CAMPAIGNS LAUNCHED

Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

CAMPAIGNS LAUNCHED: Former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff — a Denver Democrat — and former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton — a Republican and current executive director of the Denver Police Foundation — have launched their campaigns for U.S. Senate, seeking to unseat recently appointed Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. Romanoff is hoping to beat Bennet in a primary election. Bennet was appointed by Gov. Bill Ritter this year to replace Ken Salazar, who is now Secretary of the Interior. Romanoff will officially launch his campaign today in Pueblo. Norton launched her campaign yesterday in Denver. She joins a large pool of Republicans looking for the GOP’s nod to challenge Democrats for the seat.

ENERGY BILLS LIKELY TO RISE: Xcel Energy yesterday filed to recover $12.8 million in costs associated with anticipated higher forecasted fuel and purchased energy prices for the fourth quarter of 2009 and to adjust the under-recovered deferred balance as of Aug. 31. The quarterly Electric Commodity Adjustment (ECA) filing is expected to increase residential and small-business customer bills by about 2 percent. The costs associated with increases or decreases through the ECA are passed along to customers on a dollar-per-dollar basis. The company filed its rider with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission and if approved, it would go into effect Oct. 1. Costs associated with the ECA would increase to $0.03153 per kilowatt-hour for the fourth quarter, compared to $0.02964 per kilowatt-hour this quarter. For typical residential customers using 632 kilowatt-hours a month, current bills would increase by $1.23 a month to $ 68.20. Typical small-business customer using 1,123 kilowatt-hours a month would see current bills increase by $2.16 a month to $118.34.

DEGETTE JOINS COLLEAGUES TO INTRODUCE RESPECT FOR MARRIAGE ACT: U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., joined her colleagues yesterday as an original cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The measure was introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday by U.S. Reps. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., Jared Polis, D-Colo., John Lewis, D-Ga., Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., with a total of 88 original cosponsors. “The Respect for Marriage Act will repeal a discriminatory and disrespectful measure that does not live up to ‘equality for all’ that is protected under the U.S. Constitution,” said DeGette. “We must respect the rights of all Americans who seek to form loving, committed relationships regardless of their sexual orientation. I am proud to be an original sponsor of this much-needed and long-overdue legislation.”

HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS RISE: Family health care premiums rose 4.2 times faster than earnings for Colorado’s workers from 2000-2009, according to a report issued yesterday by consumer health organization Families USA. In that 10-year period, Colorado family health insurance premiums rose by 86.9 percent, while median earnings rose by only 20.5 percent, based on U.S. Census, U.S Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data. For more information on the report, visit http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/costly-coverage/colorado.pdf.

CDOT APPLIES FOR HIGHWAY FUNDING: The Colorado Department of Transportation yesterday submitted an application on behalf of the U.S. 36 corridor to receive funds available through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant Program. The application, a collaborative effort by CDOT, The Regional Transportation District, the U.S. 36 Mayors and Commissioners Coalition, 10 local governments and 36 Commuting Solutions, requests $160-$260 million to build a portion of the first phase of improvements identified in the U.S. 36 Final Environmental Impact Statement. A TIGER Discretionary Grant would leverage $60 million in state and RTD FasTracks funding currently available, enabling the region to implement smaller, phased projects within the larger corridor. A larger discretionary TIGER Grant would allow the Department, in partnership with RTD, to complete the HOV/HOT managed lane so that it runs the length of the entire corridor.

ENERGY CHALLENGE: Today at 9:30 a.m., the City and County of Denver, Denver Public Schools, Xcel Energy, Sierra Club and Gov. Bill Ritter’s Energy Office are announcing the launch of the Denver Energy Challenge. Through the combined efforts of these organizations, the Denver Energy Challenge aims to increase the use of renewable energy while also creating renewable energy funding for Denver Public Schools. The press conference is going on at East High School.

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