Date: 04/29/2015
Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB15-1377
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION & ENERGY
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03:47 PM -- HB 15-1377
The committee took a brief recess.
03:55 PM
Representatives Moreno and J. Becker, co-prime sponsors, came to the table to present to the committee on House Bill 15-1377. Current law allows for the operation of shared, renewable energy generation facilities using solar technologies, also known as community solar gardens (CSGs). Output from CSGs counts against an investor-owned utility's distributed generation requirement under Colorado's renewable energy standard. This bill expands upon this concept by allowing for shared generation facilities using other renewable energy technologies, including small wind, small hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass. The bill specifies that neither the owners of nor the subscribers to this type of shared generation facility are subject to regulation by the PUC.
The bill allows such generation to count against the retail distributed generation requirements of a cooperative electric association (CEA). The bill requires that subscribers of the shared facilities must be members of the CEA in whose service territory the facility is located, and the renewable energy credits must be allocated to a physical address within that service territory.
03:58 PM -- Chris Votoupal, representing the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association and Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA), and Charles Newcomb, representing DWEA and Endurance Windpower, spoke in favor of the bill. Mr. Votoupal said the bill would help rural Colorado and give CEAs more options for accessing renewable energy and achieve retail distributed generation credit under renewable energy standard (RES) requirements. Mr. Newcomb said the bill would be of great benefit to distributed wind energy.
04:04 PM -- Geoff Hier, representing the Colorado Rural Electric Association spoke in favor of the bill. Mr. Hier said the bill will assist cooperatives in achieving more distributed generation in rural Colorado and will help CEAs comply with the RES.
04:07 PM -- Becky Long, representing Conservation Colorado, spoke neutrally on the bill. Ms. Long said that Conservation Colorado is in support of renewable gardens and would like to see the bill amended to make them accessible for low-income individuals and rural communities.
04:12 PM
The bill was laid over until April 30, 2015 for action only.