The Colorado General Assembly has approved a bill to expand the state’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES) statute to a 20% benchmark by 2020 for certain electric suppliers.
The bill now goes to Gov. John Hickenlooper’s desk for consideration, according to a May 2 news release posted on the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) website.
SB 252, cosponsored by Senate President John Morse and House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, protects energy consumers while increasing the RES to 20% by 2020 for the state’s largest cooperative electric associations.
Consumer protection provision limits any near-term rate impacts to a maximum of 2% per year with no cap on rate decreases. The bill also would expand opportunities for distributed generation and eliminates “extra-credit” preferences for new electricity generation built in Colorado.
“With its world-class wind and solar resources, Colorado is a leader on clean energy development,” said Sarah Propst, Executive Director of the Interwest Energy Alliance. “The Colorado General Assembly showed tremendous leadership in passing legislation to enhance the state’s economic competitiveness. We encourage the Governor to sign SB 252 without delay.”
