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Colorado Bill Would Double Renewable Energy Supply |
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| US: February 16, 2007 | ||
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SAN FRANCISCO - A bill to double renewable energy supplies in Colorado was approved in a legislative committee and is headed for a vote in the state House next week, officials said Wednesday.
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The measure would require investor-owned utilities to double their amount of renewable energy such as wind, solar, and geothermal power to 20 percent by 2020 and would also affect rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities. Colorado was the first state whose voters passed a "renewable portfolio standard," or RPS, in 2004 directing utilities to get 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2015, Matt Garrington, field director for Environment Colorado, said. More than 20 states have adopted similar standards for future renewable power supplies to cut dependence on fossil fuels, produce cleaner energy, and respond to consumer pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Colorado bill (House Bill 1281) was passed unanimously in the House Transportation and Energy Committee Tuesday and was sent to the Appropriations Committee. The bill will affect Xcel Energy Inc's Public Service Co of Colorado subsidiary, which is developing solar and wind power projects in the state and supports the measure. The utility, the largest in Colorado with 1.3 million electric and 1.2 million gas customers, has 283 megawatts of wind power in the state and plans to add 775 more megawatts, Xcel spokesman Tom Henley said. The company will have 8 megawatts of solar power in service by the end of this year and will meet the 10 percent renewables target for 2015 by the end of 2007, Henley said. Coal is the principal fuel for power generation in Colorado, followed by natural gas.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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