Las Animas, Colo., Lawmaker Holds Back on Renewable Energy Bill
The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo. - March 25, 2004
Las Animas state Sen. Ken Kester put off a vote Wednesday on his bill to promote wind and other sources of renewable energy for generating electricity in Colorado.
Kester paused, however, because legislators opposed to the bill have proposed
amendments that may provoke one or two senators to change their votes to
"no."
The bill requires investor-owned utilities to install 500 megawatts of
electricity from renewable energy by 2006, increasing to 900 megawatts by 2010
and 1,800 megawatts by 2020.
Sen. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, and other bill opponents argued that
that Xcel, which serves customers statewide, and Aquila, in the southern part of
the state, may pass increased renewable energy power costs, if there are any, on
to utility rate-payers.
To nullify their claims, Senate Majority Leader Mark Hillman, R-Burlington,
amended the bill to delay the 2006, 2010 and 2020 deadlines if the Public
Utilities Commission determines that renewable energy would cost more than
fossil fuels now used in coal- and natural-gas fired power plants.
The deadlines still can be met, Hillman said, if natural-gas prices continue
to spike upward as they have in recent years.
In an apparent attempt to weaken support for the bill, Lamborn amended it to
allow private utilities to choose hydroelectric power for an unrestricted share
of the megawatts mandated by the bill.
"Environmentalists don't like large amounts of hydroelectric power
because it kills fish," Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, said in support of
Kester's efforts to pass the bill. "A lot of trout can die
eventually."
Kester said he may try to remove Lamborn's amendment when debate is renewed,
perhaps today. In its place, the bill then would allow up to 20 megawatts of
hydroelectric power to count toward the 900-megawatt goal for renewable energy
by 2006.
Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, pushed the 20-megawatt standard because of the
potential of hydroelectric power in his southwestern Colorado district.
The bill exempts municipal utilities and rural electric associations.
A group of REAs dropped opposition and assumed a neutral stance toward HB1273
after Hillman's amendment promised to delay implementation if it would mean
higher utility costs.
When the bill was heard in committee, Pueblo County Commissioner John Klomp
and Prowers County Commissioner John Stulp testified for it.
Klomp said it could help farmers and ranchers earn extra income from land
leases and royalties from wind farm operators.
"This provides some of the economic incentive and development that
allows our agricultural community to remain intact," he said.
Stulp said the Colorado Green Wind Farm project near Lamar created 400 jobs
during construction and will mean 10 to 20 permanent, good-paying jobs during
long-term operations.
The 162-megawatt project also generates $2 million in annual property taxes,
Stulp said, as well as rental royalties for landowners who let wind turbines on
their property.
Lamborn, however, said the Lamar wind farm shows that the free-market -- not
a state mandate -- can decide if renewable energy truly is price-competitive
with fossil fuels.
"There's a huge wind farm in Lamar that was done apparently with success
without this bill," Lamborn said.
-----
To see more of The Pueblo Chieftain, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.chieftain.com
(c) 2004, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo. Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Business News.