Senator Jones, prime sponsor, discussed the provisions of  Senate Bill 18-064 concerning the renewable energy requirement.   He distributed Amendment L.001 [Attachment K] and Amendment L.005 [Attachment L].  He also distributed a handout concerning recent bids for electric generation received by Xcel Energy for renewable and other energy sources [Attachment M].   This bill modifies the state's renewable energy standard (RES) to require that all investor-owned utilities (IOUs), cooperative electric associations (CEAs), and municipally-owned utilities (MOUs) generate 100 percent of their electricity from eligible renewable resources by 2035.  The bill also removes recycled energy sources from the types of energy eligible for meeting the RES.

Senator Donovan distributed Amendment L.004 [Attachment M].

Carol Sidofsky, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill if amended to address her concerns.  She also expressed concern about noise associated with wind power generation and related wind turbine syndrome that some persons have experienced.  She distributed a document that highlighted some of her concerns with the bill [Attachment N] and a letter to Representative Salazar that further discussed her concerns with wind power generation facilities [Attachment O].

Michael Watkins representing himself, spoke in support of the bill.

Sandy Toland, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill and expressed concerning about the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

Jeri Shepard, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill.

Jan Rose, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill.

Dan Hodges, Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities, spoke in opposition to the bill and discussed the effect of the bill on the ability of municipal utilities to obtain their power from federal hydroelectric generation.

Jacob Forman, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill.

Tracee Bentley, Executive Director, Colorado Petroleum Council, spoke in opposition to the bill. She also responded to questions from the committee about jobs related to the oil and gas industry in Colorado and consumption of water related to oil and gas development. She also discussed tax revenue generated from oil and gas development.

The chair closed testimony on the bill. Senator Jones closed his remarks on the bill.

Committee discussion followed on the bill, as amended.