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Publications: Papers & Reports

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Lands

Driving it Home: Choosing the Right Path for Fueling North America’s Transportation Future (2007)
A report by Natural Resources Defense Council, the Pembina Institute, and Western Resource Advocates on the perils of relying on dirty and costly unconventional fuels to satisfy the nation’s need for transportation fuels. The report describes the risks of attempting to extract oil from oil shale, tar sands, or liquid coal; examines the risks for investors of gambling on these dirty fuel sources, and lays out solutions for guiding us toward a cleaner fuel future.

Using Natural Gas More Efficiently: Saving Money and Protecting our Western Way of Life (2005)
This report details how a national effort to use natural gas more efficiently could go a long way toward protecting public lands.

Preserving Our Public Lands (2002) (2.6 MB) A citizen's guide to understanding and participating in oil and gas decisions affecting our public lands (2002 illustrated version)

Ending the Natural Gas Crisis: The Critical Role of Renewables and Efficiency (2001) (55 kb)

Preserving Our Public Lands (2001) (241kb)
A citizen's guide to understanding and participating in oil and gas decisions affecting our public lands (2001 version)

Energy

Investment Risk of New Coal-Fired Power Plants (2008) (2.2 MB) Making billion-dollar investments in new conventional coal-fired power plants entails a risk that costs may not be fully recovered. In particular, there is a potential for costs to significantly exceed the projections used to justify investment in the plant in the first place. Three types of cost escalation “surprises” that are especially important include construction costs, fuel costs, and greenhouse gas emission regulation costs.

A Clean Electric Energy Strategy for Arizona (1.4 mb) The clean energy strategy described in this report can reliably meet Arizona’s growing electricity demands, with very limited emissions of greenhouse gases and at reasonable cost. Load growth can be met with energy efficiency savings, renewable energy, advanced coal generation with greatly reduced CO2 emissions, and natural gas–fired generation. No new pulverized coal power plants are needed.

A Commitment to Serve: A Cooperative Board Member’s Guide to G&T Resource Planning (2007) (2.8 MB)
The decision to commit to new resources is an important one that will leave a legacy for customers for decades to come. Board members play a critical role in determining what that legacy will be and how the electric system will create benefits — and responsibilities — for the system’s members well into the future.

This report highlights the issues, uncertainties, and risks associated with various resource planning options-- information that will help board members participate in the development of their power supplier’s resource plan.

Climate Alert: Cleaner Energy for the Southwest (2007) (890 KB)
If more than a dozen coal-fired power plants planned for Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah begin operating, they would emit global warming pollution equivalent to the tailpipe exhaust of 12.5 million cars driving around the Southwest for a year. The potential for such a huge increase in carbon dioxide emissions is the focus of this new report from Environmental Defense and Western Resource Advocates: “Climate Alert: Cleaner Energy for the Southwest.”

State Clean Energy Policies for the Electric Sector: A Guide for the Rocky Mountain Region (2007) (274 KB). This report was prepared for Western Progress by Western Resource Advocates to help educate key decision-makers in the Rocky Mountain region about the status of clean energy policies.

Tri-State Coal Plants Costly And Not Needed (2006) (2.9 MB)
Western Resource Advocates (WRA) and the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) are challenging a proposal to build three large new coal-fired power plants and associated transmission lines at a cost of $5 billion. The Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s Resource Plan: Analysis and Alternatives finds that there are better ways to meet growing energy demands, and that the proposed new plants are unnecessary.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association's Resource Development Plan: Update 1, Forecast Review and Rate Impacts (2006) (460 KB)
The 44 electric co-ops served by Denver-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission are facing double-digit rate increases for wholesale electricity to pay for Tri-State’s proposed construction of three new coal-fired power plants, according to Western Resource Advocates' new economic study. This update is a follow up to an April 2006 analysis and provides more detailed information.

Western Coal at the Crossroads (2006) (2.1 MB)
This report details the economic stakes for Western states as integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coal technology emerges as an alternative to pulverized coal fired power.

Clearing California's Coal Shadow from the American West (2005)
Released December 2004 in collaboration with Environmental Defense and Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies.

The Balanced Energy Plan for the Interior West (2004)
The Balanced Energy Plan outlines financially sound and environmentally sustainable ways for utilities to pollute less and meet growing energy demands.

Opportunities for Clean Energy for the Colorado Springs Utilities (2003) (pdf 124 kb)

The Path Forward: Cleaner, Healthier Air for Colorado (2003) (pdf 95 kb)

Read our comments on the BLM Wind Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Scoping (2003)

Renewable Energy Atlas of the West (2002)
A Guide to the Region's Resource Potential

The Grassroots are Greener (1999) : A community-based approach to Marketing Green Power (pdf 132 kb)

Colorado Can Benefit from Texas Approach to Renewable Energy (pdf 18 kb)

Ending the Natural Gas Crisis: The Critical Role of Renewables and Efficiency (55 kb)

Water

Smart Savings: Water Conservation Measures that Make Cents (2008) (pdf 685 KB) This report provides water utility managers and the public with information that can
be utilized to gauge the likely effectiveness of a variety of water conservation measures. Each conservation measure represented differs with respect to the number of participants, the water savings achieved, and the utility costs, but all reveal effective ways of reducing water demand.

Front Range Water Meter: Water Conservation Ratings and Recommendations for 13 Colorado Communities (2007) (3 MB) This report evaluates conservation programs in 13 communities along Colorado’s Front Range, with a focus on quality, availability, and cost of conservation efforts, and making specific recommendations for each community.

Hidden Oasis: Water Conservation and Efficiency in Las Vegas (2007) (6.5 MB) This report by Western Resource Advocates and the Pacific Institute that the Las Vegas Valley is sitting on an oasis of water and money savings. The report finds that up to 40% of water could be saved in some sectors through improvements to indoor and outdoor water efficiency.

Urban Water on the Wasatch Front: Past, Present, and Future (2006) (2.4 MB)
Western Resource Advocates released a new report on December 6 outlining ways to meet increasing urban demands for water along Utah’s Wasatch Front. The report — called Urban Water on the Wasatch Front: Past, Present, and Future — highlights the potential for meeting Utah’s urban water supply through conservation and efficiency instead of by building expensive new dams and other water projects.

Water in the Urban Southwest: An Updated Analysis of Water Use in Albuquerque, Las Vegas Valley and Tucson (2006) (4.6 Mb) This report provides new information on water use in these fast growing municipalities and shows that business, schools and resorts are integrating conservation into their day–to-day practices, reducing their demand by millions of gallons each year.

Water Rate Structures in New Mexico: How New Mexico Cities Compare Using this Important Water Use Efficiency Tool (2006) (1.1 MB)
Written by Western Resource Advocates and Professor Denise Fort of The University of New Mexico, this report takes a close look at the wide variety of water rate structures in New Mexico cities, ranging from those that promote efficient water use to those that actually encourage wasteful use.

Water Rate Structures in Utah: How Utah Cities Compare Using This Important Water Use Efficiency Tool (2005)

Water Rate Structures in Colorado: How Colorado Cities Compare in Using this Important Water Use Efficiency Tool (2004)

Water rate structures are becoming an important tool for encouraging the most efficient use of our precious water in the arid West. This report offers a guide to the various pricing options that urban water managers and policymakers can use. It explains which options generate the strongest incentive for efficient water use and yield the fairest billing for consumers who place different levels of strain (demand) on water supply systems. It then compares water rate structures in communities along Colorado’s Front Range and on Colorado’s Western Slope.

Drought Report (2003)(pdf 895 kb)
Western Resource Advocates is an active member in the Colorado Sustainable Water Caucus, a coalition of groups from all over the state working toward a sustainable water future. This Drought Report prepared on behalf of the Caucus includes common-sense alternatives for meeting our future water needs.

Gunnison Basin Water: No Panacea for the Front Range (2003) (pdf 1231 kb)

The Last Straw: Water Use by Power Plants in the Arid West (2003) (pdf 509kb)
This report, co-authored by the Clean Air Task Force and Western Resource Advocates, describes practical opportunities to reduce both water use and water quality impacts from power generation. It examines the close relationship between power generation and water, including water use effects on competing uses, water quality and power system reliability.

SMART WATER: A Comparative Study of Urban Water Use Efficiency Across the Southwest (2003)