Lone Tree
Voice
December 6, 2012 A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlonetreenews.com
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 11, Issue 47
Clean-tech oil-gas firm to begin testing
MERRY AND BRIGHT
Company pioneers cost-efficient, low-emission production process By Chris Michlewicz
cmichlewicz@ourcoloradonews.com
Lone Tree residents Frank and Sheila Jagla take in the magic and festivities of the season at the City of Lone Tree’s first tree-lighting ceremony on Nov. 30 at the Lone Tree Arts Center. The city hopes the event becomes an annual holiday tradition. Photo by Deborah Grigsby
Brauchler taps veteran DA as assistant Hurlbert spent decade leading Fifth District By Rhonda Moore
rmoore@ourcoloradonews.com The district attorney-elect for the 18th Judicial District compares his choice for assistant district attorney to something like drafting a Super Bowl-quality player. George Brauchler, who in January will take the helm of the largest judicial district in the state, named Mark Hurlbert, the sitting district attorney in the Fifth Judicial District, as second-in-command in the 18th. Hurlbert’s name was at the top of the list for Brauchler, who made his decision final after the November election. “It’s almost like going after Peyton Manning,” Brauchler said. “He has veteran experience and he’s also a change agent.” Hurlbert has served as DA since 2002 in the Fifth District, which encompasses Clear Creek, Eagle, Lake and Summit counties. Among the high-profile cases that have crossed Hurlbert’s desk were the Kobe Bryant rape accusation and the sage of Royal “Scoop” Daniel III, an attorney who vanished for more than four years before going to prison for theft of clients’ money. Hurlbert is a native of Dillon who graduated from Dartmouth College and the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder. He will finish his final term in the Fifth District on Jan. 7 and begin his service in the 18th the following day. Among the strengths Hurlbert brings to the office is his experience in a multi-county district, he said. From managing people to balancing a budget to working with elected officials from multiple jurisdictions, Hurlbert’s years in the Fifth District will prove invaluable to Brauchler, he said. “They call me the steel in the velvet,” Hurlbert said. “Sometimes you have to be
Whether for economic or environmental reasons, efforts to extract energy from the nation’s abundant mineral resources have been met by roadblocks. A little-known energy technology company in Parker is breaking down those barriers and stands at the forefront of a new era in domestic energy production. Independent Energy Partners Inc. is in the early stages of rolling out an industry gamechanger, a device that holds tremendous promise in helping the United States harvest energy in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way. The seven-employee firm with offices on Pine Drive is about to turn the oil shale industry upside down with its in-situ Geothermic Fuel Cell, a solid oxide fuel cell unit that heats subterranean rock formations to recover three energy components from “unconventional hydrocarbons,” said Al Forbes, chief executive officer of IEP. The first, accounting for roughly twothirds of the recovered hydrocarbon energy, is a high-quality oil from the processing of kerogen in the shale. The second is natural gas. The third is “baseload green electricity,” captured via the “electrochemical process” of fuel cells. The electricity is produced as a by-product of the process, with nearly 80 percent being surplus and sold to utility or industrial companies, which offsets some of the costs associated with the process and the manufacturing of the high-tech Geothermic Fuel Cells. Perhaps the most exciting aspect is that the unit is designed to operate on a portion of the gases produced during the process, resulting in a low carbon footprint, especially when compared to antiquated methods that are still being used. The GFC becomes a self-sustaining device that requires only a small amount of natural gas to start the process. Independent Energy Partners has spent the last six years quietly forging partnerOil continues on Page 5
District attorney-elect George Brauchler, right, talks about plans for his new role. Brauchler has chosen Mark Hurlbert, the sitting district attorney in the Fifth Judicial District, to be the assistant district attorney. Photo by Courtney Kuhlen
‘They call me the steel in the velvet. Sometimes you have to be hard, sometimes you have to be easy.’ Mark Hurlbert hard, sometimes you have to be easy.” For Hurlbert and his family, the biggest change will be moving from a home that sits five minutes from the base of the Breckenridge ski area to a district that serves nearly 900,000 people, he said. For residents of the 18th District, which covers Douglas, Arapahoe, Elbert and Lincoln counties, the changes could be even greater.
Brauchler ran on a platform of change in the judicial district and Hurlbert symbolizes the start of those changes, Brauchler said. “This was an office in need of some cultural change and that’s change in leadership,” Brauchler said. “You’re going to notice key leadership positions that have the ability to change the culture of prosecution.”
Alan Forbes is CEO of Parker-based Independent Energy Partners Inc. Photo by Courtney Kuhlen
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.