Lavish digs for public utility
Re: “Why Xcel’s new HQ stings so bad,” Dec. 17 editorial
Bravo to the editorial board for this piece. Wearing my RiNo landlord hat, this is great news for the neighborhood and will likely serve as a catalyst for continued momentum and growth. However, when switching to my Xcel ratepayer hat, one must question this decision. The T3 building may be the best-in-class building in RiNo and likely in the entire downtown sub-market. It is incomprehensible that a public utility can justify the need or expense for such a high-caliber building.
Certainly their workforce should occupy a building with appropriate amenities and a work environment commensurate with similar types of entities, but it’s hard for me to imagine there is justification for best in class. Given the plethora of vacant and bargain office space currently on the market, one would think there are far more economical options.
This decision on its own is bad enough, but in light of Xcel’s current inability to meet growing commercial demand in several local sub-markets, I would question Xcel’s priorities. Recently, one of our relatively small real estate development projects had to be scuttled because Xcel couldn’t provide the necessary power upgrades for what they said was two to five years.
Maybe Xcel should spend more time planning for the needs of their customers and Denver’s future growth instead of planning to move to one of the most expensive office buildings in RiNo.
Kevin Preblud, Denver
Keep energy development strong
Re: “Colorado gas prices fastest falling in the country,” Dec. 12 news story
With the holidays coming up, many Coloradans are trying to budget for everything from seasonal decorations and family dinners to gasoline for long car rides. Fortunately, it seems the focus can stay on holiday cheer and not gasoline costs this season, as discussed in the article.
Prices at the pump are impacted by many factors, but a key one is American oil production. Fortunately, America is the top producer of oil and natural gas. And U.S. oil and natural gas companies are currently producing historic levels of crude oil. This helps ensure all Americans have access to affordable, reliable energy this winter and beyond.
But we need smart policies to secure the strongest possible energy future.
There is a lot that can be done:
• The Biden administration could open more federal lands to oil and natural gas leases, as opposed to cutting off huge sections of Colorado.
Congress could modernize America’s permitting process to make it easier for all kinds of infrastructure to be built.
• Policymakers could stop trying to impose burdensome regulations that limit consumer choice and put future energy development at risk.
• Colorado has a long and proud history as a producer of oil and natural gas. Our leaders in Denver and Washington should work together to protect the Centennial State’s businesses, workers and families by helping to ensure future energy development.
Kait Schwartz, Denver
Editor’s note: Schwartz is the director at the American Petroleum Institute Colorado.
A prayer for us all
With all our identity declarations and cultural and political flag-planting, I fear that we risk fixing our souls in unchanging amber. But we all need change in our lives. Understandably, we want to do and be something good. But can we let some larger process of grace and change work among us? Can we somehow say “let it be” and choose a path of giving birth to wonder and joy?
Too often we may rush to a fixity, to fasten each other down, to defeat each other, to dominate, incarcerate, even to hurt and kill. Yet change, among all of us, is the great characteristic of life. Life is not some frozen point of severity. It is perhaps more like a river. Even the very rocks shift and flow in geologic time. Are not the people we admire the most those who admit graceful change into their lives?
My prayer in this season: Let it be.
Vern Rempel, Littleton
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