Figure from letter last week is ‘misleading’

Editor:

You published a letter last week authored by local GOP leaders criticizing Colorado’s Clean Heat Plan. This letter leans heavily on a claim that electrifying homes will inevitably saddle working families with $30,000–$70,000 in conversion costs. That figure is misleading and distracts from the real economic risk Coloradans face: long-term exposure to volatile and rising natural gas prices.

First, beneficial electrification is not an all-or-nothing mandate requiring every household to immediately replace every gas appliance. Cost-effective transitions happen at natural replacement points, when a furnace, water heater, or stove reaches the end of its life. The incremental cost of choosing a modern cold-climate heat pump instead of a new gas furnace is modest, and can be offset by utility rebates and state incentive programs. Colorado-specific analyses consistently show typical net costs far below the headline numbers cited in your editorial, particularly when electrifying one system at a time rather than undertaking a full home retrofit.

Second, the editorial ignores operating costs. High-efficiency heat pumps are two to four times more efficient than gas furnaces, meaning they deliver far more heat per unit of energy purchased. When paired with Colorado’s increasingly clean electric grid, households benefit not just from lower emissions but from predictable, stable energy costs. Natural gas prices, by contrast, will continue to be volatile, as US produced gas increasingly becomes a global commodity exported around the world as liquified natural gas.

Finally, the Clean Heat Plan includes clear cost-containment safeguards. Utilities must prove their proposals are cost-effective, and the legislature’s rate caps and oversight remain firmly in place. Far from being an “overreach,” this approach helps working families reduce their dependence on volatile natural gas markets, lowering long-term household energy costs while reducing exposure to catastrophic climate damages.

Andrew Arell

Member, Gunnison Valley Climate Coalition