Published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on July 29, 2018 

In his second opinion piece on this topic, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce CEO David May once again makes false claims and mischaracterizations about the goal of reaching 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030 for Fort Collins. 

May just can’t get his facts right. 

What May fails to acknowledge – after all this time – is that the proposed resolution is non-prescriptive. It doesn’t mandate how this goal should be reached. It does not require it be done at any cost. In fact, it relies on the judgment and leadership Platte River Poser Authority has shown in the past to continue to provide its customers with the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable energy possible. 

What May fails to realize – after all this time – is that renewables are reliable and are the cheapest form of energy in Colorado today, shown by PRPA’s acquisition of new wind, where the all-in price is cheaper than current operating costs of PRPA’s coal plants, and in Xcel’s Colorado Energy Plan, where investments in renewables will save Xcel ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming decades. 

Nor does May utter one word – in either of his columns – about the threat to Colorado’s economy posed by climate change. 

May imagines a “special interest group” is advocating for this proposal. 

I think it is time we ask May’s board of directors exactly what “special interest” David May and the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce represent on this issue. 

Fred Kirsch is the Director of Community for Sustainable Energy, a member of Fort Collins Partners for Clean Energy.