Colorado's HB 25-1040 Is a Fight for Energy Sanity

Public Hearing Scheduled February 13th

“If the almost magical power of nuclear energy were discovered today, it would be heralded as a transformative and breakthrough invention to be widely celebrated.”

-Doomberg

For years, Colorado’s energy policy has been trapped in a green fantasyland—a world where unreliable wind and solar are treated as the only legitimate “clean” energy sources while the most scalable, carbon-free baseload power source known to humanity—nuclear energy—gets shut out.

That fantasy has left the Centennial State with soaring energy prices, a grid teetering on the edge, and the looming specter of California-style blackouts.

House Bill 25-1040 offers a rare moment of sanity: a chance to legally recognize nuclear power as a clean energy resource in state statutes, allowing it to compete on a level playing field with other so-called “clean” energy resources such as solar and wind.

Colorado’s electricity demand is projected to double over the next five years, primarily driven by population growth, the expansion of data centers, electric vehicle mandates, and electrification initiatives. However, the state’s grid is being undermined by anti-hydrocarbon advocates who erroneously believe that transitioning to wind and solar power will be as straightforward as replacing a gas stove. The state’s stringent mandate to generate 100% “carbon-free” and hydrocarbon-free electricity by 2040 further exacerbates the challenges.

Nuclear power is the only realistic solution to this mess with its always-on emission-free power, lower long-term costs (if the bureaucrats and green grifters get out of the way), minimal land use and resource requirements, high capacity factor, and ultra-high power density.

For years, ideologically motivated activists have demonized nuclear energy with bad-faith arguments, Malthusian scare tactics, and outright lies to discredit nuclear energy. They claim that nuclear is “too dangerous “ (despite having the safest track record of any energy source) or “too expensive” (while providing substantial subsidies to wind farms that necessitate complete reconstruction every 15 years).

This isn’t about the environment—it’s about control and degrowth - typical of the green grifters.

The usual anti-nuclear suspects will be out in force to spread their disinformation at public hearings.

They’ll cry about “radioactive waste” while conveniently ignoring the literal millions of tons of toxic solar panel and EV battery waste that has no disposal plan.

They’ll claim nuclear is “too slow to build” while pushing wind and solar projects that take decades to approve and still don’t work.

They’ll whine about the need for a “just transition,” likely not knowing or acknowledging that nuclear provides just that.

HB 25-1040’s first reading is this Thursday in the House Energy and Environment Committee at 1:30 in the Old State Library.

If this bill makes it out of committee (the 2023 and 2024 ones never did despite bi-partisan overwhelming public support) then it goes to the full House for a vote and onward down the process. Colorado Governor Jared Polis appears lukewarm to the entire concept of nuclear energy. The radical green caucus of his party and his poor fiscal responsibility are the primary obstacles.

Testimonies are allowed in-person, via Zoom, or in written form. Committee members tend to not read out loud written testimonies (although these provide an opportunity to provide in-depth information) and the in-person or Zoom testimonies will likely be limited to two-minutes.

Detailed directions on testimonies are here and here and the direct link to the sign up page is here.