Date: 03/30/2006

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB06-1325

SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NATURAL RESOURCES & ENERGY

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Moved to refer the bill to the Committee of the WhPASS

02:36 PM -- House Bill 06-1325

Senator Takis, prime sponsor, said that Colorado's use of electricity has increased dramatically in the last decade and that more transmission will be needed in the future. She said that there is no current statewide plan for electrical transmission in the state. The bill would create a task force to do this. The group would meet four times and report late this year. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is allowed to accept grants for the work of the Task Force. She said that the PUC staff would not conduct the study, but that they would hire the consultants and participate in the study. However, it is not intended that PUC staff be involved extensively with the study.

02:40 PM -- Doug Dean, Director, PUC, said that he supports the bill, but that he is in opposition to its fiscal note. He said that funding in the bill is insufficient to cover the costs of hiring a consultant to conduct the study. He said that he believes that the purposes of the bill are good, but that the costs of doing the study are not provided.

02:47 PM -- Donna Johnston, Colorado Rural Electric Association, supported the bill.

02:48 PM -- Fred Stoffel, Xcel Energy, supported the bill.

02:52 PM -- Craig Cox, Interwest Energy Alliance, said that his organization represents wind farms. He commented on current wind energy in the state.

03:07 PM -- Doug Dean, commented on the costs that are expected by the PUC staff for implementation of the bill.
BILL:HB06-1325
TIME: 03:17:33 PM
MOVED:Tochtrop
MOTION:Moved to refer the bill to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed 6-0-1.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Brophy
Yes
Entz
Yes
Groff
Excused
Taylor
Yes
Tochtrop
Yes
Grossman
Yes
Isgar
Yes
Not Final YES: 6 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS