Bill aims to increase renewable energy for state

Bill would boost renewable energy use in Colo.

Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 7, 2007 at midnight

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Sun, wind, and plant and animal waste form the centerpiece of a bill introduced Tuesday that would require Colorado to get 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

House Bill 1281 doubles the state's current goal of generating 10 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015, as approved by voters in November 2005. It also bolsters Colorado's strides toward becoming a green energy state.

More renewable energy would not only save millions of dollars for Colorado's electric customers in the coming years but also would create hundreds of jobs and pave the way for rural economic development, proponents say. California and Nevada already have passed aggressive renewable energy targets, and New Mexico is considering a similar bill.

"This bill will provide a boost to the state's renewable energy industry, and electric customers will start to see the benefits," said Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, who sponsored the measure along with Rep. Rob Witwer, a Republican from Genesee.

This year, the local wind industry is on track to hit $1 billion in economic impact and create more than 1,000 jobs.

Wind energy has saved Xcel customers about $14 million in 2004 and 2005, according to the utility. Another study by a local wind industry group estimates savings of $251 million to Xcel customers from wind energy over the next 20 years.

If passed, the bill would increase those benefits, said Craig Cox of the Interwest Energy Alliance, a Denver-based group that lobbies for the wind industry.

"This bill puts the exclamation point on Colorado's leadership ambitions in renewable energy," Cox said.

Gov. Bill Ritter has said doubling the renewable energy standards is "vital to creating a new energy economy here in Colorado and establishing Colorado as a national and global clean-energy leader."

State Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass, will sponsor the bill in the Senate along with 18 co-sponsors, including two Republican senators. Xcel Energy, the state's biggest utility, and rural electric co-operatives support the legislation.

The bill caps the cost to customers at 2 percent of a monthly bill for larger investor-owned utilities such as Xcel and Aquila, and at 1 percent for rural electric co-operatives. The bill puts a lower target for rural co-operatives at 10 percent by 2020 if the cost stays at or below 1 percent of the monthly bill of an average customer.

"It has a very, very good chance of passing," said Will Coyne, program director of Environment Colorado. "It has many bipartisan co-sponsors in the House and the Senate."

Xcel Energy, which is on track to become compliant with the 10 percent mandate by 2008, supports the bill.

The utility is adding 775 megawatts of wind farms to its system this year. That's on top of an existing 282 megawatts. Since wind blows intermittently, Xcel estimates 1 megawatt serves about 330 households.

"We believe (the bill) sets an achievable goal," said Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz.

Ray Clifton of the Colorado Rural Electric Association said he discussed the bill with Pommer and was satisfied that the lawmaker understood it would be unfair to apply the same standards to rural electric co-operatives as Xcel, which has 1.2 million electric customers in Colorado.

The CREA represents 22 rural co-ops across the state, some with fewer than 3,000 customers. Clifton said the CREA would support the bill.

"We are not vertically integrated like Xcel, and we do not have a critical mass of customers like Xcel," Clifton said. "We have to take (renewable energy) in bite sizes, and what has been proposed we all can live with - the big ones and the little ones."

The bill

• Would double Colorado's current goal for electricity from renewable resources, such as sun, wind, and plant and animal waste.

• The current goal: 10 percent by 2015; the new goal: 20 percent by 2020.

• Sponsored by Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, and Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genesee.

• Has bipartisan support in the House and Senate; Gov. Bill Ritter, Xcel Energy and rural electric co-operatives also support it.

• Four percent of the standard, or 0.8 percent of all electricty in 2020, would have to be solar power.

• Includes all rural electric co-operatives for the first time; their renewable energy standard is 10 percent by 2020.Source: Environment Colorado

chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2976

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