Steep Utility Rate Hikes Possible Under Net Zero Longmont Plan

LONGMONT, CO - The "net zero" utility emissions plan that Longmont's utility provider put forward last year could cause rates to increase up to 39 percent from a 2016 baseline, according to new analysis from an independent consultant. Platte River Power, the wholesale energy provider for Longmont, Loveland, Estes Park, and Fort Collins, is pushing forward regardless with plans to investigate options for future power production, reported the Longmont Times-Call this week.

Pace Global, the consultant for Platte River Power, recommended last December that a net zero future for area power by 2030 was feasible. The newer study, however, by Virginia-based Energy Ventures Analysis is debating that point, finding that the cost required to replace currently coal-generated power would outweigh the benefits.

"Wind and solar are good options for supplementing base load generation, but they are intermittent," said Seth Schwartz, President of Energy Ventures in a statement to the Times-Call. "There are new storage battery technologies with promise, but for the foreseeable future they are not affordable and reliable. Using them at scale to meet the needs of large communities is unrealistic,"

Platte River is set to host a meeting in coming weeks for each of the communities it serves to discuss changes in their energy mix. Currently, Longmont is the only one of the four cities to have formally adopted the 100 percent renewable by 2030 goal.

"We hope (these town halls) will be a chance for Longmont to voice our clear preference for renewable energy," Abby Driscoll, chairwoman of Sustainable Resilient Longmont, told the Times-Call. Platte River's Longmont meeting is scheduled to be held on November 5, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road.

Read more about the story from the Times-Call.

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Photo Credit: Stefan Ziese / imageBROKER/Shutterstock