|
March 13, 2008
Net Metering
Bill Passes Legislature
By a vote of
30 – 3, the Colorado Senate passed a bill last week that establishes
net metering statewide and sent it to the governor to sign.
House Bill (HB-1160) was the first of a two-part "go solar"
legislative package under consideration by the legislature in 2008.
Both bills are sponsored in the house by Judy Solano (D-Brighton),
and HB-1160 is sponsored in the senate by Brandon Schaffer
(D-Longmont).
The previous
week, the Senate Committee on Agriculture passed HB-1160 unanimously
after electric cooperatives lifted their opposition to the bill as
part of a compromise agreement. The compromise involves rural
cooperatives allowing net metering for customer-sited renewable
energy systems with rated capacities of less than 10 kilowatts (kW)
for homes and 25 kW for businesses. In return, cooperatives
can disconnect distributed generators from the grid during periods
of high irrigation in the summer when distribution lines are
operating at or near capacity.
Solano said
that passage of HB-1160 will bring jobs to rural Colorado.
Solano points out that despite 300 days of sun annually and lots of
wind, 40% of Coloradans currently have difficulty connecting their
home or business renewable energy systems to the larger utility
grid. Statewide standards growing out of HB-1160 will put an end to
this disparity.
For
background on the vote, read an article published February 29 in the
Fort Morgan Times and titled "Co-ops Reverse Opposition to Net
Metering."
http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/articles/2008/02/29/
news/local_news/kc%20mason-coops.txt
Last week,
the Colorado House Transportation and Energy Committee approved the
second of the "go-solar" bills, HB-1164, which directs the Colorado
Public Utilities Commission to consider the benefits of solar power
when it hears capacity expansion cases. For more information,
read an article published in the March 6 edition of The Denver
Business Journal and titled "Sun Rises on Solar Power Bill."
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/
stories/2008/03/03/daily44.html
In other
actions, the Colorado House of Representatives passed HB-1107 by a
single vote at the end of February. HB-1107, which was
sponsored by Representative Claire Levy (D-Denver), would require
rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities with more than
5,000 customers to spend at least 2% of their sales on energy
efficiency programs by 2010.
Levy calls
her bill consumer friendly because energy efficiency programs save
consumers money. Opponents argue against the bill on
philosophical grounds that government has no role in regulating
rural electricity markets and that energy efficiency programs will
raise rates for all cooperative customers. Representative Cory
Gardner (R-Yuma) said, "I'm opposed to rebates for the rich," which
will presumably be paid by other cooperative members.
Governor's
Energy Office Director Tom Plant has not taken a position on
HB-1167. The Senate is scheduled to take it up this month,
where the bill's fate is uncertain.
|
