Hickenlooper explains why he signed rural-power measure
Colorado’s renewable energy goal for rural cooperatives will double to 20 percent by 2020 under a controversial bill signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper. (DBJ report here.)
Here is the full text of the letter Hickenlooper sent to the Colorado General Assembly explaining why he signed Senate Bill 252:“After careful consideration, I signed Senate Bill 13-252, legislation that expands economic opportunities for wind, solar and other renewable technologies in Colorado. The development and deployment of most of these innovations are already taking place in rural communities across Colorado. That fact has influenced our administration’s review of this legislation.
“We believe SB13-252 merits passage on a variety of grounds. First, this Act will eliminate the arguable in-state preference concerning renewable resources currently in state statute.
“Second, this legislation creates significant benefits to rural communities. This legislation expands ‘eligible energy resources’ to include synthetic gas produced by pyrolysis of municipal solid waste. Each waste-to-energy facility creates an estimated $54 million in economic activity and most of the proposed facilities have been targeted toward rural communities. Also as a newly eligible resource, waste-to-energy projects create profitable outlets for the more than 70 million waste tires stockpiled in the rural areas around Colorado.
“Additionally, this legislation includes coal mine methane as an ‘eligible energy resource’ which will allow Colorado to more safely develop coal gas production in rural communities. Again, these are mostly rural projects and rural jobs.
“Third, this legislation builds upon the initial success of the rural electric cooperatives, which in partnership with their generation sources, have begun to include renewable generation. We believe, and utility practices have demonstrated, that diversifying electric generation portfolios with renewable generation tempers rate increases. Tri-State and its member cooperatives are exceeding current renewable requirements without a 1 percent net retail rate impact. This gives us confidence that the increased renewable energy goal of SB13-252 can be achieved without exceeding the additional 1 percent rate increase limit set forth in this bill. Further, if the rate cap is hit, the bill provides electric cooperatives with flexibility in meeting the renewable energy goals established in SB 13-252.
“We believe that this legislation, while imperfect, is necessary to keep diversifying electric generation and reaping the associated rate, economic and environmental benefits. Vetoing this bill and waiting until the 2014 legislation session for a more perfect version would set Colorado back one year in our pursuit of a more diverse energy portfolio. We cannot afford to lose this valuable time, especially with the expiration of the Federal Production Tax Credit on wind generation at the end of this year.
“Opponents of this legislation have raised a number of objections -- all of which we weighed seriously. First, they argue that reaching a goal of 20 percent by 2020 is not achievable. Second, they argue that attempting to achieve it will result in billions of costs to rural ratepayers, despite a 2 percent rate cap designed specifically to protect consumers.
“If the 2 percent rate cap was compounded, I would veto this bill. While it is computed annually, it does not compound. This rate cap operates the same way that the current 1 percent rate cap operates. The bill is designed to protect against incurring investment costs, including debt service, that push beyond a 2 percent cap. The assertion that this legislation will levy billions in costs to rural consumers is not borne out by the facts.
“We know that utilities across the country have actually saved money by incorporating more renewable energy generation. Wind, for example, can cost as little as 2.75 cents per kilowatt hour, which is lower than the average cost of new natural gas generation. Renewable energy generation also offers long-term price contracts, negating the price volatility of fossil fuels.
“We believe these concerns point, not to a veto, but rather to a commitment in favor of finding appropriate compromise in the next legislative session.
“It is relevant that the parties directly involved in this legislation came close to agreeing upon compromise language that would have addressed some of these concerns. A standard of 20 percent by 2022 was agreed to by representatives of the co-ops at one point in the legislative session. This compromise was later rejected by co-op boards, but we should continue to monitor the possibility of compromise on the timetable for achieving a 20 percent standard.
“In the coming legislative session, we will support other elements of that failed compromise. Specifically, we believe that the pooling of renewable energy credits, as it pertains to sharing compliance responsibilities between cooperatives, would be an important improvement. Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg suggested legislation along these lines in the closing days of the session. We have assurance from the leadership of the General Assembly that this bill will draw bipartisan support next year.
“Through separate action, I have directed the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) to engage Tri-State, the cooperative electric utilities, and other stakeholders over the next six months. CEO will be tasked with pursuing a transparent assessment of the feasibility of the 2020 timetable and the rate impacts of the 20 percent renewable energy standard.
“If this assessment raises legitimate concerns with either of these issues, we have agreement from the Speaker of the House and Senate President that the Seventieth Colorado General Assembly will take up legislation making necessary changes to the law.
“CEO recently completed an Agricultural Efficiency Study which identified opportunities for partnerships in rural Colorado to increase energy efficiency practices to help producers cut back on energy costs. I have directed CEO to identify ways we can support farmers and ranchers in reducing their utility costs.
“The ideal way to improve this bill is through the legislative process rather than a veto and starting over. While the desired compromise was not achieved in the 2013 legislative session, our engagement of proponents and opponents of this bill in the last few weeks has confirmed our view that legitimate concerns can be effectively resolved through stakeholder engagement over the rest of this year and in the next legislative session.”
No comments:
Post a Comment