“It really was not anything about emissions. It was about options, doing something that would be sustainable for a long time for us…”
Author: Allen Best
Allen Best publishes the e-journal Big Pivots, which chronicles the energy transition in Colorado and beyond.
Tiny Colorado Schools Go Underground for Heating, Cooling… Part One
Liberty High School has too few students for a basketball team. But it soon will have a cutting-edge geothermal heating and cooling system…
BIG PIVOTS: Rising Tensions Over Lowering Aquifers
Colorado River rightfully gets attention. So should the groundwater depletion underway in the Republican and other basins…
BIG PIVOTS: What’s Next for Electrical Power in Pueblo? Part Three
La Plata Electric in Durango, now led by Chris Hansen, one of the architects of Colorado’s energy transition, left open the door for natural gas in its recent solicitation….
BIG PIVOTS: What’s Next for Electrical Power in Pueblo? Part Two
“Perhaps this (PUC) Commission is biased against Pueblo because it voted for President Trump twice…”
BIG PIVOTS: What’s Next for Electrical Power in Pueblo? Part One
“Only advanced nuclear will make Pueblo whole and put the community on a path to prosper…”
BIG PIVOTS: Aspen Schools Look Underground for Sustainable Energy, Part Two
Suhrbier said the district hopes the geo-exchange network can be accomplished for less than $20 million…
BIG PIVOTS: Aspen Schools Look Underground for Sustainable Energy, Part One
The School District received two grants to explore a potential geothermal well field. Some hope for an even-deeper dive…
BIG PIVOTS: Dim View of Colorado River Too Optimistic? Part Two
“Everybody’s pretty much accepted that we’ve got to come up with a new formula for dividing the river…”
BIG PIVOTS: Dim View of Colorado River Too Optimistic? Part One
How low will Lake Powell get while the states try to reach agreement about natural flow formula?…
BIG PIVOTS: Trump’s EPA Clawing Back $156 million for Solar Programs?
Renewable developer says Trump’s energy policies will impair badly needed economic development in rural communities…
BIG PIVOTS: 21st Century Realities Hit San Luis Valley Agriculture
The solutions seem fairly obvious. Executing them is another matter…
BIG PIVOTS: Reflections on Our Current Immigration Debate
Looking back, it’s so easy to see the wrongness of Amache… the “prison on the plains” for Japanese-Americans during World War II…
BIG PIVOTS: The Problem with the Colorado River, Part Two
“By the same token, it’s not at all obvious what the better approach is. So we muddle along, as we do in public policy processes…”
BIG PIVOTS: The Problem with the Colorado River, Part One
Becky Mitchell and Doug Kenney had much to say at Crested Butte. Just as important may have been what they did not say…
BIG PIVOTS: Tri-State Getting Out of the Coal Business? Part Two
This story appeared on BigPivots.com on June 30, 2025. We are sharing it in two parts. Read Part One As it prepares to leave coal mostly behind, Tri-State Generation & Transmission has begun building large amounts of new renewables, including a solar farm in the Axial Basin south of Craig, near a coal mine. This READ MORE
BIG PIVOTS: Tri-State Getting Out of the Coal Business? Part One
Tri-State G&T wants a new 307-megawatt gas plant at Craig. Conservation coalition says it’s costly and unneeded…
BIG PIVOTS: Where the Buffalo Roam
Nicole Rosmarino now heads Colorado’s State Land Board. Is the idea of Buffalo Commons part of the background tension?
BIG PIVOTS: When April Showers Bring May Flowers
We’re on track to a 9 degree rise in average temperatures. That has profound implications for the Colorado River…