I appreciate and value the Summit Daily News covering articles of local interest such as the story titled “‘This settlement is not good’: Residents express concern about what local officials didn’t advocate for in recent Xcel Energy agreement.” However, the community would be even better served if the Summit Daily went the extra mile to cover both or multiple sides of such issues.

The article cites three residents all opposed to the project that is attempting to address a natural gas supply shortfall for the county. All of these residents oppose the project on environmental grounds favoring renewable energy sources. The Summit Daily provided information for two of the residents citing their environmental backgrounds implying subject matter expertise but ignoring their potential biases.

One source states that natural gas is more expensive than renewable energy sources, citing spurious rationale. The relative costs of available energy sources is a complex analysis wherein renewable sources are generally more expensive than natural gas, once generous renewable subsidies are taken into account.

Each of the residents in question favor accelerated phaseout of fossil fuels. The complete replacement of fossil fuels with renewables is a fantasy and a fallacy. Wind and solar energy are by their nature unreliable intermittent sources. These renewable sources of energy must be backstopped by fossil fuels if you desire 24/7 energy availability when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.

Lastly, when advocating eliminating natural gas service, there needs to be recognition of the extraordinary costs of replacing gas furnaces, water heaters and stoves. These are complex issues of extreme importance to county residents. They deserve thorough reporting and a more comprehensive analysis.