Energy Policy & Legislation
For information on the current year's legislative session, visit the Colorado General Assembly web site. You can also find Colorado's Climate Action Plan on GEO's Publications page.
2007 Session House Legislation
House Bill 1023
Provides funding for a statewide carbon sequestration analysis and an energy profile of state.
House Bill 1060
Bioscience Grants
Expands the bioscience grant program to include biofuel-related projects. Grants go to higher-ed institutions and help bring innovative ideas from laboratory to marketplace.
House Bill 1087
Wind for Schools
Creates a grant program to place wind turbines on schools. Develops a grant program to help schools install wind turbines on campus and develop clean energy curriculum in the classroom.
House Bill 1145 (
35 KB)
Renewable Resource Development on Public Lands
Enables the state land board to lease lands for renewable development. Funds from the lease go toward K-12 education.
House Bill 1169
Net Metering for Cooperative Electric Associations
Provides minimum interconnection standards for net-metering, so standards are uniform across the state.
House Bill 1150
Clean Energy Authority
Establishes a state funding mechanism to leverage bond proceeds and provide government backed loan guarantees through a public authority for the purposes of building transmission capacity for renewable resources.
House Bill 1037 ( 69 KB)
Amendment ( 56 KB)
Concerning Energy Efficiency
Directs the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to require jurisdictional electric utilities and gas local distribution companies to develop and substantially expand energy efficiency programs. Requires investor-owned utilities to provide energy efficiency programs for their customers, ensuring that they are cost-effective for the utilities.
House Bill 1146 ( 38KB)
Concerning Energy Efficiency
Raises the baseline for local building codes to the 2003 International Energy Conservation Code. This will ensure buildings in our communities will be more energy efficient and help us reach our goal of 20% efficiency statewide by 2020. Sets a statewide energy code only for counties that already have a building code.
House Bill 1203
Energy Management & Conservation Studies
House Bill 1228 ( 63 KB)
Fiscal Note ( 35 KB)
Concerning Renewable Energy
Requires biofuels be used in state fleet vehicles.
House Bill 1220
Requires State agencies, offices, and institutions of higher education to purchase environmentally preferred products (EPP). EPP are products that have a lesser or reduced adverse effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products that serve the same purpose.
House Bill 1281
Renewable Portfolio Standards
Doubles the state’s renewable portfolio standard to 20% by 2020 for investor-owned utilities. Rural electric associations and municipal utilities must meet 10% by 2020 (these smaller utilities were not part of the original Amendment 37).
House Bill 1279 ( 33 KB)
Fiscal Note ( 36 KB)
Tax Credits for Renewable Energy
Restores tax exemption on machinery used to produce renewable energy.
House Bill 1309
School Energy Efficiency
GEO has been helping state public buildings become more energy efficient through a process called “performance contracting,” generally done in concert with Energy Service Companies. This bill earmarks funds to be committed to achieving similar energy efficiency gains throughout our K-12 school system.
House Bill 1379
County Spending Authority for Environmental Spending Measures
Senate Bill 246 ( 37KB)
Fiscal Note (
37KB)
Clean Energy Fund
The Clean Energy Fund will provide a steady stream of revenue to the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) for the purposes of advancing energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the state. GEO will be using the fund to target investments in emerging technologies and attract New Energy Economy investment to Colorado.
2007 Senate Legislation
Senate Bill 08
Expands the water efficiency grant program cash fund to include State and Local government entities. Said entities who adopt a water conservation plan and supply, distribute, or otherwise provide water at retail to customers may apply for a grant to aid in the implementation of the water efficiency goals of the plan.
Senate Bill 22 ( 24 KB)
Fiscal Note ( 27 KB)
The intent of this statute is to clearly allow the PUC to no longer be limited by the CO Supreme Court ruling known as "Mountain States." In that case, the Mountain States Legal Foundation sued the PUC after it approved a program that provided assistance to low-income seniors. The court ruled that the statutes prohibit any "preferential rate, service, program..." and that a utility thus can not target/restrict services to a particular group (low-income, seniors, etc.). The new statute allows the PUC to approve rates, programs, and services that are targeted to low-income communities.
Senate Bill 51
High Performance State Buildings
Requires that state buildings and those buildings constructed with state funds meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Standards set by the United States Green Building Council.
Senate Bill 91 ( 37 KB)
Fiscal Note ( 34 KB)
Renewable Resource Generation Development Areas
Establishes a 16 member task force to map out resource zones and load centers for the purposes of planning transmission capability to meet increasing demand and renewable energy supply from our rural areas. Maps the state for the most productive renewable areas and the best way to connect those areas to the grid.
Senate Bill 100 ( 30 KB)
Fiscal Note ( 30 KB)
Energy Resource Zones Transmission Development
Establishes energy resource zones to incentivize investment in transmission and allow for cost recovery by utilities for building transmission to rural resource areas. Speeds up transmission construction by allowing investor-owned utilities to recover transmission expenses during construction- requires these utilities to file applications to build transmission.
Senate Bill 126
Funding for the Collaboratory
Authorizes state spending on the Collaboratory, a partnership among NREL, Colorado University, Colorado State University, and the Colorado School of Mines.
Senate Bill 145
Local Incentives for Renewable Energy
Allows governmental entities (counties, cities, etc.) to offer tax rebates to property owners who install renewable-energy producing fixtures (solar panels, efficient appliances, etc.)
Senate Bill 182
Provides a dedicated source of matching monies that will allow Colorado public universities additional funding for research projects that will increase or improve recycling techniques and technology or create marketable uses for discarded materials and address problems caused by inappropriate disposal of solid waste materials.
2007 Executive Orders
Greening of Government Executive Order ( 31 KB)
In April, 2007 Governor Bill Ritter, Jr., signed the Greening of State Government Executive Orders D011 07 and D012 07. These orders charge state departments, agencies and offices to take a position of leadership in the new energy economy. State government will reduce energy consumption, increase the use of renewable energy sources, increase the energy efficiency and decrease the environmental impact of the state vehicle fleet, implement environmental purchasing standards and reduce waste and increase recycling.
Other Energy & Conservation Related Legislation
Colorado Statute C.R.S. §38-30-168 Solar Access Law for Homes
For an interpretation of this legislation, which deals with unreasonable restrictions on solar energy devices on homes, please refer to The Colorado Solar Industries Association website.
