Colorado 6th for solar-energy jobs

Colorado's solar industry has 3,600 direct jobs, ranking the state sixth in the nation, according to a nationwide survey on the industry's employment creation. The survey from the nonprofit Solar Foundation says most Colorado solar jobs are in installation and manufacturing. It says Colorado has 266 solar companies, and that the per-capita ratio of solar workers to total employment is one to 755, seventh highest in the nation. The Washington, D.C.-based Solar Foundation says Colorado ranks fifth in the nation for the number of homes powered by solar, at 43,048, and eighth for its "maximum solar resource." Nationwide, the report finds a national solar employment base at the end of 2012 of more than 119,000 jobs, an increase of 13.2 percent from 2011. California ranked first with the number of solar jobs and solar jobs per capita, followed by Arizona. The Solar Foundation has compiled the information into a solar map that will be used to track solar jobs in the coming years. "These jobs figures demonstrate that the U.S. solar industry remains a powerful source of job creation," said Andrea Luecke, Solar Foundation director. "In comparing our estimates with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we find that California now has more solar workers than actors and that there are more solar jobs in Texas than there are ranchers. Economies of scale are also making our industry more labor efficient, requiring only one-third the number of workers to install a megawatt of solar today as it did in 2010." Rounding out the top 10 are New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New York, Texas, Michigan and Ohio.

Colorado bill to put more solar in rural parts of state moves forward

While Colorado requires its investor-owned utilities to source 30 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2020, the large state has a lot of smaller municipal and electric co-ops that—at least till now—have only had to source 10 percent of their power from renewables by 2020. Now that Colorado Senate Bill 252 recently passed its second reading in the state Senate, that may be slated to change. The would increase the amount of renewable energy, like solar, wind, geothermal and biomass, that co-op would have to keep in their generation portfolio to 25 percent by 2020. Under the legislation, “The standard is effectively raised for large co-ops like Tri-State Generation & Transmission (which supplies most of the state's co-ops) and the large co-ops like Intermountain Rural Electric,” said Colorado Renewable Energy Society CEO Lorrie McAllister. “The investor owned utilities were starting from 20 percent and increased to 30 percent by 2020 in 2010. The rural electric cooperatives are starting from 10 percent and have until 2020 (7 years) to reach the 25 percent standard,” McAllister said. “They have a relatively greater distance to go in a shorter timeframe. It is definitely achievable, but we didn't want to create a hardship for the co-ops." The bill is supported by at least some of the Senators who represent regions with co-op utilities. “Senator Gail Schwartz, one of the bill's main sponsors, serves Chaffee, Delta, Eagle, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Lake and Pitkin counties, all of which are served by rural electric co-ops,” McAllister said. While investor-owned utilities provide power for most of the market in Colorado—Xcel Energy is the state’s largest utility, the co-op and municipal utilities service a wide swath of the state. If passed by the House and Senate, the legislation would help ensure that the state’s momentum toward cleaner energy continues. And that even as Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy (the state’s two investor-owned utilities) meet their renewable portfolio requirements, that the jobs created in the renewable energy sector are kept.

Bill increasing renewable standard for rural co-ops passes committee

A move to bolster Colorado's renewable energy standard by requiring an increase in renewable power for rural electric cooperatives was approved late Monday by a state legislative committee after nearly seven hours of debate. The target of the legislation, which would require that 25 percent of electricity come from renewable sources, is not the small, rural cooperatives but Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association. Tri-State, Colorado's second-largest utility, provides wholesale electricity to 18 rural cooperatives serving more than a million customers and currently has a 10 percent renewable power requirement. "Tri-State provides about 20 percent of the state's electricity, but it really hasn't had to meet the same standards as other big utilities," said John Nielsen, energy program director at Western Resource Advocates an environmental policy center. The bill — sponsored by Senate President John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver — passed on a 3-2 party line vote in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. Colorado's two investor-owned utilities — Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy — must by state law generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Tri-State and rural electric cooperative officials told the committee that the 25 percent target by 2020 was asking for too much to fast. "If enacted will cost Tri-State between $2 and $4 billion in the next six years," Rick Gordon, chairman of Tri-State's board, testified. At $3 billion, Gordon estimated that it could boost rates 20 percent. Ron Binz, the former chairman of the state Public Utilities Commission and an industry analyst, disputed Tri-State's cost estimates, noting that Xcel has paid much less for its wind power. Tri-State's figures were "incredible," Binz said. "As in not believable." The bill was strongly supported by environmental groups and the renewable energy industry, which said that it would boost investment and jobs in the state. With Xcel projected to meet its renewable standard through 2028 and other utilities meeting their targets, renewable energy has stalled in Colorado. In 2011, Colorado was fifth in the solar installations, but was 12th in 2012, said T.J Slocum, regional manager for REC Solar, a solar installation company. "We've been a leader. We've slipped," he said. The officials from rural cooperatives and rural counties called the bill "a war on rural Colorado." "I own a bar. I'd like you to pass a law that everyone has to drink 25 percent more. Everyone is feathering their own nest," Moffat County Commissioner Tom Mathers said. The bill also includes a provision to count fugitive methane emissions from coal mines as eligible for being included as a renewable energy resource. State and federal environmental officials as well as environmental groups have been trying to promote efforts to capture the gas which is an air pollutant.

Solar plane prepares for flight across America

A solar-powered plane that has delighted aviation fans in Europe is preparing to fly across North America. The Swiss creators of the Solar Impulse plan to announce Thursday which U.S. cities the experimental plane will visit during its "Across America" tour that kicks off in May. Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will display the aircraft and discuss the cross-country voyage at a news conference at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View. The Solar Impulse is powered by about 12,000 photovoltaic cells that cover its massive wings and allow it to fly day and night without jet fuel. It has the wing span of a commercial airplane but the weight of a family car, making it vulnerable to bad weather. Solar Impulse is planning an around-the-world flight in 2015.