Colorado regulators seize the climate fight in landmark ruling on carbon costs

Just as the federal government is hitting the brakes on climate change mitigation, a number of states are stepping up their efforts.State efforts to expand renewable energy through mandates and incentives are well known, as are attempts to save nuclear generation from early retirement through subsidies. But in the middle of the country, one state is taking climate mitigation a step further through integrating a price on carbon into utility planning processes.This spring, Colorado utility regulators issued a landmark decision requiring Xcel Energy to include the health and environmental costs of greenhouse gas emissions in its integrated resource plans.