2012 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 12-019 BY SENATOR(S) Brophy, Schwartz, Aguilar, Bacon, Boyd, Carroll, Foster, Giron, Guzman, Heath, Hodge, Hudak, Johnston, Morse, Newell, Nicholson, Steadman, Williams S., Shaffer B.; also REPRESENTATIVE(S) McKinley, Barker, Brown, Casso, Court, Ferrandino, Fischer, Hamner, Hullinghorst, Jones, Kefalas, Kerr A., Labuda, Lee, Levy, Massey, McCann, Miklosi, Pace, Peniston, Ryden, Schafer S., Singer, Solano, Sonnenberg, Soper, Swerdfeger, Todd, Tyler, Vigil, Williams A., Wilson, Young, Nikkel. CONCERNING THE CONTRIBUTION OF WIND ENERGY TO COLORADO'S ECONOMY. WHEREAS, Wind energy is one of the nation's fastest-growing energy industries, experiencing an average annual growth rate of 35% over the past four years; and WHEREAS, Colorado hosts 1,800 megawatts of utility-scale wind energy development; and WHEREAS, Only seven states have more installed wind energy capacity than Colorado; and WHEREAS, Sixty percent of a wind turbine's value is now produced in the United States, compared to 25% before 2005; and WHEREAS, Nearly 6,000 Coloradans are employed by the wind energy industry, manufacturing wind turbines, towers, and nacelles for numerous companies along the supply chain and providing services in wind energy research and development, engineering, construction, and operation of wind projects; and WHEREAS, Much of the tremendous growth in Colorado's wind energy industry took place during the years of national economic recession from 2008 through 2011, providing much-needed employment in a time of high unemployment elsewhere; and WHEREAS, The wind energy industry pays over $10 million annually in county property taxes where utility-scale wind energy projects are located in Colorado; and WHEREAS, Rural landowners in Colorado receive over $5.4 million in lease payments annually for hosting utility-scale wind energy projects; and WHEREAS, The price of electricity generated from utility-scale wind energy in the United States has dropped over 90% since 1980; and WHEREAS, Xcel Energy testified at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission in September 2011 that a proposed 200-megawatt wind project near Limon would provide its ratepayers a cost savings of nearly $278 million over the project's 25-year term, or nearly $102 million on a "net present value" basis; and WHEREAS, In May 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy reported that wind energy could supply 20% of the nation's electricity in a cost-effective manner by 2030, which would support roughly 800,000 U.S. jobs in various sectors of the economy; and WHEREAS, The world's premier national laboratory in the research, development, and deployment of renewable energy technologies, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is located in Golden; and WHEREAS, Colorado's utilities have a track record of leadership on wind energy deployment, ranging from Xcel Energy's Windsource "green-pricing" program to Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association's 51-megawatt wind energy project located in Kit Carson County; and WHEREAS, Wind energy is an abundant, domestic American energy resource; and WHEREAS, The wind energy industry works closely with the conservation community, public lands advocates, and various other stakeholder constituencies to site new utility-scale wind generation and transmission projects in an environmentally sensitive manner; and WHEREAS, Transmission constraints pose significant barriers to the full development and export of Colorado's wind-generated electricity to markets in other states throughout the West; and WHEREAS, The Colorado Public Utilities Commission is investigating the feasibility of creating an Energy Imbalance Market, which would enable greater and more efficient sharing of electrical balancing resources between the West's 38 Balancing Areas; and WHEREAS, Key features of an Energy Imbalance Market include efficient use of balancing resources between participating balancing authorities, optimized use of transmission assets between balancing areas, and the ability to efficiently accommodate variable energy resources such as wind energy resources; now, therefore, Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty-eighth General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein: That we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly: (1) Recognize the wind energy industry's tremendous contribution to Colorado's economy; (2) Recognize that wind energy is an important part of an all-of-the-above national energy strategy; (3) Acknowledge that further improvements must be made to the state's and the western grid's electric power transmission infrastructure in order to leverage Colorado's competitive advantage in wind energy manufacturing and power generation facilities; and (4) Acknowledge that wind energy, like all energy industries, must rely on public policy certainty at all levels of government. Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to Governor John Hickenlooper, all of Colorado's electric utilities, the companies in Colorado's wind energy supply chain, Colorado's Congressional Delegation, and United States Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. ____________________________ ____________________________ Brandon C. Shaffer Frank McNulty PRESIDENT OF SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES ____________________________ ____________________________ Cindi Markwell Marilyn Eddins SECRETARY OF CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES