Legislation News
PrintColorado state parks to generate own clean energy by 2020
Governor Ritter signing the Re-Energize Colorado bill in Lake Pueblo State Park
Governor Ritter signing the Re-Energize Colorado bill in Lake Pueblo State Park
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter has signed into law new measures that will open the door for renewable energy projects to be built in state parks.
House Bill 1349 requires the Colorado Division of State Parks to generate enough clean energy to offset the electricity consumption of all 42 state parks by 2020.
The Re-Energize Colorado Program, as the initiative is known, will also see the creation of a map of locations on state land that might be suitable for renewable energy developments, to help the state tap into its potential.
Governor Ritter signed the legislation at a ceremony in the Lake Pueblo State Park, where a solar facility could be located.
Future
“Colorado’s New Energy Economy is leading all of America toward a new energy future,” Gov. Ritter said.
“With this bill, we will become one of the first states in the country to power an entire state division with clean and sustainable energy projects that also will create hundreds of new jobs in communities all around the state.”
House Bill 1349 was sponsored by Reps. Sal Pace and Randy Fischer and Sens. Gail Schwartz and Abel Tapia.
The Bill will allow utilities to waive some of their existing limits on net metering or customer-sited generation projects in order to help meet the targets of the Re-Energize Colorado Program.
It also urges state regulators to give the fullest possible consideration to renewable energy proposals under the Program, particularly where they offer good prospects for job creation and local economic growth.
Colorado’s 225,000 acres of state parks attract nearly 12 million visitors each year.
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