RBC | The Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado (AGNC) is proud to release the Northwest Colorado Energy Initiative Survey Report 1 at the JOLT (Joint Organizations Leading Transition) Conference on Energy, June 27, 2024, in Montrose, Colorado.
“The focus of NCEI has been to facilitate fact-based discussions around the energy transition,” stated NCEI Project Manager Matt Solomon. “This is not possible without the support of the communities, local media and elected officials.”
This study was conducted by the Northwest Colorado Energy Initiative (NCEI), operating under the purview of the AGNC. This effort is funded by the Capacity Building for Repurposing Energy Assets grant effort, which is funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) through the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) in collaboration with the newly established Partnership Intermediary (PI) known as ENERGYWERX to support Northwest Colorado energy impacted communities.
This report took a survey on energy perceptions and preferences and illustrated the communities’ knowledge and opinions on the topic.
Key Findings
• Northwest Colorado’s impression of the efficiency of each source of electricity rated nuclear the highest, followed by gas and coal. The Northwest Colorado scores were significantly lower than the nation for solar, wind and hydrogen.
• 60.82% of Northwest Colorado respondents strongly favor the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways to provide electricity for the nation, while 58.78% strongly favor this for Northwest Colorado. When adding strongly favor and somewhat favor together, Northwest Colorado had 88.58% that favored nuclear energy in the U.S., with 76.8% of national respondents in favor. The combined strongly favor and somewhat favor for Northwest Colorado is 84.49%.
• As Northwest Colorado considers options for replacing coal-fired electricity-generating power plants, this survey was launched to hear the views of stakeholders on one of the options, nuclear energy, as it compares to the other options being considered. The focus on nuclear in this survey came because of questions and comments from 2023 outreach efforts.