Tipton Fighting to Keep Power Affordable for Rural Coloradans
WASHINGTON—Congressman Scott Tipton (R-CO) stressed that a radical litigation group was attempting to manipulate the marketplace and drive up electricity costs for rural Colorado families. During a House Natural Resources Water and Power Subcommittee oversight hearing, Tipton raised concerns over a recent letter addressed to the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) by Wild Earth Guardians that demands WAPA force its customers to prioritize certain sources of energy over others.
“The Wild Earth Guardians letter, which reads like a blueprint for a lawsuit, demands that WAPA force non-federal entities to take up Wild Earth Guardians agenda at ratepayer expense, and in derogation of their goals and WAPA’s core mission—which is to provide low cost energy. This litigation threat letter singles out certain rural electric cooperatives which provide power to thousands of homes and businesses in the 3rd District of Colorado, and specifically targets the Craig Generating Station,” said Tipton. “Put bluntly, Wild Earth Guardians asks that WAPA stop approving power sales to entities which continue to provide low cost, reduced emission, energy from the Craig Station in my district. This is market manipulation at its worst, and it calls on rural families and small businesses to pay the tab for Wild Earth Guardians unfounded demands.”
The Craig Generating Station on the West Slope of Colorado provides over 300 jobs and produces reliable, low cost energy for families and small businesses.
WAPA Administrator Mark Gabriel testified that the legal threats made in the Wild Earth Guardians letter “certainly could” threaten the availability of affordable energy for families already struggling to pay the bills in the region.
Tipton stressed that, “keeping energy costs low helps small businesses, struggling young families and senior citizens on fixed incomes.”
The Wild Earth Guardians letter is available HERE.
Additionally during the hearing, Tipton pushed Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) officials to fulfil the agency’s commitment to completing the Arkansas Valley Conduit. Tipton joined with some of his Colorado delegation colleagues earlier this month in a letter to the Interior Department requesting that the federal government live up to its promise to complete the Conduit as soon as possible to ensure a reliable and safe supply of drinking water for communities in the region. Read more HERE.
“The members of the Colorado delegation are committed to the Arkansas Valley Conduit. Reclamation knows that this project offers an effective regional answer to meeting federally mandated Safe Drinking Act standards,” said Tipton. “The Arkansas Valley Conduit would provide much needed water supplies in my district, and I urge Reclamation to continue working with us towards advancing its construction.”
Lowell Pimley, acting Reclamation Commissioner, assured Tipton that the agency would work to complete the project as expeditiously as possible.
Watch VIDEO HERE of Tipton’s exchange with the witnesses at the hearing.
Tipton also encouraged Pimley to fully implement H.R. 678, the Hydropower and Rural Jobs Act, which Tipton introduced and was signed into law last year. According to Pimley, since passage of the law there has been a significant increase in applications to Reclamation for small hydropower projects. Learn more about the law HERE.
“The Hydropower and Rural Jobs Act will allow for non-federal hydropower generation on more than 373 sites across the West,” said Tipton. “I intend to continue working with the Administration to move the ball forward on implementing this common sense law so that we can produce more clean energy, reduce power costs for consumers, and provide much needed jobs in rural Colorado and throughout the Reclamation states.”