How can Holy Cross Energy possibly leap this high?

Let’s start with the obvious. e sun doesn’t always shine and, except for springtime in Colorado, the wind doesn’t always blow.

So how can Holy Cross Energy, which serves the Vail, Aspen, and Ri e areas, achieve 92% emissionfree energy in 2024? Last year it was 50%.

And if Holy Cross can do it, what is possible for utilities serving Crested Butte and Steamboat Springs, Holyoke and Crestone, Sterling and Pueblo?

By the way, Holy Cross still owns 8% of Colorado’s newest coal plant, Comanche 3.

Directors of Holy Cross several

BIG PIVOTS a major question in this energy transition. Coal plants, if sometimes down, are far more reliable than wind and sunshine. Now we’re hurriedly closing those high-priced and polluting plants. Natural gas can respond quickly to demand. However, those plants are costly and pollute, too.

Do we need more natural gas plants?

Allen Best years ago adopted what seemed like the audacious goal of achieving 100% emissions-free power by 2030. Municipal utilities serving Aspen and Glenwood springs already have 100% renewables, but do not own their own generation. I expected small steps. Wind and solar have become far less expensive than coal or gas. But what about windless, sunless days?

Resource adequacy has become

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

SCOTT TAYLOR Metro North Editor staylor@coloradocommunitymedia.com

BELEN WARD Community Editor bward@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Colorado’s two largest electrical providers, Xcel Energy and Tri-State Generation and Transmission, both say they can reduce carbon emissions 80% carbon by 2030 as compared to 2005 levels. But both have refrained from embracing higher, short-term goals.

STEVE SMITH Sports Editor ssmith@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com

TERESA ALEXIS Marketing Consultant Classified Sales talexis@coloradocommunitymedia.com

AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Tri-State, which delivers power to 17 of the state’s 22 electrical cooperatives, warns of ambitions outpacing realities. Duane Highley, the chief executive, likens resource adequacy to a “big bad wolf.” e Western Energy Coordinating Council in December warned that Western states risked having insu cient resources by 2025 to meet electric demand on the grid they share.

Storage will be crucial. Lithiumion batteries, if increasingly more affordable, can store electricity for just a few hours. We need technologies that can store energy for days if not weeks. Xcel Energy will be testing

SEE BEST, P9

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Thu 4/20

Birthday Celebration (Apr)

@ 7pm Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Colorado Rapids vs. St. Louis City SC @ 7:30pm / $25-$999

DICK'S Sporting Goods Park, 6000 Victory Way, Commerce City

Dave Mensch - Floodstage Ale Works - Brighton, CO @ 8pm

Flood Stage Ale Works, 170 S Main St, Brighton

Damn Yankees @ 7:30pm Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada

Fri 4/21

Nerf War @ 12:30am

Apr 21st - Apr 20th

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Little Nature Creators @ 7pm

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-2893760

Sat 4/22

Sun 4/23

RMRR Spring Marathon Training Series - 2023 #2 @ 8am / $15-$25

Platte River TrailHead Park, 88th and Col‐orado, Thornton

John Brewster Music: Cristos Coffee Boutique Roastery & Cafe (Solo) @ 11am

Cristos Coffee Boutique Roastery & Cafe, 149 S Briggs St, Erie

Dinner Out "The Post" (4/24) @ 10pm Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Tue 4/25

Spring Stroll Series Sand Creek Trail @ 4pm Offsite, 6060 E Parkway Drive, Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Ryan Hutchens at Bar AC @ 6pm Bar AC, 750 15th St, Denver Hiking Program- Mount Falcon @ 7pm Offsite, 6060 E Parkway Drive, Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Wed 4/26

Wild Love Tigress @ Odde's Music Grill

@ 8pm

Odde's Music Grill, 9975 Wadsworth Pkwy, Westminster

100 Things to Do Before You're 12 @ 11pm

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-2893760

2023 Great Global Cleanup @ 8am

Westminster City Park Recreation Center, 10455 Sheridan Boulevard, Westminster. pwright@cityofwest minster.us, 303-658-2389

Colorado Symphony Orchestra @ 1pm

Boettcher Hall, 1000 14th Street, Denver

Mon 4/24

Food Chain Pollution with Lincoln Hills Cares @ 3pm Anythink Huron Street, 9417 Huron Street, Thornton. swhitelonis@any thinklibraries.org, 303-452-7534

Coors Brewery Tour (4/26) @ 4pm Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Keith Hicks @ 7pm Woods Boss Brewing, 2210 California St, Denver Riding Carpets @ 8pm Lost Lake Lounge, 3602 E Colfax Ave, Denver

Thu 4/27

Earth Day: Habitat for Pollinators @ 9am

Standley Lake Regional Park & Wildlife Refuge, 11610 West 100th Avenue, Westminster. prl@city ofwestminster.us, 303-658-2794

Bird Conservancy Bird Walk - April @ 9am / Free Bird Conservancy's Environmental Learn‐ing Center, 14500 Lark Bunting Lane, Brighton. 303-659-4348 ext. 53

Pollinator Gardens with CSU Extension @ 5:30pm

Anythink Brighton, 327 East Bridge Street, Brighton. rbowman @anythinklibraries.org, 303-4053230

DnD Adventure Club- The Moldy Library @ 8pm Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-2893760

Justin Garber Live at Odde's Music Grill @ 6pm Odde's Music Grill, 9975 Wadsworth Pkwy, Westminster

BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

In a state that has over 400 breweries and almost 100 distilleries, approaching the topic of sobriety can be a hard conversation for many people to have.

But with low-key, no-fuss non-alcoholic options at many establishments across the metro, it doesn’t have to be a big deal if you don’t want to drink, whatever your reasons.

Mocktails that you wouldn’t even know were NA

Golden Moon Speakeasy in Golden uses all its own distilled spirits and creates unique craft cocktails at’s all the more reason that general manager Kayla Veatch sees to o er quality, non-alcoholic options.

“My overall philosophy when I changed the menu was to have the same options as the alcohol menu,” Veatch said.

So no, you won’t have to order a water if you’re the designated driver. e mocktails at Golden Moon use highly steeped teas to replace alcohol and utilize many of the same syrups and NA ingredients the cocktails use.

Mocktails are a great option for people ready to slow down on alcohol for the night, people taking certain medications, pregnant people and people exploring sobriety, Veatch said. e speakeasy even serves mocktails to children before 9 p.m.

Having an inclusive menu makes an establishment like this a gathering place for groups, Veatch explained.

“People can still come together….if I didn’t have mocktails, I wonder if they would still be excited to come,” she said about group members who don’t consume alcohol.

Some of the mocktails Veatch makes include the Cloud City, which features an earl grey tea base, ginger, lemon and elder ower, or the Cheshire Cat, which features a butter y pea ower tea base, passionfruit juice and lime. Veatch even makes a copycat smoked whiskey.

Golden Moon Speakeasy is located at 1111 Miner’s Alley in Golden.

An alcohol alternative

For those looking for another NA drink option, perhaps with health bene ts, kombucha has been a popular choice.

Kombucha has been added as an option at many breweries, bars and co ee shops around Colorado; but Marc Gaudreault owns one of only two kombucha tap rooms on the front range.

Before the pandemic, the Trubucha tap room in Lone Tree had space for people to sit inside and enjoy a glass of kombucha. According to Gaudreault, Trubucha actually grew during the pandemic, and the demand for his product is so great he needs most of his shop space for fermenting the kombucha in huge vats.

Still, Trubucha boasts 31 taps in the store and has a spacious patio for people to enjoy kombucha, lemonade, ginger beer or cold brew.

So, what is kombucha? Put simply, Gaudreault explained, it’s lightly fermented tea. But the health bene ts are much more lengthy, he said. Most notably, the drink has an abundance of natural probiotics,