Republicans in the Colorado legislature have introduced proposals to significantly scale back the state's renewable energy standard (RES).
Senate Bill 15-044, sponsored by state senator Ray Scott (R), aims to dial back and then freeze the RES target at 15pc/yr, from the current 20pc for 2015-2019 and 30pc by 2020. A separate bill, SB15-046, introduced by senator Kevin Grantham (R), would eliminate renewable energy mandates for rural electric cooperatives. The Scott bill proposes a 15pc standard by 2020, lowering the 20pc mandate signed into law by Governor John Hickenlooper (D) in 2013.
The state's RES, which was the country's first renewable power mandate passed by ballot initiative in 2004, has withstood previous rollback efforts from Republican legislators, including a failed 2011 bid to completely repeal the mandate.
Scott's bill may find increased support in the state Senate, which now has a Republican majority, while the House is controlled by Democrats. But Republicans in the House have also voiced objections to the state's renewable energy policies. House minority leader Brian DelGrosso (R) criticized the RES in a speech yesterday detailing the party's "Vision for a Prosperous Colorado."
"Republicans support renewable energy, but we do not support stifling our economy and killing jobs to pursue an unrealistic agenda," he said.
State regulators are scheduled to make several revisions to the RES this fall, including updating rules related to net metering, cost recovery, retail rate impacts of compliance plan filings and interconnections of distributed generation.
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