By William L. Shelton

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission is on the verge of making decisions that could have immediate, real-world consequences for every resident in the state, and for the security of our nation. These decisions could restrict energy companies’ ability to add critically needed capacity to our electric grid.

This issue is not just theoretical, it’s personal to most Coloradans. After years of delayed investments in our energy infrastructure, our system is under strain. If policymakers and regulators move forward with additional constraints, Coloradans may feel the direct consequences sooner than we’d like including reduced grid reliability and increased risk of brownouts or blackouts (a la California).

After 38 years in uniform, I’ve seen firsthand how reliable energy powers the nerve centers of modern warfare. Among many other functions, these Colorado-based operations centers are not just obscure tech facilities, they process intelligence, provide the GPS signal, detect cyber intrusions, monitor missile launches, and enable encrypted communications that keep U.S. military operations running across every corner of the globe.

Colorado is home to some of the most strategically important military headquarters and installations in the country, including North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Space Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Buckley Space Force Base, Schriever Space Force Base, Fort Carson, and the U.S. Air Force Academy.  Colorado’s military supports such things as defending the North American continent, global missile warning, satellite operations, cyber defense and officer training, all cornerstones of America’s security architecture.

I’ve seen firsthand how technological superiority protects American service members on the battlefield and deters our adversaries. Maintaining that superiority requires constant investment, not only in weapons systems, but also in the computing power, energy infrastructure, and digital resilience that support the American way of warfare.

You simply cannot conduct intelligence processing, track missile launches across the planet, enable encrypted communications, or support the billions of users of GPS on an unstable grid. And you certainly cannot deter adversaries if systems are widely recognized as vulnerable to disruption. For those missions that must be available 24/7, in the event of brownouts or blackouts, backup power consists of diesel generators, with much greater pollution consequences.

Policymakers must understand and recognize the implications of restricting energy development, particularly given our state’s current and increasing role in national defense. The stakes are no longer abstract.

If you value reliable power, economic stability, and a strong national defense, now is the time to make your voice heard. When it comes to protecting the United States, we should be expanding our grid’s capabilities, not limiting the power production that keeps our nation safe.

General William Shelton is a retired Air Force Commander. During his Air Force career, General Shelton was a Space Shuttle controller for the first 18 missions, commander of Global Positioning System operations during the initial deployment of the constellation, and commander of the Air Force’s largest ballistic missile wing.