Colorado residents will be supported with a bill approved by the state Senate Committee. It will encourage renewable energy production nearer to households. This will create employment and decrease the price of the utility bill.
The aim of the bill is to encourage utility companies to shift towards renewable sources of energy. The state is planning to provide 30 percent of energy requirements through alternative sources of energy by 2020. The state was previously aiming for 20 percent but according to this bill, the odds have been increased by another 10 percent for year 2020.
The measure will apply solely to investor-owned utilities like Black Hills Energy and Xcel Energy. Local utilities and rural energy associations will still have their goal targeted to reach 10 percent of renewable energy.
Eventually, Colorado will be ranked second just after California with this new target of 30 percent. In California the renewable standard is 35 percent. However, this does also include hydropower, which Colorado does not.
Colorado is being moved to the top, as it is setting high renewable standards, says Schwartz. Sen. Bruce Whitehead, D-Hesperus says that the bill is helping to deal with the energy requirements for the future. Schwartz is also giving emphasis on the fact that renewable energy will assure more consistent utility prices and create more employment.
Employment
Renewable energy projects can create around 17,000 new jobs. Investing in clean energy is an important tool to counteract on the devastating job slashes experienced in the recent credit crunch. The birth of employment will give more stability to the economy once again.
In Colorado, there are around 230 solar firms. The companies who will benefit from the bill will be decided by the House.
The bill is assuring a high quality and sustainable development. There are standards sets for the installation of solar photovoltaic. According to Schwartz, training programs will be offered to certify people having appropriate skills to handle this employment expansion.
However, another bill, HB1333, is also in the pipeline. It will focus on using federal money to train and retrain employees in fields such as renewable energy.
These two bills are showing the state’s commitment towards clean energy. There are also loans available to promote hydroelectric, solar energy and geothermal energy projects with respective standards.
There are many public entities such as the school district in Alamosa and Colorado State University-Pueblo, which are integrating solar power into their buildings. This shows that these very bills are promoting renewable distribution channels not only in urban areas, but it can also have some positive effects in rural regions as well.
The residents are willing to perpetrate the growth of renewable energy. Moreover, local business such as US Bank is also providing low-interest loans for companies or individuals investing in renewable energy installation.
The cost of energy is becoming more stable as renewable energy is spurring. According to Whitehead, the cost of energy becomes free once initial cost has been re-occupied. This is not totally true, but definitely the price of energy can be sustained as the volatility of prices of fossil fuel is superseded.
Source: Chieftain
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