Colorado’s New Energy Future

Environment Colorado’s “Go Solar” Package:

Expanding Access and Opportunity for Participation in the New Energy

HB08-1350 Economy Solar Financing Program: This legislation would give the Clean Energy Development Authority the authorization to issue federal, tax-exempt bonds to create a first-in-the-nation statewide financing program to lend homeowners the money they need for renewable energy and energy-efficient home improvements. By allowing homeowners to eliminate the up-front cost by allowing them to pay the cost of a renewable system over time, more Coloradans will be able to participate in building the new energy economy. (Sponsored by Rep. Alice Madden, D-Boulder and Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver)

HB08-1160 Homegrown Renewable Energy: Coloradans statewide should have the opportunity to participate in building the new energy economy, which means extending the building blocks for homegrown renewable energy to customers of the Rural Electric Co-ops as well as the municipal utilities.  his includes offering a standard rebate for installation of a solar system, and fairly compensating ratepayers for any excess energy that wind, solar or geothermal renewable energy systems generate and return to the utility. (Sponsored by Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton and Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont)

SB08-117 Predictable Solar Permitting: A complement to the homegrown energy bill, this legislation will remove another barrier to the widespread installation of solar systems on rooftops across Colorado. The bill caps the fee that can be charged to permit a residential or commercial solar system at a reasonable amount, providing a level playing field across the state. Not only does this keep costs down for consumers who are already making a significant financial commitment to help build this new economy, but predictable and fair permitting fees will provide consistency and help the continued growth of the solar industry. (Sponsored by Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch and Sen. Shawn Mitchhell, R-Broomfield)

HB08-1164 Solar Power Plants: This legislation will create a framework for more large solar power plants to be built in Colorado. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is directed to encourage utility-scale solar in order to utilize our vast solar resources, take advantage of economies of scale, and obtain clean power that matches more closely with daily electricity demand. The bill also allows the PUC to give full consideration to the likelihood of a future price tag for carbon dioxide when evaluating utility proposals to acquire particular resources. This will introduce carbon as an important value to be considered in the resource planning process, further laying the framework for clean solar power plants to be competitive. (Sponsored Rep.  Judy Solano,  D-Brighton and  Sen. Gail  Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village)

Preserving Our Forests and Wild Places

HB08-1161 Clean waters, healthy lands: Uranium claims on public lands have soared from 120 in 2003 to 10,730 in 2007. To protect wild lands such as Dolores River Canyon, we’re closing loopholes in our state’s mining laws to ensure that all uranium mining projects are “Designated Mining Operations” and therefore subject to strong environmental and public health protections. This bill will also protect working landscapes and Colorado’s farmers and ranchers by setting strong groundwater standards for “in-situ leach” uranium mining by requiring mining companies to clean up any pollution left from these projects. (Sponsored by Rep. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins; Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins and Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins)

HB08-1165 Protect Communities and Waters from Toxic Mining: The use of toxic mining practices can have a devastating impact on local communities, as shown by the 1992 Summitville mine cyanide spill that killed 17 miles of the Alamosa River. This bill reaffirms the right of counties and cities to protect their communities from dangerous mining practices, and also lifts the veil of secrecy around exploratory mining operations, putting Colorado on par with other Western states by providing information on new projects that can affect communities and the environment. The bill also makes modest changes to the Mined Land Reclamation Board by adding  a new seat for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and one for local government, to ensure that proper attention is paid to concerns of public health, the environment and local communities. (Sponsored by Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins; John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, and Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont)

Global Warming Solutions

Clean Fuels for Colorado: Clean fuels will reduce global warming pollution from Colorado’s transportation sector, which accounts for nearly one-third of the state’s global warming pollution. By 2012, Colorado should adopt a low-carbon fuel standard to insure that we are burning cleaner, less carbon-intensive fuels in our cars and trucks. Adopting a low carbon fuel standard (the Renewable Energy Standard for vehicle fuels) will make Colorado an early leader in the next stage of the new energy economy. It is time to invest in a new, clean, homegrown fuel economy that lowers the carbon-intensity of our transportation fuels 10 percent by 2020.

HB08-1107 Statewide Utility Efficiency Program: Gov. Ritter has asked Coloradans to join together to combat global warming. Investing in efficiency is the easiest, most inexpensive way for ordinary Coloradans to contribute to this goal. This legislation calls for municipal utilities and Rural Electric Co-ops to invest 2 percent of their retail receipts in cost-effective energy effi ciency programs for their customers, starting in 2010. With this program, Colorado is proejected to save annually the amount of energy needed to power 170,000 houses by 2020, and reduce global warming pollution by 1.4 million metric tons per year by 2020. Colorado can be at the forefront with real global warming solutions that will save consumers money. (Sponsored by  Rep. Claire  Levy, D-Boulder and  Sen.  Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver)