Over the past few years Colorado has become a national leader in the New Energy Economy, passing a 20 percent renewable energy standard, generating more than $10 billion in gross revenues and 88,000 jobs through investments in clean energy. Colorado has the potential to fully realize the benefits of a clean energy economy in the next few decades, with estimates showing that the state could generate up to 600,000 new jobs and $62 billion in revenue by 2030 in the renewable energy and efficiency fields.

In 2009, the conservation community worked to expand upon these successes by prioritizing legislation to:

• Expand Colorado’s clean energy production and increase energy efficiency;
• Expand sustainable transportation options for Coloradans; and
• Safeguard our water, wildlife, and communities from the impacts of oil and gas drilling.

Overall the Colorado State Legislature kept a sharp focus on building the New Energy Economy as a strategy for spurring economic development and creating jobs amidst the economic recession while also making a long-term investment in Colorado’s future.

HIGHLIGHTS

The legislature passed a suite of solar bills, including House Bill (HB) 1149 to make solar a standard option on all new homes, HB 1312 to create a low-interest loan fund for schools to invest in renewable energy improvements such as wind and solar systems, and HB 1126 which extends the sales and use tax exemption to heat water using solar power. The legislature passed HB 1345 which creates a framework to build transmission lines so Colorado can meet our renewable energy needs and export clean power.

In addition, Senate Bill (SB) 39 passed allowing rural electric cooperatives to create market-based incentives to drive smarter energy use, save customers money, and cut energy use.

The legislature also passed landmark legislation, HB 1292, to protect Colorado’s water, wildlife, and communities from the impacts of oil and gas drilling. The legislation marks the end of a two-year long effort that included support from sportsmen, conservationists, local government officials, public health advocates, and rural landowners.

Ensuring that impacts of oil and gas drilling are minimized is essential to protect water supplies and preserve the state’s $10 billion a year outdoor recreation industry.

Colorado also made important steps toward modernizing and maintaining a 21st Century transportation infrastructure with SB 108 or FASTER, which marked a turning point for state transportation policy by dedicating $15 million annually to transit, bike and pedestrian safety.

LOWLIGHTS

The legislature had mixed success advancing energy efficiency solutions. Energy efficiency plays a key role in green recovery efforts because investments create jobs while cutting energy use for homes and businesses, allowing for more money to go into local economies. Investing in energy efficiency is the cleanest, cheapest way to meet our electricity demand.

While a measure to allow rural electric cooperative to implement tiered pricing rate passed, HB 1323 – which would have required large rural electric cooperatives to create energy efficiency programs similar to those already offered by Excel Energy – failed in the House. The bill failed due in large part to lobby efforts by Intermountain Rural Electric Association, the state’s largest electric cooperative known for funding efforts to fight clean energy investment and global warming solutions. The bill would have saved $85 million and created 200 new jobs.

CONCLUSION

Over the past three years Colorado has gone from laggard to leader in installed renewable energy and cutting-edge energy efficiency programs. The legislature has played a key role is this transformation. This year the state continued to make significant progress by investing in clean energy, green transportation and protections from the most harmful impacts of oil and gas drilling. Despite these successes, much work remains to be done. We need to move from creating a framework to execution of a clean energy transmission infrastructure. We need to continue to push our utilities to produce more of their electricity from renewable sources. And, we mush ensure that all Coloradans can benefit from energy efficiency investments.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Every year the scorecard highlights key conservation votes taken by the legislature, but many times important decisions are made by a small number of legislators in committees who decide whether or not a bill moves forward to a full vote.

In 2009, the conservation community defeated nearly a dozen anti-environmental bills in committee with a combination of advocacy, constituent calls and letters, and strong leadership from key members of the legislature.

While we don’t score these decisions, they are important and have significant impact on Colorado’s environment. Below are brief highlights of some of the bills that were defeated in committee. This year many of these bills sought to support the oil and gas industry at the expense of protections to our water, wildlife, and communities.

HB 1167, sponsored by Representative Wes McKinley and Senator Kevin Lundberg, would have prohibited the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from creating rules to protect wildlife if the rules adversely impacted oil and gas drilling. The bill was defeated in the House Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources.

SB 04, sponsored by Senator Greg Brophy and Representative Laura Bradford, would have put a one year moratorium on the implementation of critical new oil and gas protections for water, wildlife, and communities. The bill was defeated in the Senate Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs.

HB 1255, sponsored by Representative Cory Gardner and Senator Mike Kopp, would have allowed oil and gas operators to proceed with drilling without consulting with the Department of Natural Resources or the Division of Wildlife to determine if wildlife would be negatively impacted. The bill was defeated in the House Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources.

SB 220, sponsored by Senator Kevin Lundberg and Representative Kent Lambert, would have created an unfair tax loophole for commercial oil shale producers, despite the fact that oil shale production is not commercially viable and the energy and water requirements are unknown. The bill was defeated in the Senate Committee of State, Veterans, & Military Affairs.

HB 1098, sponsored by Representative Randy Baumgardner and Senators Greg Brophy and Mike Kopp, would have directed the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to streamline the approval process and for cost recovery of ‘clean coal’ projects. Companies have not been successful in making coal clean – it remains a polluting energy source. The bill was defeated in the House Committee of Transportation & Energy.