Colorado Republican Rep. Gabe Evans warned that Congress needs to secure America’s power grid, arguing that his state’s aggressive green energy mandates impose exorbitant costs on consumers.
Evans told the Daily Caller News Foundation that reported “power fluctuations” at the Denver Airport are “indicative of the fact that we are running out of power.” The Colorado lawmaker stressed that failing to address America’s energy needs will hurt affordability and threaten national security — problems he argues some Democrats exacerbate through stringent green energy mandates.
“This is a national security issue, because if we don’t have the power to make stuff, we’re going to lose ground compared to our global adversaries,” Evans told the DCNF, adding that Colorado utility mandates mean that “tens of billions of dollars that are going to be passed on to consumers in Colorado because of Democrats’ failed, horrifying energy policies.”
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Evans argued that Colorado is retiring energy resources “at five times the rate that we should be,” as the state has been closing its remaining coal-fired power plants at an accelerated rate. Colorado accounts for two percent of America’s population and generates about two percent of U.S. electricity, Evans said.
“However,” Evans continued. “Because Colorado has declared war on oil, gas and coal, Colorado is responsible for retiring about 10% of the electric generating stations in the country this year.”
Evans emphasized the need for a reliable power grid, noting that the House recently passed his legislation known as the State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act. The act will soon head to the Senate.
If passed, public utilities commissions will have to consider long-term reliability and protect “the ability to continuously generate energy for a 30-day period, [factoring in] bad weather or natural disasters. … By focusing on grid reliability and the ability to continuously generate energy, that is going to increase the supply of electricity out there. That drops costs for electricity.”
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Democrats are set to campaign on affordability headed into the midterms, riding high on their November victories, which saw candidates in New York, Virginia and New Jersey successfully campaign on the issue. However, Evans and some energy policy experts who previously spoke to the DCNF argue that policies frequently pushed by Democrats drive up energy costs as they phase out reliable supply on unrealistic timelines.
“Democrats’ power policies are giving us scarcity. Republicans are promoting all-of-the-above strategies because we know we need more power on the grid to keep costs low for consumers,” Evans said. “Democrats broke it, and now they’re trying to blame Republicans for what they broke.”
Evans told the DCNF that Colorado will soon implement several utility mandates that he argues will burden consumers with additional costs as they will eventually be required to purchase newer and more expensive utility models. One Colorado mandate taking effect on Jan. 1 says, “you can only sell high-efficiency appliances, which average thousands of dollars more than regular appliances. … Folks are going to have to buy the most expensive one that’s out there on the market.”
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“They finalized a rule to ban natural gas for residential heating by 2050, and this is going to be horrifying for constituents. ” Evans continued. “You’re talking around $20,000 to the consumer per house on the consumer side of the meter, because most houses don’t have enough electricity going into the house to be able to take up that additional load. If you have to replace a natural gas-fired dryer, furnace, boiler and stove with electricity, you probably have to increase the amps of electricity going into your house.”
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