DENVER—A Senate committee backed the appointment of environmentalist Matt Baker to the state Public Utilities Commission on Monday despite Republican objections that he was “anti-coal” and lacked the technical know-how to serve.
The committee voted 5-2 to support Gov. Bill Ritter’s nomination of Baker, who helped lead the campaign for a law requiring Colorado utilities to get more of their electricity from renewable energy. Voting against him were Republican Sens. Tom Wiens of Sedalia and Jack Taylor of Steamboat Springs.
The only other GOP member, Sen. Ken Kester of Las Animas, voted for him.
Taylor’s district includes two coal-fired plants and produces more than half the state’s coal. He said Baker, who is stepping down as the executive director of Environment Colorado, could make decisions on the board that could force the closure of those plants eventually.
The commission regulates telecommunications and investor-owned electric, gas and water utilities, gas pipelines and also has limited power over municipal utilities and electric associations.
Taylor pointed to the recommendation by Baker’s group last year to retire the state’s oldest coal-fired power plants and stop the construction of new ones.
Baker said the recommendation, one of 16 in “A Blueprint for Action”, was in response to Ritter’s call to reduce the state’s global warming pollution by 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050, which he said would be “very, very difficult” to meet.
Baker said he has taken a pragmatic approach to coal, pointing out that he helped negotiate a settlement with Xcel Energy to add more stringent pollution controls to the expansion of a coal-fired plant in Pueblo in 2004. As a former consumer advocate for the Colorado Public Interest Research Group, Baker said it was also important to him to keep power affordable.
Baker said he didn’t think it was realistic to close the Hayden and Craig plants in the “foreseeable future”. He said that he thinks coal will be needed more as natural gas gets more expensive but also thinks new technology will be able to store the carbon dioxide produced by coal plants to reduce greenhouse gases.
“Coal has a very bright future in Colorado and also nationally,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany has criticized Baker’s appointment because of his activism and said, as a history major, he didn’t have the technical background to serve on the commission.
“Appointments to the commission are in some ways supposed to be like appointments to the judiciary. You want experience in areas like energy, the environment and consumer protection, but you do not want someone on board who is driven by an overarching political agenda,” McElhany said in a posting on the Republican Senate Web site.
Baker, nominated to a four-year term, said the new energy economy is different from the old one and his experience working on renewable energy policies combined with work as a consumer advocate qualify him to serve on the board.
The committee also voted 6-1 for the appointment of regulatory attorney James Tarpey, a Republican. The full Senate will vote on both nominations.
