago | coloradosun.com | Mark Jaffe

Colorado utility regulators voted Wednesday to begin monitoring the reliability and customer service performance of the state’s largest electricity provider, Xcel Energy. The decision by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission came after two commission staff reports outlined the company’s repeated problems in answering customer calls, sending out bills and avoiding outages.
Investigadores afirman que explosión de pozo petrolero en el condado de Weld expuso a personas a altos niveles de benceno a millas de distancia

3 weeks ago | coloradocommunitymedia.com | Mark Jaffe |Linda Shapley

🌟Read this article in English ~ Traducción por Rossana LongoLa explosión de un pozo petrolero el mes pasado en la zona rural de Galeton, que provocó la evacuación de viviendas cercanas, liberó niveles peligrosos de químicos tóxicos hasta 2 millas de distancia, según pruebas preliminares realizadas por un equipo de la Universidad Estatal de Colorado (CSU, por sus siglas en inglés).
Weld County oil well blowout exposed people miles away to high levels of benzene, researchers say

3 weeks ago | coloradosun.com | Mark Jaffe

The oil well blowout last month in rural Galeton, which sparked the evacuation of nearby homes, spewed dangerous levels of toxic chemicals as far as 2 miles away, according to preliminary tests by a Colorado State University team. Benzene, a known carcinogen and respiratory irritant, was found in concentrations 10 times above federal standard for chronic exposure, and was among dozens of chemicals detected.
Xcel Energy customers face more outages and longer phone wait times. "We have a real problem," regulators say.

1 month ago | coloradosun.com | Mark Jaffe

Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest electricity provider, is having increasing difficulty answering customer calls, sending out bills and keeping the lights on, according to two reports by state utility regulators. Blackouts more than doubled in 2024 and customer complaints have jumped 100% in three years, according to a Colorado Public Utilities Commission briefing Wednesday on outages.
Colorado drillers must recycle fracking water starting in 2026 under first-in-the nation rules

1 month ago | montrosepress.com | Mark Jaffe

When a driller “fracks” a well on the Front Range up to 400,000 barrels of fresh water can be pumped down the hole under pressure to fracture rock and release oil and gas — enough water to supply 1,400 families for a year. To reduce the need for fresh fracking water, the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission, on April 8 issued first-in-the-nation regulations requiring 4% of the water from oil and gas production to be recycled starting in 2026 and rising to as much as 35% by 2038.
Drillers must recycle fracking water under Colorado’s first-in-the nation law starting in 2026

1 month ago | coloradosun.com | Mark Jaffe

When a driller “fracks” a well on the Front Range up to 400,000 barrels of fresh water can be pumped down the hole under pressure to fracture rock and release oil and gas — enough water to supply 1,400 families for a year. To reduce the need for fresh fracking water, the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission, on April 8 issued first-in-the-nation regulations requiring 4% of the water from oil and gas production to be recycled starting in 2026 and rising to as much as 35% by 2038.
Coal-fired power plant in northwest Colorado still set for 2028 closure despite Trump administration orders

1 month ago | coloradosun.com | Mark Jaffe

The coal-fired Craig Station is still set to close in 2028 — even as the Trump administration is making a drive to keep coal units going — according to the operator’s electric resource plan filed with Colorado utility regulators on April 11. Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, which runs the plant, says in its preferred plan that the Craig Unit 1 will close by the end of this year and units 2 and 3 will be shuttered in 2028.
Trump goal of “drill, baby, drill” oil production runs into tariff problems and OPEC+

1 month ago | euci.com | Mark Jaffe |Jim Vess

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writerThe Trump administration’s goal of “energy dominance” and its mantra of “drill, baby, drill” have run into production limitations, economic uncertainty caused by the administration’s tariff policies, and increased output from OPEC+. In his first weeks in office, President Donald Trump issued executive orders to speed permitting, reduce regulations, and open more federal land to drilling.
Colorado utilities are trying to go green. Tariffs and geopolitical chaos are getting in the way.

2 months ago | coloradosun.com | Mark Jaffe

Colorado electricity utilities — from the largest investor-owned corporation to rural electric cooperatives — are straining to meet reliability standards and state clean energy mandates as they face cost-spiraling economics and the threat of tariffs.

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Mark Jaffe @ByMarkJaffe

21 Nov 24

A story oft repeated. I used Twitter as a reporting tool to connect on environmental and energy issues and to folo other journalists, but my feed is now filled with a lot of bull. I am heading over to bluesky

Mark Jaffe @ByMarkJaffe

5 Jul 24

This is insane. Denialism in its highest form. “The concerns about overtopping are not just hypothetical,” said the former deput director of the LSU Hurricane Center https://t.co/9sl2VPnTeZ

Mark Jaffe @ByMarkJaffe

29 Mar 24

The data center boom and its demand for energy and water is creeping into Colorado. https://t.co/OAKXK7lv8A

Mark Jaffe

Articles

Xcel’s $30M plan to join regional "power pool" panned for high cost, lack of benefit

Xcel says it has moved to solve service problems. Colorado regulators want to verify the progress.

Investigadores afirman que explosión de pozo petrolero en el condado de Weld expuso a personas a altos niveles de benceno a millas de distancia

Weld County oil well blowout exposed people miles away to high levels of benzene, researchers say

Xcel Energy customers face more outages and longer phone wait times. "We have a real problem," regulators say.

Colorado drillers must recycle fracking water starting in 2026 under first-in-the nation rules

Drillers must recycle fracking water under Colorado’s first-in-the nation law starting in 2026

Coal-fired power plant in northwest Colorado still set for 2028 closure despite Trump administration orders

Trump goal of “drill, baby, drill” oil production runs into tariff problems and OPEC+

Colorado utilities are trying to go green. Tariffs and geopolitical chaos are getting in the way.

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Emails

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X (formerly Twitter)