Moffat County hosts the first Northwest Colorado Energy Summit

June 3, 2023 Shannon Lukens

By Shannon Lukens. (JOLT Committee members are Matt Shuler, Dr. Lisa Jones, Wendell Koontz, Sue Hansen, Rose Pugliese, and Ray Beck.)

The first Northwest Colorado Energy Summit brought experts in the energy field to Craig for a two-day gathering at the Quality Inn in Craig. A group called JOLT organized the Energy Summit. JOLT stands for Joint Organizations Leading Transition.

Former Moffat County Commissioner Ray Beck says the mission of the summit is to advocate, communicate, and educate (ACE) about options for energy.

“We’re informing and educating the public, elected officials both on the state side and the local side, industry leaders, community leaders, business leaders, and so on and so forth. (We’re) planting seeds of opportunity, because now is the time.”

The power plants and coal mines in Moffat County and in Colorado have been mandated to shut down in the next seven years.

David Bernhard is the former U.S. Secretary of Interior. He’s from Rifle. He attended the conference and was also a speaker.

“To see how interested people are in the future, thinking about things that they can do for the future, and also recognizing some of the challenges communities have, I think that’s really really important and I am really thrilled to have the opportunity to be here.”