This week, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter is expected to sign into law one of the country’s most aggressive renewable energy standards. Under Colorado House Bill 10-1001, the state’s electric utilities must increase the percentage of energy derived from renewables to 30% by 2020. Previously, the state’s energy providers were expected to reach a 20% renewable energy threshold by 2020, primarily via onsite solar installations.
In an Op-Ed that appeared in last week’s Colorado Chieftain (www.chieftain.com/opinion/editorials/article_8c1408ae-348e-11df-96f6-001cc4c03286.html), the governor laid out the reasoning behind the new law, stating “it will continue to position Colorado as a national pacesetter for creating jobs, strengthening our economy, and protecting our environment.” In addition to upping the renewable energy requirement to 30%, Ritter’s bill expands the renewable requirement beyond solar to include all forms of renewable energy, including hydropower, wind, and biomass.
It’s that expansion of the renewable energy requirement that most benefits onsite power systems. The new law includes a provision that replaces the solar-specific language of the original bill. Once the bill is signed into law, Colorado electric utilities will be required to use distributed generation for 3% of their electric sales. While this distributed energy requirement most certainly includes rooftop solar—the New York Times reports that Ritter predicts “at least 100,000 additional solar rooftops over the next decade”—many other distributed generation systems will also qualify for inclusion in that 3% mandate.
So what do you think? Is 3% enough, or should distributed generation make up an even larger portion of a utility’s energy profile? And does it make sense to focus on utilities, rather than on the commercial and industrial users who typically have the highest energy demand in the community? Finally, do you think other states will follow Colorado’s lead, or will regional concerns and agendas limit the influence of Colorado’s actions?