Bill Summary for Bill Number HB10-1001

Date: 03/02/2010

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB10-1001

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ENERGY

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Moved to refer HB 10-1001 to the Committee on Appr	PASS

02:10 PM -- House Bill 10-1001

Senator Schwartz and Senator Whitehead, prime sponsors, described the provisions of House Bill 10-1001 concerning the renewable energy standard and certification standards for solar installers (Attachments B and C). The bill increases the required renewable portfolio standard (RPS) percentages for investor-owned utilities in order to achieve 30 percent renewable generation by 2020. The bill repeals the existing 4 percent requirement for solar energy, and requires a portion of the RPS be met through distributed generation (DG), including retail distributed generation (RDG) and wholesaledistributed generation (WDG) distributed generation. Effective January 1, 2012, the bill requires that for all new DG systems funded through ratepayer funded incentives, the installation of photovoltaic systems must be supervised by practitioners certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. The bill also requires the PUC to qualitatively consider factors that affect the long-term viability of communities when evaluating resource acquisitions for new energy technologies.

The following persons testified on the bill:

02:15 PM -- Paula Connelly, Xcel Energy, Inc., spoke in support of the bill, described the provisions of the reengrossed bill, and explained how it differs from current law.

02:22 PM -- Matt Baker, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill and explained that the bill sets the amount of the standard rebate at a minimum of $2.00 per watt. The PUC is authorized to set the rebate at a lower level if market conditions support a rebate adjustment based on a review of a utility's resource plan.

02:28 PM -- Ms. Connelly described the provisions on page 7 of the reengrossed bill that authorizes the PUC to review the distributed generation amounts in the electric resource standards for the years 2015 and thereafter.

02:30 PM -- Mr. Baker and Ms. Connolly responded to questions from the committee about the cost of electricity generated from renewable energy sources compared to conventional energy sources, and how the PUC makes these determinations.

02:48 PM -- Jeff Lyng, Governor's Energy Office, spoke in support of the bill and described the provisions that require a portion of the RPS be met through distributed generation, including retail distributed generation and wholesale distributed generation. He also described provisions of the bill that will encourage utilities to increase their use of renewable energy and he explained why credentials for installers of solar energy devices are needed. Mr. Lyng responded to questions from the committee about the bill's environmental benefits.

02:59 PM -- Neal Lurie, Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, spoke in support of the bill.

03:01 PM -- Craig Cox, Interwest Energy Alliance, spoke in support of the bill and described the cost benefits of wind and other renewable energy projects (Attachment D). He also responded to questions from the committee about in-state job creation related to renewable energy projects and the cost of renewable energy prices compared to conventional energy sources.

03:14 PM -- Kandice McKeon, Colorado Building Trades Council, spoke in support of the bill.

03:16 PM -- Phil Hayes, Colorado American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), spoke in support of the bill. He also described the need for credentials for installers of solar energy devices and explained how these credentials could be obtained. He also responded to questions about current training standards for installers of renewable energy devices in Colorado.

03:24 PM -- Peter Dea, Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States (IPAMS), commented on the bill and described air pollution emission related to conventional power systems that back up renewable energy generation. He also described the potential benefits of natural gas power generation and responded to questions from the committee about the cost of renewable energy generation compared with gas generation.

03:35 PM -- Robert Reichenberger, SunEdison, spoke in support of the bill.

03:37 PM -- Vic Ahmed, Colorado Cleantech Industries Association (CCIA), spoke in support of the bill and described the cleantech industry in Colorado.

03:40 PM -- Pam Kiely, Environment Colorado, spoke in support of the bill and described the environmental and economic benefits of renewable energy and distributed renewable energy generation projects.

03:42 PM -- Leslie Glustrom, representing herself, described recent general rate schedule adjustments on Xcel Energy bills and spoke in support of the bill (Attachment E, F, and G). She also responded to questions from the committee about why mandates for renewable energy are necessary in light of their cost competitiveness compared to conventional energy sources.

03:56 PM -- Tisha Schuller, Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA), commented on the bill and described the benefits of natural gas in electric energy generation. She also responded to questions from the committee about natural gas reserves and future gas prices.

04:01 PM -- Tom Easley, Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, spoke in support of the bill (Attachment H).

04:05 PM -- Sol Shapiro, representing himself, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the cost of distributed energy generation compared with central energy generation (Attachments I and J). He also compared the cost of photo voltaic electricity compared with electricity from gas and coal generation facilities.

04:18 PM -- Richard Fanyo, Dufford and Brown P.C., representing Anglo Gold Ashanti and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., expressed concern about the potential increase in electric energy costs related to the renewable energy generation requirement.

04:24 PM -- Diana Orf, Colorado Mining Association, spoke against the bill and responded to earlier testimony. She also described the economic benefits of coal mining and coal fired electric generation.

04:31 PM -- Becky English, Colorado Renewable Energy Society, spoke in support of the bill.

04:33 PM -- Tom Konrad, Colorado Renewable Energy Society, spoke in support of the bill.

04:35 PM -- Peter Minahan, Black Hills Energy Corp., commented on the potential cost of complying with the bill's requirements on the Black Hills Energy Corp.

04:39 PM -- Nick Muller, Colorado Independent Energy Association (CIEA), spoke in support of the bill (Attachment K).

04:41 PM

Senator Schwartz and Senator Whitehead closed their remarks on the bill.


BILL:	HB10-1001
TIME:	04:42:41 PM
MOVED:	Schwartz
MOTION:	Moved to refer HB 10-1001 to the Committee on Appropriations, without amendment. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 4 to 3.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	No
	Hodge	Yes
	Kester	No
	Lundberg	No
	Newell	Yes
	Foster	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes

Final YES: 4 NO: 3 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

04:47 PM

The meeting adjourned.