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Energy Bills Advance in the Legislature
March 26, 2007
The Colorado Legislature continues to move energy
legislation forward in its 2007 session. On Tuesday, the Colorado
Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee approved House Bill (HB)
1281, which doubles the renewable energy requirement of electric
utilities from 10% in 2015 to 20% in 2020. The bill calls for rural
electric cooperatives to obtain 10% of their electricity from
renewable energy resources by 2020. And it encourages local
communities to develop clean energy projects, such as, for example,
those initiated by municipal utilities and electric cooperatives.
The Colorado Senate is expected to take up the measure as soon as
this week.
The measure's sponsors include Colorado Senator Gail
Schwartz (D-Snowmass Village) and Representatives Jack Pommer
(D-Boulder) and Rob Witwer (R-Genesee). Environment Colorado is
heading up the lobbying effort supporting the bill at the Capitol.
Environment Colorado Executive Director Matt Baker said, “The
support of Xcel Energy, the Colorado Rural Electric Association,
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, labor organizations, and renewable
energy providers has been instrumental in the progress this measure
has made in recent weeks.” For more about HB-1281, see an article in
the February 23 edition of the Denver Post that was written by Post
Staff Writer Steve Raabe and titled “Green Group Says Energy Bill
Would Aid Economy.”
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_5285087
On March 2, the Colorado House passed Senate Bill
100, which would allow utilities to recoup their investment in
transmission lines to areas with good renewable energy resources as
construction proceeds instead of waiting until construction is
complete. For example, Colorado’s Eastern Plains have very good wind
resources, but there is little or no available transmission capacity
from these areas to the population centers on the Front Range. Under
this bill, utilities can include building transmission capacity to
improve the grid in their rate structure that they charge customers.
On March 5, the Colo. Senate passed Senate Bill 51,
which requires state-funded buildings to obtain with the U.S. Green
Buildings Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
certification. Under this standard, the buildings are expected to
consume 37% less energy and 42% less water.
Also on March 5, the House Transportation and Energy
Committee passed HB-1037, which directs the state’s regulated
utilities, Xcel Energy in Denver and Aquila in Pueblo, to offer
energy efficiency programs to all customers. The bill, which is
sponsored by Representative Levy (D-Boulder), is very similar to the
ones vetoed by former Colorado Governor Bill Owens during the last
two years. The efficiency programs would be similar to the one that
Xcel runs in Minnesota.
Last week, the Colo. House passed HB-1146, which
requires Colorado counties and municipalities that have an energy
building code standard to meet or exceed the requirements of the
2003 International Energy Conservation Code. For more information,
see an article in the March 6 edition of the Rocky Mountain News
that was written by Gargi Chakrabarty and titled “Collection of
Energy Bills Moving Forward”
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/energy/article/0,2777,DRMN_23914_5397105,00.html . |
