Governor Signs New Energy Economy Legislation
Today Governor Bill Ritter signed two significant pieces of renewable energy legislation to move Colorado’s New Energy Economy forward.
House Bill 1281, sponsored by Senator Gail Schwartz and Representative Jack Pommer, doubles the renewable energy standard created by 2004’s Amendment 37. Large utilities must now generate 20% of their electrical output from renewable sources by 2020, instead of 10%. Municipal utilities and rural electrical generators must achieve 10% renewable production by 2020; they were not covered by the goals set by Amendment 37.
One study showed that House Bill 1281 would provide $50 million in lease payments to farmers, ranchers and other landowners and increase employment by 4,100 person-years.
Senate Bill 100, sponsored by Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald and Represenative Buffie McFadyen requires electric utilies to designate “Energy Resource Zones” every two years - areas where potential electricity generation from wind sources is impeded by insufficient transmission capacity. Utilities would then have to increase transmission capacity from those areas; they would be permitted to recover construction costs.
Both bills enjoyed bi-partisan support. House Bill 1281 passed the House 59-5 and the Senate 27-8. Senate Bill 100 passed the Senate 33-2 and the House 63-2.
To read the full text of the bills:
March 28th, 2007 at 8:38 am
Congratulations to Governor Ritter, and all those who supported these vital pieces of legislation in the General Assembly.
Who were the few NO votes on these bills? Haven’t those elected officials learned from these past two election cycles that Coloradans do not want more of the same, but rather a new renewable energy?
March 28th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
The House and Senate showed great courage in passing this legislation. Many people thought that the pressure of the electric cooperatives was too strong to allow a legislated mandate of 10 percent generation from renewable sources. Intermountain REA was especially resistant. Welcome to Amendment 37!