Colorado legislature votes Down Rolling Back Renewable Energy Standards

At the start of the 2014 session, Colorado legislators introduced four bills attacking the higher renewable energy standards set for rural electric co-ops in the 2013 session. By Jan. 30, three of the four bills were dead, killed in the first committees to hear them. The renewable energy backlash came in response to Senate Bill 13-252, which passed in the 2013 session under heavy controversy. SB 252 amended the state's existing Renewable Energy Standard for large rural electric co-ops and electric wholesalers serving co-ops. It requires large co-ops and wholesalers to provide 25 percent of their power mix from renewable energy by 2020, up from the previous requirement of 10 percent by 2020. In response, legislators introduced four bills this January that would cut back 252’s requirements. The House Transportation and Energy Committee killed two, House Bills 1067 and 1113, while the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee killed Senate Bill 35. The only active bill is Senate Bill 82, the least aggressive of the four. It focuses on a sliver of the improvements achieved by SB 252, addressing the section governing what is called “distributed renewable energy,” which is the renewable energy systems owned by customers, such as rooftop solar PV. SB 252 requires that 1 percent of large co-op’s total renewable energy come from distributed energy, or 0.75 percent for smaller co-ops. The 2014 legislation, SB 82, would lower that level to 0.5 percent for all rural electric co-ops. SB 82 is sponsored by state Sen. Kevin Grantham, R-Canon City, and 11 other state senators have signed on as co-sponsors. It is assigned to the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee. CLEER is tracking the 17 clean energy bills now moving through the state Legislature on a page on the Garfield Clean Energy website. To learn about all these bills, visit www.GarfieldCleanEnergy.org, and find the “State Legislature” link under the “Government” tab.