Lawmakers say policies must help cut driving

Dems react to panel’s call to spend $1.5 billion

By ED SEALOVER

THE GAZETTE

DENVER - An upcoming report proposing that Colorado spend $1.5 billion more a year on transportation has some lawmakers asking if something can be done to reduce the miles Coloradans drive.

The report by the governor appointed Blue Ribbon Transportation Panel will suggest putting $562 million more toward mobility needs, $538 million to maintenance and safety efforts, $293 million to local roads and $107 million to transit, bike, environmental and pedestrian needs. Compiled after eight months of study, it recommends raising several statewide taxes and greatly increasing fees on vehicle registrations to fund the needs.

Though the eye-popping number — the state spends about $1 billion a year on transportation — was the first thing that caught many legislators’ attention, a number of Democrats soon began to ask if there were other ways to cut congestion. Rep. Jack Pommer, a member of the powerful Joint Budget Committee, questioned last month whether the panel did any out-of-the box thinking, and Rep. Claire Levy proposed a bill this month to place a priority on sending road money to pedestrian- and transit-oriented communities.

I turns out that the transportation panel did look at ways to reduce the amount of driving we do. The report we got focused on the financial part of the proposal; a smaller plan to increase funding $500 million/year for highway repairs and maintenance and a larger plan to increase funding by $1.5 billion/year. That second plan is the one that the commission will probably recommend, and it includes better public transportation.

Outside of the money part of the plans, Boulder County Commissioner Will Toor tells me that the committee will recommend making it easier for us to get around without driving. Will is on the panel.

Though their approaches were different — Levy did not criticize the report directly — both reflected an underlying sentiment among the majority party: Transportation funding and environmental and growth concerns should be linked.

A September report by Smart Growth America and the Urban Land Institute stated that despite efforts to produce alternative-fuel or more fuel-efficient vehicles, carbon emissions from vehicles would continue to rise unless the number of vehicle miles traveled is reduced. With zoning policies encouraging low-density development farther from city cores and transportation policies putting money into roads rather than transit, that is unlikely to happen, the report said.

Policies must encourage inner-city development that allows people to work, shop and play without jumping into a car, said Michael Leccese, executive director of the Colorado District Council of the Urban Land Institute.

“Unfortunately, land use has not been part of the climate-change discussion at most levels of government,” Leccese said.

Transportation accounts for the second-largest amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., and those numbers are growing faster than any other sector of greenhouse gas producers, according to the ULI report. Vehicle miles traveled increased three times faster than the U.S. population over the past 15 years, and in Colorado they grew 114 percent from 1980 to 2005, from 22 billion miles a year to 47 billion miles.

Even if fuel-efficiency standards are increased to 35 miles per gallon and fuel carbon content is reduced by 10 percent by 2030, according to the report, transportation emissions will be 40 percent above 1990 levels. Many scientists have called for cutting emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

The pollution problem is even more pressing here along the Front Range. We're creating so much ozone in our air that it's violating federal law. Poisoning ourselves is bad enough, but violating the Clean Air Act also brings down some harsh sanctions from the federal government.

Levy, D-Boulder, hasn’t determined the specific criteria she wants to use in her bill, but said she wants to reward good growth policies with transportation funding so cities and counties can’t get money for expansion without producing “smart growth” plans. She also has proposed a measure that would assess a fee on the least fuel-efficient vehicles and put the revenues to a state office of smart growth.

Pommer, also of Boulder, did not mention a specific plan to cut vehicle miles, but said any recommendation from the Blue Ribbon panel should include one.

The panel’s members, who are writing their final report after agreeing to the recommendations at a November meeting, maintain there are a number of efforts in their plans to move people out of single-occupancy vehicles.

Panel co-chairman Doug Aden noted that of the $562 million suggested for mobility projects, $251 million is for transit projects such as buses and trains that would run between cities. An additional $72 million is recommended for urban and rural transit within communities, and $10 million for bike and pedestrian improvements — areas on which the Department of Transportation has never focused, he said.

Also, a policy statement in the report will call for looking for ways to slow the increase in vehicle miles traveled, Aden said.

The problem is that the idea of cutting these miles while the state’s population grows is harder than just committing to do so, said Aden, who is also chairman of the Colorado Transportation Commission. It gets into the issue of the state determining land use allowances, which has been the prerogative of local cities and counties.

The biggest point the blue ribbon committee will be making is that we don't have enough money to even maintain our current transportation system. Cities and counties fight hard to protect their prerogatives on local land use, then they fight hard to get state and federal tax money to clean up the transportation mess they make.

At some point, they're going to realize that there isn't enough money from the state or federal government to cover their costs. Then they'll have to ask their own taxpayers to pay the entire bill. At that point, I think the real cost of continual sprawl will sink in.

There is also the question of whether pushing growth away from suburbs and into urban areas will cause housing prices in the cities to skyrocket, as they have in some other parts of the country.

“I think the challenge you have in that scenario is for local governments to work with developers to find ways to make that housing affordable,” said Aden, a retired banker. “Development is taking place further and further north and further and further south (along the Front Range) because of affordability.”

The panel’s final report is expected to be published around Jan. 1

Alternative-energy bill advances in House

By HANK LACEY THE GAZETTE

DENVER - Utilities would have to generate more of their power from alternative energy sources such as the sun and wind under a bill that received preliminary approval Friday in the House of Representatives.

HB1281 would expand on the requirements of Amendment 37 and would affect Colorado Springs Utilities and the state's rural electric cooperatives, including Intermountain Rural Electric Association. Amendment 37, approved by voters in 2004, mandates that utilities increasingly use renewable energy to achieve 10 percent of sales by 2015. As a municipal utility, Utilities is exempt from the requirement but has chosen to follow the rules.

If the bill receives final approval in the House, it then goes to the Senate.

Some Republicans sought Friday to allow utilities to count hydroelectric power as a renewable source, permit rural electric cooperatives to vote themselves exempt from the new requirements and require the Public Utilities Commission to study wildlife impacts before approving facilities that generate renewable energy.

Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, told legislators that the bill "plays favorites" by excluding hydropower. He said electricity generated by flowing water is more reliable than solar or wind power.

But Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Golden and a co-sponsor of the bill, said that proponents want to encourage development of new energy sources. "Hydroelectricity is already commercially viable," Witwer said.

Several Republicans urged the House to grant rural electric cooperatives the same optout authority they have under Amendment 37. They pointed out that two of those cooperatives, IREA and Brighton's United Power, Inc., voted to do so. The amendment proposal failed 44-19.

Rep. Victor Mitchell, R-Castle Rock, said he was concerned that the House was overriding the public's will. "Considering the type of election it was, with over 40,000 votes, I believe we shouldn't disrespect the will of the voters," Mitchell said.

Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, argued that allowing IREA and other cooperatives to opt out of the new requirements would undermine the purpose of the bill. "It only works if everybody participates," Pommer said.

The wildlife impact amendment also died.

The bill is a cornerstone of Gov. Bill Ritter's plan to build a "new energy economy" in the state.

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"New energy future" touted in legislative package

By Jeri Clausing
Denver Post Staff Writer

Gov. Bill Ritter and Democratic legislative leaders lined up with farmers, environmentalists and utility and labor lobbyists Wednesday to tout a renewable energy package they say will launch a new economy in Colorado.

Republicans and representatives of rural electric cooperatives, meanwhile, stood in the back of the room, accusing the Democrats of advocating higher utility bills and onerous mandates on rural cooperatives.

The package includes requirements that utilities upgrade and build new transmission lines, produce more electricity from alternatives sources like wind and solar, and provide credits for businesses, farms and households that produce more energy than they consume.

"What we are going to put before you today is the beginning of Colorado's realization of its great potential," said Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Golden.

House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, said, "We're literally embarking on a new energy future for Colorado."

Ritter, who has made renewable energy the cornerstone of his first year's agenda, said the policies will promote "great economic development prospects for the state" and energy independence for the country.

Republicans, however, questioned their methods.

"Today we saw talk up there from the Democrats willing to pass price increases on to consumers," said Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma.

He said rural co-ops would be hit the hardest under a proposal being drafted by Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, that is expected to eliminate some of their exemptions to alternative energy production requirements.

"The devil is in the details," said Ray Clifton, executive director the Colorado Rural Electric Association, who said he has been meeting with Pommer about the impact such mandates would have on co-ops' ability to provide affordable electricity.

More than a dozen bills are expected from both sides of the aisle dealing with renewable energy initiatives. Two key proposals from Democrats would require utility companies to upgrade their transmission lines to accommodate wind power and a plan to double by 2020 the amount of renewable energy they produce, from 10 percent to 20 percent.

It costs about $750,000 to $1 million a mile to convert the lines, Fitz-Gerald said, but utility companies would be able to pass along the costs to consumers as they are being built.

She said Xcel Energy, which backs the bill, has estimated the increases for its customers would be about one-half of 1 percent, or about 31 cents on the average bill of $58. Xcel customers already pay about six-tenths of a percent to fund renewable initiatives mandated by Amendment 37.

"We're talking about really reinvesting in our future," she said.

But Republicans like Gardner said the state should look at alternatives such as tax incentives and tax credits to promote investment in renewable energy, rather than policies that mean rate hikes.

"Someone has to look out for the consumer in all of this. I think our new governor in particular has to be careful that he doesn't become so enamored of alternative energy that he loses track of his responsibility to the rate-paying public," Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, said in a statement.

Environmental groups, family farmers and construction unions, however, lined up to back the proposals, which include a measure that would "reverse" the dial on the electric meter by giving credit to farmers and others who produce more power than they use.

Will Coyne, program director for Environment Colorado, said the package was years in the making: "Today our state leaders have set an incredible plan in motion."

Staff writer Jeri Clausing can be reached at 303-954-1555 or jclausing@denverpost.com.

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Democrats lay out energy bills

By Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News
December 16, 2006

Democratic lawmakers will introduce a slew of bills in the 2007 General Assembly to propel Colorado into becoming the "renewable energy capital of the world."

Legislation to double the state's renewable energy standard by 2015, mandate the use of ethanol in 10 percent of all transportation fuel - except jet fuel - by the end of next year, offer incentives to biofuel crop farmers and boost the number of transmission lines by allowing utilities to recover the money from ratepayers during construction are in the pipeline.

Renewable energy advocates say with the Democrats in control of the governor's office as well as the state Senate and House, the dozen or so bills - three times the number introduced last year - have a good chance of being signed into law.

Gov.-elect Bill Ritter has said his administration will kick-start a new energy economy aimed at reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

"The top three priorities for us are education, health care and renewable energy," said House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver. "Of these, renewable energy is the one ready for prime time, and we are ready to roll out a package of proposals to make Colorado the renewable energy capital of the world."

A bill that doubles green power - electricity generated from the sun, wind and plant and animal waste - to 20 percent at Colorado's top utilities by 2015 will be introduced early in the session. The bill likely will be sponsored by Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder.

Amendment 37, the mandate approved by voters in November 2004, requires utilities to get only 10 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2015.

Xcel Energy, Colorado's biggest utility, is on track to become compliant with the 10 percent mandate by 2008. It's adding 775 megawatts of new wind farms to its system, on top of the existing 282 megawatts. Since wind blows intermittently, Xcel estimates 1 megawatt serves about 330 households.

"Since Xcel is ahead of the schedule, we wanted to be more ambitious and try and double the standard," Romanoff said.

Xcel collects six-tenths of 1 percent of the electric portion of a monthly bill from ratepayers, an average of 36 cents a month, to pay for the solar and wind projects.

It's not clear how much doubling the portfolio would cost customers.

"There will be a continuing debate over the cost of all resources, and there will be those who will argue that costs are increased on consumers when government mandates distort the market," said Jim Sims, a Republican lobbyist who runs the Golden-based Western Business Roundtable. "What sometimes gets lost in the debate over renewable build-out is the transmission side of the coin, and in Colorado there are serious impediments to transmission."

Senate President Joan FitzGerald will introduce a bill to boost the construction of electric transmission lines. Transmission has lagged the rapid construction of new wind farms in the past couple of years.

Xcel Energy supports the proposal. The utility has downsized or backed off several wind projects because of insufficient transmission.

The bill will allow utilities to recover the cost of new lines or upgrades from ratepayers before the project is complete. Although the new lines will be used for all power plants, including coal and natural gas-fired plants, the focus will be to connect wind farms on the eastern plains.

"The bill will facilitate the building of transmission and cost recovery upfront," FitzGerald said. "Otherwise, there is no incentive to build if cost recovery lags far behind."

Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, likely will introduce a bill to map renewable energy areas and transmission zones in the state.

Doug Carter, vice president of development at Invenergy said bureaucracy might actually slow down building of new transmission lines. The company is building a 75-mile-long line to connect its wind farm near Peetz to Xcel's grid near Brush.

"I think the market can work out the relationship between wind farms, utilities and landowners and come up with quicker solutions," Carter said.

Brandon Shaffer, a Democratic senator from Longmont, plans to introduce a bill that will mandate that 10 percent of all transportation fuel sold in Colorado except jet fuel must contain 10 percent ethanol by the end of next year. To help reach the goal faster at no cost to taxpayers, the bill will offer higher credits to producers of E-85, biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol. E85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline; cellulosic ethanol is produced from corn stover or switchgrass.

Schwartz also will sponsor a bill that provides incentives for farmers growing canola, sunflower and other energy crops - especially in the San Luis valley - used to produce biofuels. Incentives to biofuel blenders also are being discussed.

"The idea is to create opportunities for individual homeowners, farmers or ranchers to raise the crop, have production of biofuels in place and integrate that with fuel distribution," Schwartz said. "Colorado needs to catch up to become a leader in the (biofuels) area."

Bills likely to be introduced in '07 session

• Renewable electricity: Proposal would double Colorado's renewable energy portfolio to require utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources such as the sun, wind, and plant and animal waste by 2015. The current mandate, approved by voters in November 2004, requires top utilities to get 10 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2015. The measure likely will be sponsored by Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder.

• Biofuel: Proposal would require 10 percent of all transportation fuel sold in Colorado, except jet fuel, to contain 10 percent ethanol by the end of 2007. Offer credits to producers of E-85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol to reach that mandate faster at no cost to taxpayers. Offer incentives to producers of canola, sunflower and other crops to boost rural economies and increase production of biofuels. The measures will be sponsored by Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, and Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma.

• New transmission: Proposal would develop new transmission lines or high-voltage power lines that carry electricity from generating stations to substations before it's delivered to homes and businesses by allowing utilities to recover the cost upfront from ratepayers. Map the state to figure out areas that would support wind and solar energy projects and define transmission corridors that could help bring power from projects in rural areas to towns and cities. Those measures, supported by Xcel Energy, will be sponsored by Senate President Joan FitzGerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon, and Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village.

• Carbon sequestration: Proposal would finance a study by Colorado State University to map Colorado's soil and farming practices to locate areas that are suitable for capturing carbon from the atmosphere and sequestering the polluting gas in soil. Supported by farmers and corn growers, the bill helps farmers earn money by trading the carbon credits in the Chicago Climate Exchange or other trading platforms.

• Gas savings program: Proposal would direct utilities that deliver natural gas to launch energy-saving programs, including offering customers rebates for installing energy-efficient, natural gas appliances. The bill would allow natural gas utilities to levy a surcharge, or fee, on residential and commercial customers to pay for the programs. A similar bill was vetoed by Gov. Bill Owens in 2006. Establish building energy codes to increase the energy efficiency of new buildings. The bills likely will be sponsored by Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder.

• Clean energy: Proposal would create a Clean Energy Fund to promote research and development of renewable technologies and biofuels. The bill likely will be introduced by Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction.

chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2976

Note created January 3, 2007

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