Boebert asks energy secretary to halt NIETC designation in Colorado and New Mexico
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 11, 2025 – Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is the first member of the Colorado Congressional delegation to send a letter to newly minted Secretary of Energy – and fellow Coloradoan – Chris Wright asking Sec. Wright to recognize the lack of transparency and inability of landowners to provide comments about the department's proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) (Pronounced nit-see) designation.
Boebert said the disregard for the public comment period is typical of the Biden administration and in this case, the public comment period ends Feb. 14, leaving little time for landowners to oppose to what she calls a massive land grab.
Baca, Kiowa, and Prowers County combine to contribute $504 million in ag sales annually, an important part of local economies Boebert said should be protected.
"I know Sec. Wright knows just how vital this is and how vital the role he plays in this is to protect private property rights and rural economies and agriculture," she said. "He values Coloradans and their private property rights. I'm sure he sees that this flies in the face of President Trump's executive order to Unleash American Energy."
In her letter, Boebert said the NIETC is not about strengthening our energy grid—it's about forcing a progressive radical climate agenda on rural America with no regard for the people who actually live and work there" and asked him to halt further actions in Colorado. The three remaining sites are the most rural and least populated.
"If you look at the left's policies anywhere, local, state, or federal, there's always some disdain, as you say, for our rural communities," she said. "We hear about the urban rural divide all the time and I have been fighting for rural Coloradans and rural Americans for several years now. This is just another reckless push for ineffective green energy policies and it really is at the expense of rural landowners – our farmers, our ranchers."
The proposed NIETC corridors span 5 to 15 miles in width. If approved, in New Mexico about 2 million acres of mostly private property would be transferred to the control of the federal government potentially via eminent domain. In Colorado, farmers, ranchers, and rural residents stand to lose control of 325,000 acres in Baca, Prowers, and Kiowa Counties.
"It will strip rural landowners of decision-making authorities over their own land, forcing compliance with these extreme green energy policies," she said. "This is not something I'm hearing from Coloradans that they are in favor of, and I hope Sec. Wright steps in and puts a halt to this."
In her letter, Boebert said the NIETC is not about strengthening our energy grid—it's about forcing a progressive radical climate agenda on rural America with no regard for the people who actually live and work there" and asked him to halt further actions in Colorado. She said the previous administration's proposed NIETCs are "yet another example of top-down federal overreach, allowing bureaucrats in D.C. to seize private property in the name of an energy transition that doesn't work and isn't wanted. I have heard directly from local officials and constituents over the past week who have expressed their frustration with the process and currently do not see any benefit to what amounts to a significant federal land grab."
"The amount of agriculture and ranching that comes out of these rural communities is really what keeps Colorado's economy strong," she said. "I'm sending this letter on behalf of the people in Baca, Kiowa, and Prowers Counties to make sure they have a voice, even if the administration that was leading this charge before wasn't allowing it."
Source: Rachel Gabel, The Fence Post Magazine and Western Ag Network
