All posts by Joe Smyth

Joe Smyth was a Research and Communications Manager for the Energy and Policy Institute.

Tri-State Escalante coal plant

Tri-State will replace coal plants with a gigawatt of new wind and solar

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association announced last month that it will close its coal plants in Colorado and New Mexico and build a gigawatt of new wind and solar projects,...

/ February 9, 2020

Southwest Gas was top contributor to Arizona legislators sponsoring gas utility bill

Southwest Gas gave thousands of dollars to the campaigns of Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers last month, ahead of those legislators’ introduction this...

/ January 23, 2020
Cholla coal plant

Arizona Public Service announces 100% clean energy goal, saying it will “eliminate all fossil fuels”

Arizona’s largest investor-owned utility announced today that it will close its coal plants and increase its use of renewable energy over the next decade, ultimately aiming for 100% clean energy...

/ January 22, 2020

Growing number of elected Democrats in Arizona won’t take money from APS

A growing number of elected Democrats in Arizona say they won’t accept campaign funding from Arizona Public Service, the utility that has come under fire for its massive spending on...

/ January 13, 2020

Financial analysts expect decarbonization will benefit utility ratepayers and shareholders

Replacing coal with renewable energy could save customers $8 billion each year

/ January 9, 2020
Electric Cooperative Governance Task Force

An “Electric Cooperative Governance Task Force Report” urging co-op transparency was kept secret until now

The national trade association for electric cooperatives commissioned a report urging its members to embrace transparency reforms, but the association has kept its findings a secret for the past two...

/ December 11, 2019

Utilities don’t want Peabody Energy’s “clean coal” awards anymore

In the latest sign of the U.S. coal industry’s declining ability to compete in the power sector, Peabody Energy is now struggling to find electric utility companies who are willing...

/ November 25, 2019
United Power Mavericks Solar Farm

United Power and La Plata Electric ask Colorado Public Utilities Commission to determine Tri-State exit fee

The electric cooperatives’ filings emphasize a critical flaw in Tri-State’s governance system

/ November 7, 2019

Colorado Rural Electric Association spent electric cooperatives’ money supporting Republican politicians

The statewide association for electric cooperatives in Colorado describes its political spending as bipartisan and funded by voluntary donations, but a review of filings with the Colorado Secretary of State...

/ October 23, 2019

Coal lobby group drafted state utility commissioners’ letters to FERC

Emails show that the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity provided utility commissioners with a template letter to FERC - which some commissioners copied word-for-word

/ October 14, 2019