Democrat policy re. the environment and our grid will lead to instability and higher prices. Oh, and while we're at it, why not put a burden on small business too.

The last politics post yesterday was about Democrat policy causing higher utility bills. Let's stay on that topic for one more.

The report below was commissioned by the Independence Institute (a conservative-leaning think tank) and purports to outline the increase in costs for our state as a direct result of the Democrat's mandates re. energy.

Some important caveats to remember:

--This study is based on modeling and models are quite sensitive to the assumptions that go into making them and the inputs you feed them.  

--Both the Independence Institute and the outfit that they commissioned to do this modeling are conservative-leaning and likely no friend of the Democrats.  Keep that in mind.  They have a dog in the fight.

Still, I think broad strokes patterns and convergences are worth noting.  To give you a sense of what I mean, take a look at the attached screenshot.  I boxed one pattern in blue and one in red.

As I have posted about before, using other sources, the patterns here are clear:

There are genuine concerns about the increasing costs that a transition to renewables will bring,

and,

along with this increase in costs, there are genuine concerns about the reliability of the grid with such a transition

So, while I don't think the numbers are reliable here, the patterns are.  

In other words, $319 billion is speculative for the total cost by 2050, but you'd better believe it won't be cheap.  Likewise, 25 hours of blackouts (or blackouts at all) in 2040 are also speculative, but it's not farfetched to say we'll have some dislocations and chaos in the supply of electricity as we push this transition without solid baseline generation already in place.  One need look no further than California.  They've already experienced trouble and we're right on their heels.

https://i2i.org/colorados-energy-future-the-high-cost-of-100-renewable-electricity-by-2040/

More on instability in our power grid due to the accelerated push for renewables:

An interview with Ross Kaminsky and power infrastructure expert Robert Bryce.  Worth a listen.

https://koacolorado.iheart.com/featured/ross-kaminsky/content/2023-05-15-power-infrastructure-expert-robert-bryce-on-the-epas-new-proposed-rules/

Own a small business?  Brace for more government chores added to your list.

I heard a radio ad the other day about the Colorado Secure Savings plan and got curious.  Interestingly, the ad makes this sound like a nice program the state is putting out there for employers and individuals, but, when I did some digging, it seems it's not so ... voluntary.

Let's talk particulars.  After at least one failed attempt in 2017, the Assembly passed (and Polis signed) a bill in 2020** (see the first link below) that established a Colorado Secure Savings Plan.  That plan is now ripe and ready, hence the radio ad and snazzy new website (linked second below).

 It was interesting to read the website and the bill page after hearing the radio ad first because, as I write above, it really is "not so voluntary".  You can see this in the attached screenshot from the Secure Savings link below.  

Don't you just love the charming euphemism of employers "facilitating" this (boxed in the screenshot)?

This is a prime example of a dynamic I have mentioned more than once.  

Imagine you owned a business with 8 employees (the "facilitation" threshold is 5 employees).  You'll have to take time out of your busy day to set this up, field questions, do paperwork, etc.

Oh, just had an employee leave and hired someone new?  Guess what, you'll set them up.

Oh and if you don't have time for this or get stuck and need help, you'll pay for that by buying help retail (as opposed to large businesses, with whole departments to handle compliance, who get it wholesale).

Encouraging savings and retirement plans are a good thing.  More people should save, and, overall, I think we'd all pay less taxes if more did (think about all the indirect costs of a lack of savings that you and I get to make up for).  There are sound ways to work toward this goal and unsound, however.

Doing it in this way is unsound.  What Polis and his merry band of Progressives chose to do was burden employers with this task, a burden that disproportionately harms small businesses.  

**yet another example here of a bill that began as a study the year prior and became a law in the year following; if you see bills watered down to become a study in year one, expect another try in year two.  

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb20-200

https://coloradosecuresavings.com/