Energy Sector

If Mitt Romney won't tell you about these tax loopholes, we will

Aurora theater shooting: Ken Feinberg named special master of victims fund

In a very brief press conference at the State Capitol announced less than an hour before it began, Governor John Hickenlooper introduced Ken Feinberg as the new "special master" for the Aurora Victim Relief Fund -- almost a full month after victims' families first came together to express their frus ... More >>

Abound Solar bankruptcy: Does it raise concerns about Colorado's energy industry?

News broke yesterday that Abound Solar, a Colorado-based solar panel maker that has struggled for months -- notably with a major round of layoffs in February -- has officially filed for bankruptcy.

Reader: Denver Post changes are like Exxon watering down gas

Our item sharing a memo from editor Greg Moore about impending cuts in the Denver Post copy-editing department, which sources tell us could result in two-thirds of the staff being laid off, prompted plenty of discussion about the state of journalism today. Here's a comment from a reader who thinks s ... More >>

Big Oil making big profits on declining production

​It's official: 2011 was a record-busting year in the oil industry, with the five largest companies -- BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Royal Dutch Shell -- reporting all-time-high profits of $137 billion. That's a 75 percent jump from the year before, even though the giants produc ... More >>

Drilled, Baby, Drilled: The strange battle to keep Big Oil from cheating

Encana blasts EPA report linking fracking to Wyoming water pollution

Encana WY drill rig. ​In a telephone conference with journalists this morning, officials of the Canadian energy giant Encana sharply disputed an EPA draft report that linked the company's gas drilling operations in Wyoming to contamination of residents' drinking water, calling the report badly ... More >>

Tom Strickland exits Interior, chased by big bucks

Tom Strickland.​The news that "lobbyist lawyer" Tom Strickland, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's chief of staff for a hectic two years, is now taking a job with British Petroleum's law firm in its battles with his former boss over the Deepwater Horizon mess made a big splash in the Denver Post ... More >>

Get gassed: Pho Bowl opens...inside a Conoco station!

Loir MidsonGas up on pho inside a South Broadway Conoco station​While Denver lays claim to dozens of pho joints, Pho Bowl is the first to reside in a Conoco station. Yes, that's correct: Inside the Conoco station at 3298 South Broadway, there sits a tiny cafeteria-like parlor of pho, just adj ... More >>

Gas-drilling oversight bill killed by the House: What's the fracking point?

Gas well pads.​A bill that sought to increase the reporting process for water-quality complaints related to oil and gas drilling in Colorado died quietly at the statehouse yesterday, with Republican lawmakers insisting that the industry's use of hydraulic fracturing fluids, or "fracking," pose ... More >>

The solution for cleaning up the Gulf is out of this world

Hip-hop hearsay: Xperiment joins Humble Beast, new track from SP Double, F.O.E. and Whygee's Dispensary Music, DJEarAttent's new mixtape and more

Xperiment​ Colorado hip-hop is serious right now, and there's a bunch of cats making moves. Hot on the heels of his runner-up finish to back-to-back winner Boonie Mayfield in the recent Red Bull Big Tune battle, Xperiment is the latest addition to the Humble Beast roster. Based in Portland, O ... More >>

Tonight: Drink beer to help the Gulf Coast Spill Relief Fund

A Flickr photo. ​So that oil spill in the Gulf -- bummer, right? And it's still spewing, and apparently doesn't intent to stop anytime soon. We might be landlocked here in this state, but that doesn't mean no one here cares about the BP disaster; to prove it, Bull & Bush Pub & Brewery, 4700 Ch ... More >>

British Petroleum fined by feds in Colorado case -- three years later

Tony Hayward.​Under fire for its lax supervision of British Petroleum and other offshore drillers, the embattled federal agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service has fined BP $5.2 million for filing "false, inaccurate, or misleading" reports about its energy production in Color ... More >>

Xcel milks bill to bilk customers, fill coffers

aflcio / flickr​ The best of today's Denver blogs Is Xcel using green sentiment to justify hiking its rates for "dirty" power? Face the State makes the case that the legislature is writing the power utility a "giant blank check." 5280 congratulates Colorado schools for getting 29 schools on ... More >>

Ken Salazar getting tough with BP: Too little too late?

New MMS head Michael Bromwich.​The naming of a former prosecutor to head the scandal-plagued Minerals Management Service, coupled with President Barack Obama's lackluster but occasionally pugnacious speech about making British Petroleum "pay" for the oil-slick disaster in the Gulf, suggests th ... More >>

Ken Salazar finds oil spilling from Gulf into Colorado

​The Deepwater Horizon disaster keeps spilling into my inbox, more than 1,300 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, where there's "oil for miles and miles," Attorney General Eric Holder lamented yesterday in New Orleans. Denver is more than 1,300 miles from the Big Easy, but the disaster has spilled ... More >>

Ken Salazar still in hot seat -- but with lots of company

"Bring me the head of Tony Heyward." ​Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is still getting roundly pummeled in the press over the Obama administration's response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. But there's increasing evidence that the administration is trying to shift the falte ... More >>

Ken Salazar under fire: Can he survive the spill?

All systems go, but which way? Out the door?​It was fairly predictable that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar would emerge as the whipping-boy of conservative pundits over the Deepwater Horizon spill. What better symbol of the alleged impotence of the Obama administration than a cowboy-ha ... More >>

BP spill flow much worse than we estimated, says United States Geological Survey director

Marcia McNutt calls the spill a "significant environmental disaster." ​It's official: Even with the corrective measures British Petroleum is undertaking to try to contain the oil leak flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, the massive spill has been flowing at a rate two to four times greater than o ... More >>

Ken Salazar is spinning the Deepwater Horizon debacle

Ken Salazar's role in BP disaster: More spin than reform?

Department of the InteriorThe explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig still hasn't been explained.​The finger-pointing over the massive oil slick threatening the Gulf Coast is spreading almost as fast as the spill itself. While critics on the right chortle over Department of the Interior c ... More >>

Is ConocoPhillips thinking about moving its headquarters to Louisville?

Is something like this coming to Louisville?​Intriguing story in today's Houston Chronicle about Houston-based energy giant ConocoPhillips. Reporter Brett Clanton notes that the firm is downsizing elsewhere, but it recently filed "a preliminary development plan for its 432-acre site in Louisv ... More >>

Crude at the Mayan

End of summer pinot party tonight at Lala's Wine Bar Pizzeria

​While it's still a few weeks before we bid a formal farewell to summer, the wine geeks at Lala's Wine Bar Pizzeria, 410 East Seventh Avenue, see no reason to wait, which, in part, explains why the restaurant and watering hole is hosting an end-of-summer pinot party tonight from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m ... More >>

Xcel Energy, others accused of OSHA violations in incident that killed five

​In October 2007, five employees of RPI Coating Inc. were killed by carbon monoxide generated by a fire at the Cabin Creek Hydro Plant outside Georgetown that's operated by Xcel Energy and Public Service Company of Colorado. Now, a federal grand jury has issued indictments against RPI, Xcel, P ... More >>

Exxon-Mobil: admitted bird killers

Talk about paying at the pump.​Exxon-Mobil had a bad day in court in Denver yesterday. The firm pleaded guilty to killing migratory birds in five states, including Colorado. The size of the fine and community-service payments Exxon-Mobil has agreed to pony up -- $600,000 -- is, to use an avian ... More >>

Ken Salazar wants windmills in the ocean, but first he'll have to save the Interior Department

Crossing Over

How government watchdogs became the energy industry's party animals

Oil Shale Rush Is Déjà Vu All Over Again

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love High Gas Prices

Fighting Mad

Tycoon Jack Grynberg says the energy industry has stolen millions from him -- and billions from the government. What if he's right?

A Mighty Wind

The results of Xcel's wind-power program are still in the air.

Deeper Digging Needed

Gary Austin's one-man Oil is no character gusher.

Oil Strike

Gary Austin's provocative new play comes to Bas Bleu.

Off Limits

Out of the frying pan and into the fire

Power to the People

The answer could be blowing in the wind.

Crouching Greed, Hidden Losses

Lou Pai's contributions to the Enron debacle.

Power Outage

Xcel Energy faces tough financial scrutiny as power companies nationwide feel the heat.

Funky Town

Even though the EPA says Denver's air is getting cleaner, the odor lingers on.

Star Struck

The Broadmoor has a heavenly reputation, but the food falls flat.

Off Limits

A calendar hits the wall.

See You in Court

There's plenty of fuel for lawsuits against gas companies.

Paying the Price

Major gas companies are driving away independent operators, all in the name of greed.

Check, Please!

Readers give our food critic something to chew on.

This State for Sale: A Special Report

The state's oil and gas industry proves that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Minty Fresh

The Tarmints specialize in longtime local Kurt Ottoway's favorite flavors.

A Dry Hole

John Gable drilled for oil and suckers--including the federal government.

A Miner Treasure

Fueling Controversy

Does Texaco discriminate against blacks? Ask Roy Phillips, Denver's black Texaco owner.