Colorado’s frantic efforts to erase its carbon footprint — at seemingly any cost, come what may — are backfiring on ratepayers through their utility bills. You probably aren’t surprised, and that’s not only because you have been experiencing it firsthand. It also simply stands to reason.

After all, our state-mandated, panic-induced, seismic shift away from “fossil fuels” — despite the abundance of clean-burning natural gas in our state — logically will come at a high price. When fear of a climate “crisis” said to loom ahead overtakes reason among policymakers, it inevitably will cost consumers in the end. And it’s because our Legislature and governor have ignored sage advice for years to moderate their headlong rush toward green energy by balancing the state’s energy portfolio with more reliable oil and gas. Instead, the political class has sought to zero out carbon-based energy especially in generating electricity.

Never mind that oil and gas long have been a driving force for Colorado’s economy, making us one of the nation’s top energy producers. Even if the Centennial State had no petroleum deposits at all, maintaining an all-of-the-above energy mix just make sense. It would allow renewables, like wind and solar power, to find natural markets without gouging consumers by forcing them to subsidize the development costs for fuel sources still finding their way.

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Colorado’s Common Sense Institute has released a new report detailing just how much our state’s misbegotten energy policy is costing Colorado consumers. The institute got right to the point in a press statement about the new findings on Monday: “Due to state mandates, electricity prices in Colorado are projected to grow more than three times the rate of inflation and nearly 13 times faster than the historical growth rate from 2010-2020.”

The institute’s report cites a finding by the Colorado Energy Office that “…achieving the state’s emission reduction goals will cost $108 billion through 2050. This figure reflects the investment required to more than triple Colorado’s electric generation and storage capacity…”

The extra generation and storage is needed, the institute points out, to replace coal and natural gas power plants retired early under the state’s green mandates; to add generation to account for the lower power-generation efficiency of renewables, and to increase storage to offset the intermittent downtime of renewable energy due to forces of nature.

While defenders of the all-out-for-renewables approach blame surging power bills on a volatile market for natural gas — which heats most of our homes and still generates much of our electricity — the institute report leaves no doubt: “Electricity prices surge because of large investments in new wind and solar, not because of natural gas prices.”

“Electric rate payers and consumers ultimately bear the cost of electricity investments,” the report makes clear. It details the household costs by 2030:

The average household will spend $390 to $504 more annually.

All households combined will spend between $970 million and $1.25 billion more.

The average electricity rate will grow by 56%, from 12 cents per kilowatt-hour to 18.4 cents.

Transitions from one source of energy to the next have taken place throughout history, of course. And they have not come without incurring collateral costs — to jobs and entire industries eventually rendered obsolete, as well as to consumers.

But when the transition is turned into a revolution, pushed by ill-informed, dogma-driven government mandates, the result is to flout basic economics and break the backs of ratepayers.

Savvy consumers seeking to arm themselves with more eyeopening information can find the full Common Sense Institute report at: https://www.commonsenseinstituteus.org/colorado/research/energy-and-our-environment/future-of-electricity-costs-in-colorado–

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board