The Colorado Public Utilities Commission sunset bill—SB19-236—will soon be signed by Governor Jared Polis (D) of Colorado. With this law enacted, the state will begin the steps to become carbon-free by 2030, which is likely followed closely by increased renewable development. Colorado will officially join the renewable energy party!
SB19-236 has already successfully passed in the Senate as its accompanying bill did in the House. It directs all utilities in the state to a goal of 80% carbon reduction by 2030, followed by 100% carbon-free electricity generation by 2050. The policy is directly reflective of Xcel’s announcement that it would move to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050.
Ben Fowke, CEO of Xcel Energy told reporters while in Colorado to announce the major initiative:
“This risk of climate change isn’t going away and we want to be the company that does something about it and hopefully inspire others to do something about it too.”
Well, they’ve done it! But still, how does one company have so much sway over the decisions of the state? The company doesn’t even necessarily cover vast expanses of land. However, they do cover one important area: Denver. You can see below on the map of Colorado utility distribution all of the different companies’ service areas. The ones in dark blue are Xcel’s service areas.
The overall population of the state is 5.7 million people. 2.9 of those are in Denver and since they were all provided with Xcel’s electricity, they were already under the 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050 mandate even before the passing of SB19-236.
Although, it’s not just Xcel and the city of Denver that get all the credit for Colorado being on track with the green agenda. For instance, Platte River Power has a plan in place to go 100% renewable by 2030, with Grand Valley Power following with a goal for 60% clean energy by 2030.
On the legislative level, nine cities in Colorado have some sort of plan in place to become 100% powered by renewables! Fort Collins being the latest one to join, recently becoming the 9th in Colorado to adopt a 100% renewable energy transition mandate.
Here’s how SB19-236 will help with the adoption and expansion of renewables in that state:
- It includes provisions allowing electric utilities to use low-cost bonds to help refinance retiring fossil fuel generating facilities.
- It includes a call for distribution system planning.
- It includes plans to create a new workforce and community transition opportunities.
These provisions carry with them the prospect of a greater focus on distributed resources. The paramount mission of the distribution grid is “to provide the safe, reliable, and resilient service Coloradans depend on.”
Reliable and resilient mean the commission will now be evaluating how rooftop solar, batteries and energy efficiency can be utilized instead of traditional “pole-and-wire” distribution. This will hopefully lead to greater adoption of residential solar and storage in the state. Anyway, one thing is certain, carbon neutrality and renewable deployment have a symbiotic relationship, so hope is irrelevant… soon everything will be 100% clean energy, one way or another.
