Colorado Senate advances higher renewable-energy standard

Colorado Senate advances higher renewable-energy standard
Denver Business Journal - by Ed Sealover
Friday, March 5, 2010, 2:57pm MST|Modified:Friday,March 5, 2010, 5:46pm

Colorado stands just two steps away from enacting the second-highest standard in the country for renewable-energy production requirements by utilities, and now Gov. Bill Ritter also wants to raise the national bar on cutting air pollution.

The Colorado Senate gave final approval to a bill Friday that would raise from 20 percent to 30 percent the amount of power that Xcel Energy and other investor-owned utilities serving state residents would have to produce from renewable sources. Democrats said the measure would bring jobs, while Republicans said it would drive utility costs through the roof.

The new standard would have to be met by 2020 and would put Colorado behind only California, which mandates that 33 percent of its energy come from renewable sources.

Shortly after that vote, Ritter, environmentalists and officials from Xcel Energy announced that they will introduce the Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act. The legislation, if passed, would require Xcel to cut pollutants greatly by retiring, retrofitting or repowering Front Range coal-fired power plants by the end of 2017 and replacing them with facilities fueled by natural gas and other lower- or non-emitting energy sources.

“Colorado’s New Energy Economy is already leading the country toward a cleaner and more secure energy future,” Ritter said in a statement. “This proposal will keep Colorado at the forefront of America’s energy revolution. It will protect consumers, clean our air and protect public health, and create new jobs by increasing demand for Colorado-produced natural gas.”

The new proposal, for which Ritter already has reached agreement with the utility giant, followed a sometimes caustic debate on the renewable-energy standards bill that spanned eight hours Thursday and nearly four more hours on Friday.

Sponsoring Sens. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, and Bruce Whitehead, D-Hesperus, said the bill, House Bill 1001, would create new renewable-energy jobs. And Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, said the move to American-made sources of energy will help all businesses by no longer making their fuel costs subject to the price fluctuations that come with buying foreign fuel.

“One of the benefits of this bill, among many, is that it’s going to commit to the growth of an industry that is not just short-term job creation but long term,” said Sen. Michael Johnston, D-Denver.

But Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry disputed the job-growth argument, saying that studies have shown that there were 17,000 clean-energy jobs in Colorado in 2007 — less than the 17,200 that existed here in 2001.

And Penry and Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, complained vociferously about a clause in the bill that allows only electricians with certain training and a certain number of apprentices to install new alternative-energy devices like solar panels. Mitchell called it “goodies for labor.”

“There are more words, paragraphs and pages directed toward protecting union jobs than there are to promoting renewable energy,” Penry said.

The bill passed on a 21-13 party-line vote, with Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, not voting because he works for a rural electrical association. The measure now goes back to the House to concur with minor changes made in the Senate and, if approved there, would head to Ritter, who is expected to sign it.

esealover@bizjournals.com | 303-831-0230

All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.