John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... The Colorado Energy Coalition, an affiliate of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., announced today it has released a report measuring Colorado’s competitive position in the wind, solar, coal, natural gas and oil industries.
It may seem at first blush that it has nothing to do with real estate.
But if I learned nothing else covering real estate for the former Rocky Mountain News, is that anything to do with economic development has a great deal to do with real estate.
In this cases, tens of thousands of people are employed in the traditional energy fields such as natural gas and oil industries, and Colorado is well-positioned to land thousands of more “green” jobs in the fast-growing wind and solar fields, as well as in the bio-fuel sector.
Jobs in both the established energy fields and the growing green fields, are often high-paying, and frankly, sustainable. These type of jobs, rather than low-paying retail jobs, for example, will help the Denver-area’s housing market regain its footing.
I played a small role in helping the CEC putting together this report, and I honestly think that it will be an eye- opener for everyone from the consumer to legislators. I know I learned a lot from helping to edit the report and was impressed by the depth of research.
The CEC strived to make the report neutral and objective, so it is not to be seen as taking sides.
The inaugural Resource Rich Colorado report compares Colorado to 10 other states in five major energy subclusters that represent Colorado’s most immediate energy opportunities. The study includes Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
“We’ve always believed that Colorado is a leader in the energy industry, and this benchmarking study backs it up with hard data,” said John Armstrong, chair of the Competitive Analysis Committee of the CEC and managing partner of Enserca, LLC.
This year, the Metro Denver EDC has worked with 102 companies that are seeking to relocate or expand in the Metro Denver region, of which 30 are in the energy industry.
Most of these are in alternative energy, and many are inquiries from foreign companies headquartered in Denmark, Germany, and Spain, among others.
“This annual study points to incredible opportunities to make Colorado a vibrant center in the New Energy Economy through public policy, research and development, and our natural resources in both renewable and traditional energy,” said Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver EDC.
Data collected in the study outline numerous advantages to conducting business in the energy industry in Colorado, as well as mentioning where the state is challenged.
Advantages of Colorado:
* Fifth-highest installed generation capacity in both wind and solar, producing enough electricity to power about 300,000 homes
Fourth-largest producer of coal in the western U.S., with the best quality coal
* Has an estimated one trillion barrels of oil locked in oil shale- almost four times the oil reserves in Saudi Arabia, and the largest deposit of its kind in the nation
* Fourth-largest producer of natural gas, accounting for more than six percent of all production in the U.S.
* One of the highest concentrations of federal labs in the U.S., with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
* Home to top-ranked research universities including Colorado School of Mines, the University of Colorado, and Colorado State University
* The Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory works to expedite bringing discoveries to market
* Third in venture capital investment per capita
Challenges in Colorado:
* Education funding
* Electric grid infrastructure – by 2025, Colorado will need to add between 4,900 and 7,000 megawatts of new generation to keep up with growing demand
* State regulatory policies including TABOR, Gallagher, Amendment 23, and the new Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission rules
Resource Rich Colorado was released at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Balanced Energy Economy Series Gold Program.
The Colorado Energy Coalition originally formed in December 2006, is a diverse organization dedicated to strengthening the business climate in Colorado that supports all sectors within the energy industry – fossil fuels, renewable resources, energy efficiency, and conservation. Members of the CEC represent the industry, financiers, law, government, education, economic development, and the public workforce system. The CEC is housed at and staffed by the Metro Denver EDC.
renewable energy advantages…
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