Date: 03/10/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB09-1149

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ENERGY

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Moved to refer HB 09-1149 to the Committee on ApprPASS



02:42 PM -- House Bill 09-1149

Senator M. Carroll, sponsor, described the provision of the reengrossed HB 09-1149 that requires home builders of each home for which a buyer is under contract to offer prospective buyers the opportunity to have their residences electrical or plumbing system include a residential photovoltaic solar generation system or a residential solar thermal system; upgrades of wiring or plumbing, or both, planned by the builder to accommodate future installation of such systems; and a chase or conduit constructed to allow ease of future installation of the necessary wiring or plumbing for such systems. In addition, such home builders are required to provide every buyer under contract with a list of solar installers who can assess the home's solar energy generation potential. The bill requires the Governor's Energy Office to maintain a publicly available, master list of Colorado solar installers. She also described House amendments to the bill and described potential jobs that may be created in response to the bill. She also responded to questions from the committee concerning the ability of homeowners to require a builder to provide these options under current law and the ability of builders to anticipate new technologies and comply with the bill's requirements.

The following persons testified on the bill:

03:02 PM -- Blake Jones, Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, spoke in support of the bill. He also explained how it will help avoid costly retrofits for solar systems, make financing of solar improvements easier, and help create jobs. He also responded to questions from the committee concerning the rate of growth for installation of residential solar energy systems and the history of changes in solar energy technology.

03:10 PM -- Tom Plant, Governor's Energy Office, spoke in support of the bill. He also responded to questions from the committee about the implementation of the bill by the Governor's Energy Office.

03:10 PM -- Jeff Lyng, Governor's Energy Office, spoke in support of the bill and described how it will help with financing of solar energy improvements.

03:20 PM -- Keith Hay, Environment Colorado, spoke in support of the bill and responded to questions and comments from the committee. He also compared the cost of solar energy with fossil fuel generation.

03:25 PM -- Rob Nanfelt, Colorado Association of Home Builders, spoke in support of the bill and identified provisions of the reengrossed bill that address his organization's concerns with the introduced version of the bill. He also responded to questions from the committee concerning a possible amendment to the bill to exempt manufactured homes from the bill's requirements.

03:35 PM

Senator Carroll closed her remarks on the bill.

BILL:HB09-1149
TIME: 03:37:00 PM
MOVED:
MOTION:Moved to refer HB 09-1149 to the Committee on Appropriations, without amendment. The motion passed on a vote of 5-2.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Cadman
No
Hodge
Yes
Kester
Yes
Lundberg
No
Newell
Yes
Foster
Yes
Schwartz
Yes
Final YES: 5 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS




03:39 PM

The meeting adjourned.