In this 1950s neighborhood full of gangly, old elms, the power goes out at least once a year. An autumn or spring blizzard burdens the boughs to the point of breaking. They snap and tumble, taking power lines with them.
That抖阴ap one of the reasons I bought a natural gas fireplace, which is not connected to the electrical grid. It has the capacity to heat my small house if the electricity goes out. My cats, 70-some houseplants, and I can weather a storm and its aftermath thanks to natural gas.
Because I rely on this fuel to heat my boiler, fireplace, and hot water heater, I will be voting for Initiative 177 come November. The ballot initiative is written to guarantee consumers “the right to purchase natural gas for cooking or heating in homes or businesses throughout the state.鈥� If voters approve it, distributors and utilities will also be guaranteed the “right to sell natural gas for homes or businesses.鈥�
Both provisions are essential to prevent the state legislature and executive bureaucracies from encroaching any further on my ability to stay warm.
I am one of the 2 million Coloradans who heat our homes or businesses with natural gas. That抖阴ap three out of four Coloradans. And, we鈥檙e not the only ones. Because more than a third of the state鈥檚 electricity is generated from methane, Coloradans with electric furnaces and heat indirectly heat their homes from natural gas.
Natural gas is popular because it is less expensive. Our heating bills are about half as much as those in electric households. Natural gas is more efficient as well. When an appliance, be it a water heater, boiler, or stovetop, burns natural gas, it utilizes 92% of the usable energy contained in the fuel. By contrast, with electricity, 62% of that useful energy is lost from generation at the power plant to application by the appliance.
Recently, Atmos Energy, a natural gas distributor with customers in Colorado and seven other states, analyzed the carbon footprint for their Colorado customers of going all electric compared to continuing to use natural gas in the home. , Atmos found that for their customers, 鈥渁 home with natural gas in Colorado produces approximately 31% fewer carbon dioxide emissions every year than an all-electric home.鈥�
Natural gas, which releases less carbon dioxide than coal, diesel fuel, gasoline heating oil, or propane, is an essential component of Colorado鈥檚 energy portfolio. Even as the state increases its use of wind, solar, and geothermal technology to produce energy and works to eliminate any reliance on coal, the energy source with the highest carbon dioxide emissions, the state still needs a dispatchable fuel source to produce energy when weather-driven power is unavailable or insufficient.
The state may add nuclear power, another dispatchable energy source, to its electricity generation portfolio, to reduce the need for natural gas. However, many customers will still want to keep their direct use of natural gas for affordability reasons. It costs thousands of dollars to replace gas boilers, furnaces, ovens, and water heaters with electric versions. On top of the purchase expense, homeowners then pay higher monthly bills.
Unfortunately, politicians in the legislature and bureaucrats at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) are trying to eliminate the use of natural gas by mandating utilities eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and forcing them to meet benchmarks along the way.
Power companies told legislators that they would need more than a billion dollars to comply with the 2030 requirement imposed by law. Now that the PUC has doubled the requirement, home heating bills are guaranteed to skyrocket over the next few years as power companies pass the expense along to customers.
Research shows states that mandate 100% of power come from renewable or carbon-free resources have the most expensive electricity in the country.
These findings and pleas from homeowners have had no impact on the legislature or the PUC. Politicians and bureaucrats at the state and local level are determined to turn off the gas. They will use carrots like rebates for electric appliances or sticks like disallowing gas in new developments.
Eventually, they will try to stop those of us with natural gas appliances from turning on the heat. The only way to stop them is by passing Initiative 177.
Krista Kafer is a Sunday Denver Post columnist.
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