Media reports on HB-1281

Rocky and the Post on the HB-1281 signing.

UPDATE: More at the Chieftan and Daily.

Today is a very good day

Today at 12:15 p.m. Governor Bill Ritter will kickstart the New Energy Economy when he signs HB-1281 and SB-100. I'd fully intended to make the trek out to NREL to watch the signing ceremony. But it appears life is going to get in the way. So instead I'm just going to be happy.

UPDATE: Done. A paragraph from the press release from the governor's office, for posterity:

"These new laws will improve our economic security, our environmental security and our national security," the governor added. "They will breathe new economic life into rural Colorado. They will create new jobs, and they will say to the rest of the world, 'Colorado is open for business in what will be one of the most important industries of the 21st Century.'"

Some facts about the two bills, again provided by the governor's office:

House Bill 1281

• Sponsors: Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village; Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder; and Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genesee.

• Doubles the renewable energy standard established by voters with the 2004 passage of Amendment 37.

• Large investor-owned utilities like Xcel must now provide 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020.

• Requires municipal utilities and rural electric providers to achieve a renewable energy goal of 10 percent by 2020 (they had been excluded from the requirements of Amendment 37).

• Provides a 3-to-1 credit to rural electric associations for investment in solar energy.

• A recent study found HB 1281 would provide significant economic benefits, particularly to rural Colorado, by:
1. Increasing Colorado's share of the GDP by $1.9 billion through 2020.
2. Increasing total wages paid to workers by $570 million.
3. Increasing the workforce by 4,100 person-years of employment.
4. Providing farmers, ranchers and other landowners with $50 million in lease payments for wind farms, crops and solar parks.
5. Generating $400 million in property tax revenue through 2020 to fund education and other services, particularly in rural Colorado.

Senate Bill 100

• Sponsors: Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon, and Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West.

• Requires electric utilities subject to rate regulation to identify high-potential wind-energy locations by undertaking biennial reviews to designate "Energy Resource Zones" where transmission constraints hinder the delivery of electricity

• These utilities are then required to develop construction plans to improve transmission capacity.

• The bill allows utilities to recover costs during construction.

• Allows us to break the "chicken and the egg" cycle whereby wind companies don't build turbines until there is adequate transmission capacity, and utilities don't build transmission capacity until there are turbines.

Anytime you can get "the chicken and the egg cycle" into a press release, you should.

Ritter hails energy legislation (and etc.)

Best email waiting for me in my inbox? Bill Ritter's press release supporting landmark New Energy Economy legislation:

Gov. Bill Ritter today hailed the final passage of House Bill 1281, the legislative centerpiece of his 2007 renewable energy agenda for Colorado.

"I applaud lawmakers from both parties for their bipartisan cooperation and vision as they work to enact Colorado's New Energy Economy," Ritter said. "In 2004, when Colorado voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 37, we became the first state in the country to set renewable energy standards by citizen initiative.

"We're making history yet again with HB 1281 by expanding those standards and continuing to establish Colorado as the nation's renewable energy leader."

The governor congratulated lawmakers, investor-owned utilities, rural electric associations, environmental organizations, labor groups, consumer advocates and others for their collaborative efforts in shaping HB 1281.

"HB 1281 will help stimulate the rural areas at the heart of the New Energy Economy - regions like the Eastern Plains and San Luis Valley where wind, sun and agriculture are abundant," Ritter said. "The bill will help us attract manufacturers of wind turbines and solar products. It also will stimulate research and development of emerging energy technologies.

"And by expanding our renewable energy production and consumption, we'll reduce our reliance on foreign oil, which is good for our environment and our national security.

"I look forward to signing HB 1281 and the remainder of the New Energy Economy legislative package very soon," the governor added.

Other assorted good tidings:

• Hilarious: Bob Beauprez has a copycat.
• 2008 update: In Colorado, Washington and cyberspace.
• Lobbyists: Morgan Carroll owns you.

Clean energy to help Colorado economy

Western Democrat reports that global warming will worsen the drought across Western America. What are we going to do about it? Coyote Gulch mentions Governor Ritter's attempts to "to promote renewable energy in Colorado by supporting a bill winding it's way through the legislature." Meanwhile The Denver Post reports that Ritter's New Energy Economy will provide jobs for Colorado:

A bill to double the state's power generation from renewable energy would add 4,100 jobs by 2020 and contribute $1.9 billion to Colorado's economy, according to a study released Thursday by an environmental advocacy group.

The study by Environment Colorado said House Bill 1281 would bring substantial benefits to rural economies while also helping reduce airborne emissions.

"More clean, homegrown energy means more jobs and higher wages paid for Coloradans," Gov. Bill Ritter said at a news conference to announce the study results.