gdp's Comments

Daily Camera.com: : Judge rules Boulder must go to PUC before seeking condemnation of Xcel assets - Boulder Daily Camera

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 09:03:33 +0000

"When asked for comment, Heather Bailey, Boulder's energy director, threw a pile of money into the air exclaiming, 'Wheeeeee!', before speeding off in her new sportscar."

Daily Camera.com: : FERC: Boulder taking of Xcel transmission loop needs our approval - Boulder Daily Camera

Fri, 19 Dec 2014 09:29:03 +0000

The city of Boulder should give up this fiasco now, before it costs the taxpayers any more money But then how would City Council, Carr, and Heather Bailey justify their bank rolls? This fiasco isn't going anywhere but to further litigation.

Daily Camera.com: : Critics target Boulder\'s municipalization spending - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 7 May 2014 02:52:54 +0000

It has to do with how the DailyCamera links articles differently on the main page compared to the "Hot Topics" bar. Here's the link to the comments page you're probably talking about: http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_257021...

Daily Camera.com: : Joseph T. Priestley: Solutions for wind and solar energy - Boulder Daily Camera

Fri, 28 Jun 2013 01:07:11 +0000

Steve, just out of curiosity on my part - have you heard anyone else's thoughts over at the NREL/NWTC in general regarding Boulder municipalization - or is it something not really talked about at the workplace? To continue the talk about Joseph's points: 1) This idea exists as energy markets, or even proposed energy imbalance markets. There are a lot of concepts tied into this, (constrained optimal power flow and economic dispatch, congestion, contingency planning, firm and non-firm services, transfer capability, etc.) - but in the end, all it is, is like you suggest Joseph: different regions sharing with each other to cover deficits or avoid curtailing generation. Like Steve points out, what's nice about Xcel's area is that it's large enough that it makes it easier for them to do redirect many resources internally. 2) Energy storage is swell, but wind is somewhat limited in its range of storage options - pretty much only concentrated solar power has it "easy", where by expanding the facility, excess heat can be stored for use later on, giving CSP its high "capacity value" compared to other renewable types. The addition of another generation facility takes wind out of the economically competitive region for generation. That is, a pumped hydro facility added to the costs of a wind site can roundabout double the levelized cost of the project (re: energy). And there's a reason in there for why most major pumped hydro projects were built in the late 60s through the 70s. Cabin Creek is a cool site. You should go if you ever get the chance - we got to take a tour for a class once. But again, there's a reason utilities specializing in renewables (such as Xcel) aren't lining up to build new pumped hydro sites. Related to the first point - again, the idea of energy (imbalance) markets is to reduce the risk in variable generation by aggregating pools of participants to smooth out those large variations - lowering the need for generation reserves (including energy storage). Xcel, as a balancing authority, is in a better position to manage its assets over its transmission grid than a municipal utility the size of Boulder would be. 3) You'd have to be more specific on this. Do you mean incentives for demand-side participation in load management (Xcel does this for customers over 300kW), or promoting energy-reduction programs and rebates (Xcel has been doing that for a while, too)?

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder officials: Ban non-medical pot shops ahead of legalization via Amendment 64 - Boulder Daily

Mon, 3 Dec 2012 15:19:19 +0000

Just to clarify, I don't think this has much to do with the Boulder DA, Stan Garnett, who has been on the rational side of legalization for quite a while now (including recently dropping most small cannabis possession cases). I think you're referring to the City Attorney, Tom I-Got-Fired-From-Seattle-And-Got-A-Raise-In-Boulder Carr. When it comes to representing the will of the voter base, there is a world of difference between these two guys; that difference being that Carr is just out to protect his overlords at the council (at the expense of citizens if need be).

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder officials: Ban non-medical pot shops ahead of legalization via Amendment 64 - Boulder Daily

Mon, 3 Dec 2012 15:13:02 +0000

It has to do with how the Camera (for whatever reason) creates two separate article pages - one for the news stories you see on the actual front page, and the other for the "Most Viewed" box on the right. Here's the link to the original with three pages of comments: Boulder officials: Ban non-medical pot shops...

Daily Camera.com: : Warren E. Sidwell: University of Colorado did the right thing in firing Jon Embree - Boulder Daily C

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 23:33:16 +0000

This letter is in response to all the outcry's regarding Jon Embree's firing. Who is "outcry", and what of his are we talking about?

Daily Camera.com: : Officials: Boulder loses millions in sales tax to online shopping - Boulder Daily Camera

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 03:41:39 +0000

I often take most of the comments around here with a dash of salt, since they tend to be a bit slanted one way or another, but one thing that's been made abundantly clear by citizens in the past is the refusal to shop around town when faced with the imposition of overzealous fees that the town tends to place on would-be shoppers. That is to say, shopping online is cheaper, faster, and less hassle. Boulder officials say they need to find a way to capture some of that lost sales tax revenue. Well, it's called speeding vans, red-light cameras, bag fees, hiking-at-night ticketing, open space sales tax, etc. - and it already goes on. The city leaders don't seem to have a problem in raking in the revenue; it's the not-spending-it-all-and-more part that maybe evades reasonable comprehension.

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder County, CDOT to add shoulders to Colo. 93 - Boulder Daily Camera

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 03:34:54 +0000

What shoulder, friend?

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder officials seek \'forever tax\' - Boulder Daily Camera

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 00:53:42 +0000

It's (for some weird reason) just how the DC sets up the site - the same article might appear twice, but with a slightly different web address, depending on if it's clicked from the front page or from the "Most Viewed" links on the side of the page. As for "why?", I couldn't say. Just seems like doubling-down on the required web space for articles...but what do I know.

Daily Camera.com: : CU regent candidate calls on Matt Arnold to drop out of race after falsely claiming to hold master\'

Sat, 9 Jun 2012 00:39:37 +0000

This guy sounds incredibly shady and sleazy (no wonder he's interested in politics). Whatever good ideas and notions he may possess have been more or less nullified by his terrible tactics and desperate behavior. Matt, I know you read these DC boards because you often post here (also not a classy move for a vying candidate for public office, despite any good intentions). You may want to reevaluate how you conduct yourself before running for a position of authority, where people will have to trust in your ethical decision-making abilities. I know politics can be frustrating, but you seem to be doing it all wrong.

Daily Camera.com: : Colorado civil-unions bill moved to "kill" committee - Boulder Daily Camera

Tue, 15 May 2012 04:14:31 +0000

"This is an issue that in 20 years or less people are going to look back and say, 'Why was this an issue?' " Ferrandino said. Some of us already do. Seriously, what are these yahoos doing in the state capitol, wasting time and money dancing around what is essentially a non-issue. This country, this state, ought to support any and all civil liberties that have no affect on others. Does the state recognize heterosexual civil unions? Then it ought to recognize homosexual ones as well. Does the state offer benefits to heterosexual married couples beyond those of civil unions? Then the same ought to be extended to any couple. Full stop. Anything else is a side issue.

Daily Camera.com: : Colorado legislature\'s special session for civil unions to start Monday - Boulder Daily Camera

Thu, 10 May 2012 20:02:54 +0000

Yeah, you're right. I mean in that comment alone, there's not much derision in it. I'm thinking more along the lines that Freetheweird seems to use every chance he/she can get to go make things aggressively political. But it would be nice, for once, if people would set aside their other political differences for just a minute, an hour, a day, and show some solidarity on an issue that most people (though not all - anti-gay marriage/union people, none of this is directed at you, since rationality isn't really your strong point) can agree on. But hey, whatever, by now, we're making a bigger deal about his/her comment than should be. Mountains out of molehills and what-not. Going back to the original comment - I agree. People ought to give those representatives a call/email and let them know what's up.

Daily Camera.com: : Colorado legislature\'s special session for civil unions to start Monday - Boulder Daily Camera

Thu, 10 May 2012 19:34:00 +0000

I get where you're coming from, but where does Romney fit into the Colorado legislature's failure to properly address (ie - pass) this issue? I think Romney is a dolt (some might call that being a natural-born politician), and I agree that he just goes along with whoever pushes him the hardest and most recent. And his back-and-forth, and generally negative, attitude towards homosexuals' civil liberties is disappointing. But this isn't the time for that. We're talking about state-level politicians. And, ideally, they are supposed to be much more responsive and level-headed than bureaucrats on the federal stage. This is where we should focus the discussion, disappointment, and indignation. The presidential candidates and their positions are tangential to this, so why even go there - especially with the snarky implication behind Freetheweird's message? My point is that it's both inflammatory and sidetracks from what is actually going on here.

Daily Camera.com: : Colorado legislature\'s special session for civil unions to start Monday - Boulder Daily Camera

Thu, 10 May 2012 18:22:18 +0000

Why are you so divisive? I'm all for civil unions - actually, I'm all for gay marriage. I'm all for most any progressive personal liberty out there, especially if it's a) not hurting anyone else and b) none of my business anyway. I'm also fed up with petulant politicians playing games instead of doing the job they're paid to do. The first part of your post: awesome. You're right, make your voice heard. Thanks for taking the time to post the links. Very thoughtful. But why do you have to take every chance to put others down while you're at it? Not every occasion calls for a soapbox. What if there is a Romney supporter - for whatever reason you may disagree with - who also wants this to pass? Why do you have to alienate other people who may, in fact, share opinions with you, just because they're not as fervently one-sided as you make yourself out to be when it comes to the two main parties. In my opinion, attitudes like that just increase the widening gap of potential dialogue between rational people nowadays. Come off it, son. (then again, this is a free local newspaper forum on the internet, so perhaps I shouldn't expect much)

Daily Camera.com: : CU-Boulder: Full cost of 4/20 crackdown won\'t be known for a few weeks - Boulder Daily Camera

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:18:15 +0000

Do you happen to have a source link to that and/or the police report? The only thing I've ever seen is a comment on a DC article from a few years ago (the one DonDraper cited above), from the Colorado Springs Gazette, I believe. I imagine I could go to the library and dig through the archives for the actual story (since I don't plan on subscribing to the Gazette online...), but if you happen to know a link, it'd be appreciated.

Daily Camera.com: : Republicans protest Obama\'s CU visit - Boulder Daily Camera

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:11:02 +0000

I don't watch Tosh.0, but if it had that on it, it wouldn't make much sense. http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder leaders asked to join CU\'s anti-4/20 efforts - Boulder Daily Camera

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:43:13 +0000

You don't have 10,000 people (majority of whom are not students) standing in a field in the middle of campus while classes are going on taking shots of vodka to "protest" (aka feel cool, take pics, send your friends, update your twitter) I take it you've never been to a college football game? Minus "while classes are going on", and substituting "beer" for "vodka", you've described it spot on.

Daily Camera.com: : Barry Aaron: Smoking and noise on Pearl Street Mall effects quality of life - Boulder Daily Camera

Mon, 9 Apr 2012 21:00:55 +0000

Well, I'm not sure that's really a fair comparison. Pearl St. has performers/buskers, while Westport has beer festivals. I'd probably liken Pearl St. to the Plaza before Westport, I think, it being the touristy walkabout stretch of town with novelty shops selling overpriced goods. And I'm sure I've seen more people setting up playing music on the Plaza than I have in Westport (where there's plenty of music shows, but they're indoors). Or maybe there just isn't a good comparison at all.

Daily Camera.com: : April Fool\'s: Fake Xcel letter threatens to cut power to Boulder voters who favored municipalizatio

Tue, 3 Apr 2012 01:17:59 +0000

The on-off cycling that happened might've been due to a recloser on the line - it's like a circuit breaker, except that it tries to clear temporary faults and come back without having to go totally offline. And they have a sequence that they follow. So you might get a short loss of power or two, and then a longer one (multiple seconds) or two, and then totally off. But I don't know where/what caused last night's outage, so I'm not really sure. As others pointed out, that one, coupled with the one a few days ago, is a bit out of the ordinary since Xcel's reliability numbers are usually pretty high this side of town.