By Todd Neff
03:44 p.m., January 17, 2007
DENVER — The state’s Democratic leaders will introduce at least a dozen energy-related bills during the 2007 legislative session, ranging from upping Colorado’s renewable energy output to adding power transmission lines to the state’s green-energy hotbeds.
Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon, House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, and other Democratic leaders announced their plans to "literally embark on a new energy future for Colorado," as Madden put it, at a Wednesday news conference at the Capitol. Gov. Bill Ritter also spoke at the event, and representatives from Xcel Energy, the Rocky Mountain Farmer’s Union, wind-energy and environmental groups stood behind the podium.
"We’re going to play a leadership role in a way that in the long run makes a difference in the national energy economy and energy independence," Ritter said.
The legislators highlighted five bills, all of which remain works in process. They range from support for biofuel projects and money for school renewable-energy projects to standards for "net metering," which allows consumers to sell excess solar, wind or other power back to the utility. The two with the biggest potential impact relate to increasing the state’s energy-transmission capacity and raising the percentage of renewable energy Colorado utilities generate above the limits instituted by Amendment 37.
State Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, said he’s working on a bill that would require utilities to produce 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. Amendment 37, the state renewable-energy portfolio passed by voters in 2004, requires major utilities to provide 10 percent of energy through renewable means by 2015.
Pommer said he’s still working on the bill’s specifics but it could include smaller rural electric associations, a move Ritter said he would support.
Ray Clifton, executive director of the Colorado Rural Electric Association representing 22 member cooperatives, said the association would not comment on specific bills until they could review them. But he said associations should reserve the right to opt out of any such bill, as the Intermountain Rural Electric Association and United Power, which serves parts of eastern Boulder County, did with Amendment 37.
Xcel Energy is investigating how much renewable energy could be introduced to the system without wind power’s inherent ebbs and surges harming it, spokesman Tom Henley said.
He said Xcel supports a Fitz-Gerald-sponsored bill to help energy companies build or upgrade transmission lines by charging customers an estimated 0.5 percent surcharge on monthly bills during construction. Customers generally pay for such infrastructure as part of the price of electricity when it’s eventually delivered. Overhead transmission lines cost between $750,000 and $1 million a mile, she said.
The idea, Fitz-Gerald said, is to boost transmission capacity to the eastern plains, the San Luis Valley and other renewable-energy hot spots.
Fred Grantham, general manager of the Morgan County Rural Electric Association, questioned the cost estimate, saying buried power lines cost two or three times more, and that such costs of right-of-way procurement would add to the bill.
Madden said Democrats are doing what the public has said it wants and that utilities should follow suit.
"Before Amendment 37 passed, we heard the sky would fall," Madden said. "The sky did not fall, apparently. It’s an industry that doesn’t want to change."
Contact Camera Staff Writer Todd Neff at (303) 473-1327 or nefft@dailycamera.com.
03:44 p.m., January 17, 2007
DENVER — The state’s Democratic leaders will introduce at least a dozen energy-related bills during the 2007 legislative session, ranging from upping Colorado’s renewable energy output to adding power transmission lines to the state’s green-energy hotbeds.
Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon, House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, and other Democratic leaders announced their plans to "literally embark on a new energy future for Colorado," as Madden put it, at a Wednesday news conference at the Capitol. Gov. Bill Ritter also spoke at the event, and representatives from Xcel Energy, the Rocky Mountain Farmer’s Union, wind-energy and environmental groups stood behind the podium.
"We’re going to play a leadership role in a way that in the long run makes a difference in the national energy economy and energy independence," Ritter said.
The legislators highlighted five bills, all of which remain works in process. They range from support for biofuel projects and money for school renewable-energy projects to standards for "net metering," which allows consumers to sell excess solar, wind or other power back to the utility. The two with the biggest potential impact relate to increasing the state’s energy-transmission capacity and raising the percentage of renewable energy Colorado utilities generate above the limits instituted by Amendment 37.
State Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, said he’s working on a bill that would require utilities to produce 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. Amendment 37, the state renewable-energy portfolio passed by voters in 2004, requires major utilities to provide 10 percent of energy through renewable means by 2015.
Pommer said he’s still working on the bill’s specifics but it could include smaller rural electric associations, a move Ritter said he would support.
Ray Clifton, executive director of the Colorado Rural Electric Association representing 22 member cooperatives, said the association would not comment on specific bills until they could review them. But he said associations should reserve the right to opt out of any such bill, as the Intermountain Rural Electric Association and United Power, which serves parts of eastern Boulder County, did with Amendment 37.
Xcel Energy is investigating how much renewable energy could be introduced to the system without wind power’s inherent ebbs and surges harming it, spokesman Tom Henley said.
He said Xcel supports a Fitz-Gerald-sponsored bill to help energy companies build or upgrade transmission lines by charging customers an estimated 0.5 percent surcharge on monthly bills during construction. Customers generally pay for such infrastructure as part of the price of electricity when it’s eventually delivered. Overhead transmission lines cost between $750,000 and $1 million a mile, she said.
The idea, Fitz-Gerald said, is to boost transmission capacity to the eastern plains, the San Luis Valley and other renewable-energy hot spots.
Fred Grantham, general manager of the Morgan County Rural Electric Association, questioned the cost estimate, saying buried power lines cost two or three times more, and that such costs of right-of-way procurement would add to the bill.
Madden said Democrats are doing what the public has said it wants and that utilities should follow suit.
"Before Amendment 37 passed, we heard the sky would fall," Madden said. "The sky did not fall, apparently. It’s an industry that doesn’t want to change."
Contact Camera Staff Writer Todd Neff at (303) 473-1327 or nefft@dailycamera.com.
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