July 21, 2010 –

WASHINGTON – Colorado Congressman Jared Polis, D-Colo., has introduced a bill to spark investment in small scale “distributed generation” solar projects across the U.S. and encourage long-term job growth in the solar industry.

Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, D-Calif. is the bill’s co-sponsor.

H.R. 5763, the Solar Expansion of Distributed Generation Exponentially Act, would provide a two-year 20 percent increase to the current Investment Tax Credit for small solar systems (under 20 kilowatts).

Polis and Sanchez estimate their bill would create 83,000 new jobs in the manufacturing and installation sectors of the solar market.

They said the bill would add a projected additional 1,000 megawatts of new solar and more than $6 billion in new private investment, without the expensive infrastructure investments that accompany new centralized power sources.

“New solar power has been mostly confined to states like Colorado with solar-friendly regulations or large-scale projects that require expensive transmission infrastructure,” Polis said. “Solar could and should be an easy choice for every household or small business; every empty rooftop is a wasted opportunity.”

Jim Woolsey, former director of the CIA, will speak on renewable energy, distributing electricity from multiple locations and feed-in tariff policies from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, July 21, in room 235 at the University Memorial Center on the CU Boulder campus.

A panel discussion will follow from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 22, at the same location.

Admission is $15 for the presentation Wednesday night and $50 for the workshop on Thursday. Lunch is provided.

An R.S.V.P. for both events is required at www.CommunityInPower.com.

Accompanied by lawmakers, business owners and clean-energy pioneers, Gov. Ritter praised the strong partnerships and innovative projects that are making Colorado a hub for the New Energy Economy. He thanked lawmakers for helping to push through 16 ambitious bills during this legislative session that are taking Colorado’s energy work to new frontiers.

“Since taking office in 2007, we have charged forward with a bold and ambitious agenda to make Colorado a national leader in the New Energy Economy,” Gov. Ritter said. “In less than four years, we have passed nearly 60 New Energy Economy bills that are sowing the seeds for a vibrant and sustainable future. We are creating jobs, attracting companies, reducing energy consumption and advancing high-tech projects that will continue to bear fruit for decades to come.

“This year, we passed the landmark, first-in-the-country Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act, which will reduce climate-warming emissions from coal and create a greater role for cleaner, home-grown natural gas. We increased the renewable energy requirement to 30 percent by 2020, and we passed a host of measures that will help clean-tech businesses thrive.

“Today, Colorado is at the leading edge of a clean-energy revolution.”

State Sen. Gail Schwartz has been a leading supporter of the New Energy Economy and sponsored several of the bills signed into law today by Gov. Ritter.

“Thanks to our commitment to Colorado’s New Energy Economy, this state is the best place for renewable energy in the country,” Sen. Schwartz said. “Thousands of green jobs have already been created, and demand for skilled workers is building. We are working to ensure these growing industries have the workforce needed. I’m proud of all the work that we have done since I first took office four years ago. There is still a lot to accomplish, but these bills bring us closer to our goals and help position Colorado for a strong recovery with tools of the future.”

The New Energy Economy bills signed today are:

• House Bill 1333 (Vigil/Schwartz & Newell) provides grants to community colleges, vocational schools and other training providers to develop clean energy job training programs.

“By creating this partnership for green job training, we can help people who might have lost their jobs and need to be trained in new skills,” Rep. Ed Vigil said. “We can help put folks back to work in growing sectors of our economy. Importantly, we are responding to the needs and requests of the renewable energy industry. That’s good for people who need work today and good for the green businesses that want to hire trained Coloradans tomorrow.”

“The renewable energy industry provides good-paying jobs for workers in Colorado,” Sen. Linda Newell said. “This bill will help people acquire skills for those jobs and strengthen our state’s workforce to keep us competitive. I’m proud to be a part of it.”

• House Bill 1328 (Miklosi/Schwartz) creates a statewide New Energy Improvement District to promote and finance Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs, thereby providing scalability that cannot be easily achieved with a county-by-county approach. A county must opt-into the district before its residents can participate in the program.

“I am confident that this will help the state create jobs and empower homeowners to participate in our fastest growing economic sector — the New Energy Economy,” Rep. Joe Miklosi said.
Senate Bill 180 (Williams/A. Kerr) creates an 11-member task force to gather information and report to the legislature and Colorado Public Utilities Commission on issues related to the implementation of a smart energy grid in Colorado.

• House Bill 1098 (Levy/Hodge) provides for more transparency in rural electric cooperative association governance and fairness in elections at these organizations.

“Members of rural electric associations deserve to have a real voice in decisions made by their utility. Too often, members who advocate for more renewable energy and energy efficiency programs have been shut out by old guard board members who are resistant to change. House Bill 1098 will open up the election process for the board of directors, and will allow REA members to provide input to board members as they make important decisions about their energy sources,” Rep. Claire Levy said.

• House Bill 1267 (A. Kerr/Romer) allows third-party independently-owned residential solar facilities to be exempt from property tax, putting them on an even playing field with homeowner-owned systems with regard to property tax exemption.

Tour the Balsam Project. A new carbon neutral home on a hill in the heart of downtown Boulder, where functionality, meets style, meets sustainability. The Balsam project is partially powered by a Bella Energy solar pv system.

Register through the BGBG August 31, 2010 5:30 PM – 08:30 PM

The application due date for the Solar Homes Tour is June 4th, 2010! If you’re a solar homeowner and would like to submit your home to be on this year’s solar home tour please visit: http://www.conservationcenter.org/energy/tour.html

This year, the CRC has teamed up with CRES to promote a Front Range weekend of Solar & Green Homes Tours!

Save these dates!

Friday, June 4, Home Applications Due
Tuesday, September 21, CRES’ Solar Seminar at NREL, Golden
Wednesday, September 22, CRC & BGBG’s Building On Site Seminar, Boulder
Saturday, September 25, CRES’ Denver Area Solar & Green Homes Tour
Sunday, September 26, CRC’s Boulder County Solar & Green Homes Tour
Tuesday, September 28, CRES’ Solar Seminar at CRES’ building, Denver
Wednesday, September 29, CRC’s Solar Seminar at CRC’s building, Boulder
For sponsorship information, please email sandelman@conservationcenter.org.

Read about Boulder County Solar Week 2009 and the history of this event.

7:30 am-9:00 am APRIL 13 2010 at The Boulder Chamber: 2440 Pearl Street Boulder, CO 80302

Profitable and Affordable

We know we want to become sustainable enterprises, but how do we go about it in a way that improves profitability, increases top-line growth opportunities and bolsters relationships with out business stakeholders? Boulder County in partnership with Natural Capitalism Solutions, founded by sustainability though leader, Hunter Lovins, meets this challenge. Learn how – during the Chamber meeting on Tuesday the 14th of April.

Building a Community in Boulder

The most effective way to get the job done is to blend the power of “peer community” with a specifc actionable program. Natural Capitalism, Inc. brings together individual circles of 6 to 8 local companies for six full days, spread over a six-month period. The goal: improve profitability in each company by fully embracing sustainable business practices.

Learning That Never Stops

A key feature in the program is the use of sophisticated eLearning tools that take users through detailed implementation measurers: water conservation, wast reduction; plus efficiencies in lighting, HVAC, business travel, employee transit, and more. When the program ends, eLearning keeps the sustainability savings alive and ongoing within the company.

During the past six months, the congregation raised $100,000 though donations and fundraisers to buy 233 solar panels that will be installed on the church’s roof next week.

More than 40 panels will be engraved with the names of people who donated $1,000 or more to the project.

“We want to be light bearers that share the light with God,” said Jack Groverland, the church’s senior minister. “When we think of light, we think of solar, so this is a very beautiful project to align ourselves with.”

Jack and Janet Root donated $5,000 to purchase five panels, which will be engraved with their names and the names of Jack’s deceased parents and of a family friend who died from cancer.

“It’s about her light living on,” said Janet. “Being a solar panel, I feel like collecting the sun rays is a way for her to stay connected with all of us still living.”

Unity will offset close to 95 percent of its energy use with the solar panels and sell the excess energy to Xcel, the utility provider.

The installation of the panels culminates other energy efficiency and sustainability improvements, such as insulation and recycling that the church has already made to reduce its carbon emissions.

Unity doesn’t think of its theology as a religion but instead as a spiritual conviction, said Groverland. Preserving and protecting the environment reflects the members’ belief that they have a kinship with the environment because everything on earth is a part of God, he said.

Lafayette-based Bella Energy is supplying and installing the solar panels. Despite the church’s tax-exempt status, it was able to receive $60,000 in federal tax breaks by working with Bella Energy to create an entity called Community Solar Partners that would legally own the array.

The church won’t use all of the 60,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per year that the array will generate. Xcel has paid $90,000 up front for the excess energy, which will be fed into the grid. It will pay the church $3,000 each year for the next 20 years, according to Paul Williams of Bella Energy.

More than 200 people gave money for the panels and others donated time to raise money during fundraisers.

“People are generous,” said Groverland. “We don’t have any endowments, we operate a hand-to-mouth operation from month to month.”

Residential and small-business customer bills are expected to rise about 8 percent, the utility said.

The increase comes in the utility’s quarterly “Electric Commodity Adjustment” (ECA), which is filed with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. If approved, the new rates would take effect April 1.

Costs associated with increases or decreases through the ECA are passed along to customers on a dollar-per-dollar basis, the utility said.

If approved, the ECA portion of customers’ bills will increase to 3.7 cents per kilowatt-hour for the second quarter, compared to 2.9 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first quarter of this year. For typical residential customers using 632 kilowatt-hours a month, current bills are expected to increase by $5.18 a month to $71.53.

Typical small-business customer using 1,123 kilowatt-hours a month would see current bills rise by $9.21 a month to $122.41, the utility said.

“For years, consumers have advocated ‘the more you use, the more you pay’ for electricity,” PUC Chairman Ron Binz said. “Today, we’re making that slogan a reality.”

A typical residential customer uses about 687 kilowatt-hours (kwh) per month during the four-month summer period and about 605 kwh per month the rest of the year. Under the new tiered rates, residential customers with average usage will pay about 2 percent more in summer and about 5 percent less during the rest of the year. Customers who are able to reduce their electricity usage during the peak months will be able to see larger savings on their bills.
“The largest customers will pay more, and customers will realize greater rewards for their efforts to use electricity wisely,” Binz said.

The changes are part of the PUC’s decision in Xcel Energy’s phase II rate case, which sets the rate design for the company’s various customer classes. The company receives no additional revenue from the changes. The new rates are expected to go into effect on June 1.
Source: Department of Regulatory Agencies