A New Energy Economy - Center for the New Energy Economy ...

A BLUEPRINT FOR
A New Energy Economy

Report authored by Todd Hartman
Photography by Matt McClain unless otherwise indicated
Photo, Above
Mike Stewart looks over an array of solar panels at the Greater Sandhill Solar
Project being constructed by SunPower Corporation outside of Alamosa.
Design by Communication Infrastructure Group, LLC
No taxpayer dollars were used in the production of this report.
On the Cover
The light of the setting sun reflects off solar panels at SunEdison’s
8.2-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant outside of Alamosa.

A LETTER FROM GOVERNOR RITTER
A Letter From Governor Ritter
Dear Reader,
In four years as Governor of Colorado, I have made it a top priority to position
Colorado as an economic and energy leader by creating sustainable jobs for
our residents, encouraging economic growth for our businesses, and fostering
new innovations and new technologies from our public, non-profit and private
institutions. We call it the New Energy Economy, and it is built on the recognition
that the world is changing the way it produces and consumes energy.
By harnessing the creative forces of
entrepreneurs, researchers, educators,
foundations, business leaders and policy
makers, we have in Colorado created
an ecosystem that is supporting private
economic activity, creating new jobs and
putting our state at the forefront of a fastchanging
world. In Colorado, we intend to
help America remain a global economic
power by leading – not following – in the
race to a new energy future.
While our state remains a strong – and proud
– producer of traditional energy resources,
we have also become a national center for
advancing the diversified energy resources
that we turn to today, and will increasingly
do so in the future: solar, wind, geothermal,
biomass, small hydro, Smart Grid and other
elements of the emerging new energy world.
In the pages that follow, we are sharing
Colorado’s New Energy Economy story
in hopes that it can serve as a blueprint
for states, local governments and others
interested in preparing for, and engaging
with, a world where China, Europe, Asia and
other fast-rising economies are speeding
ahead while America risks falling behind.
In Colorado, we’ve elected to join that race,
and together, we believe America can win
it. Colorado is proof positive that we can
create new opportunities for new forms of
clean energy that will ease our dependence
on foreign energy, conserve finite fossil fuels,
protect our environment and allow us to
compete in the global fields of new energy
manufacturing, research and business.
We hope you find Colorado’s story
instructive, and employ its lessons to
advance the New Energy Economy in other
regions. By taking these steps, we can deliver
to our children and grandchildren a better
world, and give them the knowledge that we
worked with their futures in mind in hopes
that they will do the same.
Sincerely,
Bill Ritter, Jr.
Colorado Governor
January 2007 to January 2011

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
The New Energy Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CHAPTER ONE
Setting The Stage . ........................................................................................................ 4
CHAPTER TWO
Campaigning on the New Energy Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
CHAPTER THREE
First Steps are Giant Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
CHAPTER FOUR
Sustaining Momentum . .................................................................................................. 18
CHAPTER FIVE
Economic Impact . ....................................................................................................... 22
CHAPTER SIX
Market Transformation . .................................................................................................. 30
CHAPTER SEVEN
Conclusion . ............................................................................................................ 34
Photo, Left
Gov. Ritter, center, tours Confluence Energy in Kremmling with owner Mark Mathis, left. Confluence Energy’s wood pellet
plant is the largest of its kind west of the Mississippi River. The company is a leading recycler of beetle kill trees.
1

INTRODUCTION – THE NEW ENERGY ECONOMY
Introduction
The state of Colorado, under the leadership of Governor Bill Ritter Jr., has in
recent years led the country in the creation and expansion of a “New Energy
Economy.” This successful economic transformation, recognized in Washington
D.C. and in many countries around the world, has evolved through a series
of policy, legislative and economic development actions that recognize a 21st
century shift in the way the world will produce and consume energy.
The commitment to developing a New The basis for building a New Energy
Energy Economy has transformed Colorado Economy rests on a convergence of factors.
into an important national and international
hub for renewable energy companies and
Those include:
entrepreneurs, clean-energy research and
• Forecasts of rising energy prices
production, and has fostered growth in
companies that focus on energy efficiency. • Growing concern over the impacts
The New Energy Economy grew in Colorado of climate change tied to fossil
even in a period of severe national recession. fuel combustion
Manufacturers were building factories and
hiring employees on the Front Range of • The increasingly mainstream interest
the Rocky Mountains, even at the height in protecting the environment and
of the economic downturn. These projects conserving natural resources
produced, at least in part, an antidote to
• A growing emphasis on
the swirl of difficult economic news that
energy independence
dominated the last years of the decade.
• The focused work of non-profits and energy. This is offered as important history,
foundations helping educate Americans but more significantly as a blueprint for
about the imperative for a new
states and local governments interested in
energy course
replicating this effort to the extent possible
in other regions. Colorado’s success with the
• The desire to ensure America remains
New Energy Economy shows that forwardlooking
policies that take into account
economically competitive globally
by understanding the shift in jobs,
global economic and environmental trends
manufacturing and technology
will lead to opportunities to expand local
tied to a new energy movement
economies, build energy security, protect
the climate, clean the air and reduce
This document tells the story of Colorado’s
dependence on finite fossil energy.
New Energy Economy, its origins, its
development under Governor Ritter’s
leadership from January 2007 to January
2011, and key elements that ensure longterm
market transformation built around
homegrown jobs, protection of the state’s
postcard beauty and clean, inexhaustible
Gov. Ritter pumps insulation into a home in
Colorado Springs. Weatherization of existing
structures is a key aspect of building Colorado’s
New Energy Economy. Photo courtesy Energy
Resource Center.
3

CHAPTER ONE – SETTING THE STAGE
Setting the Stage
Various political, technological, regulatory and market forces began to align
in important ways in the late 1990s and early 2000s, planting the seeds for
Colorado’s blooming New Energy Economy. Advances in wind energy technology
and production were nudging the price of wind-turbine power into a competitive
position with some fossil fuels. At the same time, a public increasingly concerned
about carbon emissions, climate stability and pollutants associated with coalfired
power plants were pressuring utilities to deploy more renewable energy.
Utilities, including Xcel Energy – Colorado’s largest electricity provider – were
also concerned about the potential for deregulation that appeared to threaten
their future viability.
Photo, Left
Jim Wedeman of Ascent Solar holds up a piece of Polyimide film
used at the company’s manufacturing facility in Littleton.
Key developments included the creation of
Xcel Energy’s Windsource program, which
gave customers the option to pay slightly
higher electricity rates to purchase power
from renewable sources. Response to the
program was enthusiastic, and Xcel Energy
saw demand exceed supply as Windsource
became one of the country’s leading green
energy programs. In this same period,
the Colorado Public Utilities Commission
determined that wind was a so-called “leastcost”
resource and required Xcel Energy
to acquire wind to meet its generation
demands. This led Xcel Energy to purchase
electricity from a 162-megawatt wind farm
near Lamar, a town along the Arkansas
River in southeastern Colorado.
These events encouraged environmental
activists and led to a series of efforts to
develop a “renewable portfolio standard,”
or RPS, designed to require utilities to
generate a certain amount of electricity
from green sources. Bipartisan attempts
were made to move such measures through
the Colorado Legislature in 2002 and 2003
without success. By 2004, however, the
effort had gained significant momentum
and supporters - including a fledgling
renewable energy industry, economic
development groups, the ski industry
and major environmental organizations.
Importantly, advocates emerged in the
Republican Party as well. These were chiefly
rural conservatives who saw how farmers
and ranchers could benefit from the leases
needed to erect wind turbines on the
Eastern Plains.
Frustration with the legislature’s failure to
approve an RPS led to a ballot initiative in
the fall of 2004. That initiative, known as
Amendment 37, would require Xcel Energy
and other utilities to acquire 10 percent of
their electricity from renewable sources,
including solar and wind, by 2015. Notably,
the initiative also came at a time when the
United States was engaged in the Iraq War,
with public attention focused – once again
– on our dependence on foreign energy and
5

CHAPTER ONE – SETTING THE STAGE
rising gasoline prices. Traditional electricity
and energy companies fought Amendment
37, marshalling an estimated $1.5 million
in an attempt to defeat the measure, edging
out supporters who raised $1.1 million for
the fall campaign.
But voters were not persuaded by assertions
the initiative would drive up energy costs.
Instead, signaling a desire to move the state
into a new energy future, voters passed the
ballot proposal 53 percent to 47 percent and
Colorado became the first state with a voterapproved
renewable energy standard.
David Poindexter puts insulation in
the crawl space of a house in Denver.
The weatherization program insulates
low income housing.
K E Y S TO T HE N E W E NERGY E C O N O M Y
Climate Action Plan
A single policy document underlies in our homes, stores and factories,
almost all the components of
and training thousands of others to
Colorado’s New Energy Economy. build wind farms, solar facilities and
The Colorado Climate Action Plan (CAP), geothermal plants across the state,
issued near the end of Governor and by aggressively pursuing new
Ritter’s first year in office in 2007, sets technologies for using our abundant
forth how the state can reduce global coal resources cleanly – we can reduce
warming emissions 20 percent below our emissions, create jobs and build
2005 levels by 2020.
more sustainable communities.”
The CAP was fundamental to most The 33-page plan set out in detail
everything the New Energy Economy numerous actions and goals for state
strived to do: “By training thousands of departments, utilities and policy
workers to improve energy efficiency makers. The myriad efforts at the
Governor’s Energy Office to reduce
energy consumption in schools,
buildings and homes, to build markets
for renewable energy, and to expand
transmission to bring green electrons
into the grid, were built with the
targets of the CAP in mind.
Initiatives at the Colorado legislature
to raise the level of renewable energy
used in the state, and to require that
utilities work with customers to
reduce demand also tied back to the
CAP goals. The state’s utilities and
many local governments also took the
document to heart – even though the
plan does not carry the weight of law.
Xcel Energy, as it did throughout
Governor Ritter’s tenure, showed
important leadership. It began folding
the closure of some coal units into its
resource plan following the release
of the CAP. Later, as part of the 2010
Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act,
Xcel Energy agreed to close some of
its largest coal plants to help clear
Colorado skies. “His Climate Action
Plan goals did not have enforceability,
but (Governor Ritter) effectively …
cajoled utilities to close a significant
amount of coal plants,” said Craig Cox,
executive director of the Interwest
Energy Alliance.
6

THE N E W E NERGY E C O N O M Y
Solar Totals
SOLAR (PV) [MEGAWATTS]
(CUMULATIVE)
103
59
36
1 4
14
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
A July afternoon sun reflects off United Power’s Brighton Solar Farm.
The facility allows customers to buy their own share of the facility’s solar power.

CHAPTER TWO – CAMPAIGNING ON THE NEW ENERGY ECONOMY
Campaigning on the New Energy Economy
When candidate Bill Ritter intensified his run for Governor in the summer and
fall of 2006, his opponents pursued a traditional political strategy of attacking his
record as a public office holder (Ritter had served as Denver’s District Attorney
from 1993 to 2005). Candidate Ritter was under pressure from media consultants
to respond in kind, by portraying himself as a tough-on-crime prosecutor. But
Ritter rejected that course. He had a different vision, one developed through
his own upbringing on a Colorado farm, through his appreciation of Colorado’s
natural beauty and through conversations with people about the future of the
state’s environment, climate change, the need to reduce dependence on foreign
oil - and the links between these issues and job creation.
Photo, Left
Gov. Ritter on the roof of the state capitol in downtown Denver.
He recognized an untapped potential
in Colorado for a kind of market
transformation. “He had a line about how
his grandchildren would use power in a very
different way,” recalled deputy chief of staff
Ken Weil. “They’d switch on the light and it’s
not going to be power coming from a coal
plant; you’re not going to drive a car to a gas
station and fill it up. It’s just going to be a
completely different world.”
With this in mind, Ritter wanted to make
his first television advertisement not
about his past performance as DA, but
about the future, Colorado’s future. He
wanted it filmed with wind turbines in
the background. “He said, ‘I want my first
ad to be about turning wheat fields into
wind farms,” Weil said. “This was Bill
Ritter traveling the state, talking to people,
watching how the public responded when
he talked about New Energy Economy
issues.” The ad was “hugely successful,” Weil
said, and other politicians later mimicked
the approach.
That Colorado was ripe for this kind of
strategy made sense. The passage of
Amendment 37 two years earlier – in
a year when Republican President George
W. Bush carried the state – sent a message
to political watchers that something
about clean energy was capturing
the public imagination.
Candidate Ritter and his team would
continue to embrace the clean energy
concept as the election season progressed.
In a campaign document, The Colorado
Promise, Ritter outlined over five pages how
he would build a New Energy Economy to
drive clean energy, job creation and reduce
dependence on foreign oil. “He identified the
new energy movement as one he wanted
to pursue and pursue aggressively,” said
Don Elliman, who served first as Governor
Ritter’s economic development director and
later as his chief operating officer.
At the same time, as Ritter’s team assessed
the state’s assets and liabilities, the quality
of Colorado’s labor force was one of its top
9

CHAPTER TWO – CAMPAIGNING ON THE NEW ENERGY ECONOMY
strengths. Colorado is home to one of the
most highly educated workforces in the
country, as well as home to a remarkable
research network of universities and
federal science facilities focused on energy
and climate. “Early on, this appeared to
be a sweet spot for us: clean-tech, and
specifically the energy generation portion
of it,” Elliman said.
The serious-minded approach was aided
by some fortunate branding, when one
of Ritter’s energy advisers, Melody Harris,
suggested the term “New Energy Economy”
to describe what the candidate was trying
to develop and advance. “This was pivotal,”
Ritter said. “It helped us brand it in a way
that stuck, and people across the country
starting using it as part of the energy
lexicon when trying to describe the
benefits of a clean energy future.”
Photo, Below
Equipment mechanic Elie Mardiros works on a flex fuel car that is part of
the State Motor Pool’s fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles in downtown Denver.
10

CHAPTER TWO – CAMPAIGNING ON THE NEW ENERGY ECONOMY
K E Y S TO T HE N E W E NERGY E C O N O M Y
Tightening O i l a n d
Gas Drilling O versight
It was the most politically hazardous
component of the New Energy
Economy. At the outset of his
administration, Governor Ritter set
out to develop oil and gas drilling
rules that put greater emphasis on
the protection of Colorado’s signature
wildlife herds, water, air, communities
and landscapes. What he sought was
balance between a healthy industry
and healthy environment.
The move was critical. If the Governor
was to promote Colorado’s rich
natural gas reserves as a part of
the new energy picture, better rules
were needed to preserve Colorado’s
treasured environment – itself a
major economic driver for the state.
Additionally, as he campaigned for
Governor he heard over and over again
concerns from communities impacted
by what was then – in 2006 and 2007–
a drilling boom in Colorado.
To get it done, first the Governor
had to remake the Colorado Oil and
Gas Conservation Commission. That
board, long heavily tilted to industry,
was expanded and populated with a
more diverse group of members with
concern for wildlife, public health and
the environment. That, itself, created
a major political fracas at the Capitol.
Then, over the next year, the newly
constructed commission set about
developing an array of new rules that
required more thought to how locating
and managing drilling would affect
wildlife, habitat, water quality and
people and communities near
gas fields.
The process generated significant
backlash from the oil and gas
industry and the Governor’s political
opponents. They framed the new
regulations as “job-killers” that would
force companies to leave Colorado’s
gas fields for those in other regions.
As it happened, a crash in natural
gas prices did lead to a drop in
industry activity both in Colorado and
nationally. Factual analysis has since
shown that Colorado continues to
draw as much drilling as surrounding
states, and companies themselves
acknowledge that the new rules
haven’t been a significant factor
in decisions about where to drill.
Governor Ritter has also spent much
of his term promoting Colorado’s
natural gas as a “mission critical” part
of the New Energy Economy, as well
as pushing for opportunities to use
it as a transportation fuel. He’s also
worked to push for greater pipeline
construction to ensure Colorado gas
can reach more out-of-state markets.
“I wouldn’t have been comfortable
promoting natural gas if we hadn’t
developed the rules,” Governor Ritter
explained. “It was an important part of
this.” A key lesson from the experience
was the necessity of taking the long
view, even as many opponents might
take a hostile position in the shortterm.
“They see these battles as just
short-term wars that everybody wants
to fight without asking what are the
long-term benefits As Governor, I
surrounded myself with people who
could think about the long-term
and shared a vision. We might have
encountered pain, but the pain is
worth the long-term gain.”
11

CHAPTER THREE – FIRST STEPS ARE GIANT STEPS
First Steps are Giant Steps
The newly elected governor immediately set to work on an ambitious slate of
legislative and policy goals designed to accelerate job creation in the New Energy
Economy. The accomplishments of the first year came in a whirlwind. Working
in concert with Xcel Energy, lawmakers doubled the state’s renewable energy
standard – from 10 percent by 2015 to 20 percent by 2020, and diversified the
state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, ending its industry-dominated
makeup by including a wider variety of perspectives.
Photo, Left
Portions of wind mills manufactured by Vestas sit in a field waiting
assembly at the Cedar Point Wind Project outside of Limon.
The administration published the state’s
first Climate Action Plan, laying out a
path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
20 percent by 2020, and invested in a
“Collaboratory” to develop closer ties
between three top universities and the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Governor Ritter established an ambitious
new energy office, appointed new members
to the Public Utilities Commission and the
administration courted major new energy
companies, including the first big prize:
the world’s largest wind turbine
manufacturer, Vestas.
Legislation
Within 48 hours of this election, Governor
Ritter met with the president of the Senate
and the Speaker of the House and they
jointly decided that advancing the New
Energy Economy would be a priority for the
upcoming session. “Your first session is the
time to do as much as you possibly can on
the agenda,” Governor Ritter said. And so it
was. The administration worked rapidly to
move foundational legislation that would
create jobs and signal to the world’s new
energy industry that Colorado was open
for business.
Passage of an expanded Renewable Energy
Standard (RES) was spotlighted as the top
priority the day after candidate Ritter was
elected in November 2006. Administration
officials and top lawmakers settled on it
almost immediately, according to deputy
chief of staff Weil. “The issue that received
the single most attention during the
transition, including countless meetings
with (Colorado’s largest utility) Xcel
Energy and a broad range of stakeholders
was passage of that legislation.” Ritter
and administration officials knew that
increasing the RES would immediately draw
attention to Colorado among companies
looking for markets to expand new energy
companies and research.
That signature legislation doubled the
state’s renewable energy standard from
10 to 20 percent that had been approved
13

CHAPTER THREE – FIRST STEPS ARE GIANT STEPS
Workers from Texas Placement of Fort Worth
work on the foundations of wind towers at
the Cedar Point Wind Project outside of Limon.
by voters through Amendment 37. It also
required that rural electric associations
– which had largely chosen to opt-out
of Amendment 37 – meet a 10 percent
renewable energy goal by 2015, assuring an
economic boost for rural areas as well as
Colorado’s Front Range. Matt Baker, a leading
environmentalist at the time and now a
member of the state’s PUC, called the new
standard “the most important environmental
legislation in 20 years.”
Another bill encouraged the development of
new transmission lines, providing utilities
more financial flexibility to build systems
that would import green electrons from
large-scale wind and solar projects. By
removing barriers to transmission build-out,
the bill helped address the “chicken-andegg”
cycle that left wind-energy developers
uneasy about building projects without
adequate transmission, and left utilities
reluctant to build transmission without
wind turbines. A companion bill also set
up a task force to map Colorado’s rich
renewable energy zones for solar, wind,
geothermal and other resources. This
project provided project developers a critical
tool to see where the most important
resources existed in the state, and where
transmission lines might need to be
constructed to bring those clean
electrons to market.
A “net-metering” bill the first year (and a
follow-up bill the next year) established
a statewide policy that Coloradans be
credited for the power they generated
from their own rooftop solar or small
wind system. That reduced the cost for
consumers and simplified the process of
installing renewable energy systems in
the state. Another important bill assured
big energy efficiency gains by requiring
dramatic increases in “demand-side
management” from investor-owned electric
and gas utilities. The bill created tools for
the utilities to provide more incentives
for residences and businesses to upgrade
equipment, furnaces, appliances, insulation
and reduce consumption.
These laws formed the fundamental
building blocks for the New Energy
Economy. The Governor ‘s repeatedly
vocalized support for new energy concepts
alone was a draw to companies big and
small looking for the right place to open
or expand. Laws driving more renewable
energy and energy efficiency would also
mean jobs – jobs for workers to construct
solar collectors, insulate homes and install
furnaces; jobs tied to companies that
build solar panels, wind turbines; and jobs
around research and development that
expanded in the state as venture capitalists
and technology firms eagerly planted their
dollars and themselves in Colorado’s fertile
new energy ground.
14

CHAPTER THREE – FIRST STEPS ARE GIANT STEPS
Policy
The Governor also took ambitious policy
steps outside the legislature in his inaugural
year, especially in his first 100 days, with
key executive orders and personnel
appointments. He redefined the mission of
the state’s Office of Energy Conservation
and Management, converting it to the
Governor’s Energy Office, with a clear
goal to build markets for the New Energy
Economy through programs that would help
residents and business owners incorporate
clean energy and energy-saving measures.
He also issued “Greening Government” goals
directing state agencies to reduce energy
consumption by 20 percent, water use by
10 percent, paper consumption by 20
percent and petroleum use by 25 percent
– all by 2012. “It’s important that state
government leads by example,” he said.
In another bold step, the Governor
appointed Colorado’s first climate change
advisor and created a cross-departments
climate group charged with creating a
Colorado Climate Action Plan. The plan,
published by the end of 2007, set out in
detail how Colorado would make progress
toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions
20 percent by 2020 and make even deeper
cuts by 2050. The plan proposed initiatives
that could reduce fossil fuel emissions in
sectors across Colorado – from agriculture
to power production to transportation.
The Climate Action Plan became a driving
document for the work of the Governor’s
Energy Office, with initiatives adopted
by program managers who set about
partnering with utilities, community groups,
non-profits, fellow government agencies,
legislators and the private sector to
implement them.
The Governor also supported funding
for the Colorado Renewable Energy
Collaboratory, a partnership between the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory and
Colorado’s three major science research
universities: Colorado State University, the
University of Colorado and the Colorado
School of Mines. The Collaboratory’s
highest priority would be to expedite the
development and transition of new energy
technologies to the marketplace.
The state’s Public Utilities Commission,
which regulates Colorado’s investorowned
utilities, was revamped in Governor
Ritter’s first year, with appointments
who – as the governor pledged during
the campaign – would “share my vision
for a cleaner and more secure energy
future.” Two new members in 2007 and
a third in early 2008 were much more
K E Y S TO T HE N E W E NERGY E C O N O M Y
Renewable Energy Standard
Colorado’s work to develop a
in his final year in office – with both
requirement for utilities to generate increases approved by the state
a percentage of their electricity from legislature. Solar, wind and other
clean sources – a Renewable Energy renewable energy companies cite the
Standard (RES) – has been the single RES repeatedly as a key factor in their
greatest driver in building a New decisions to relocate to, or expand
Energy Economy.
within, Colorado.
The state’s RES grew from 10 percent An RES creates market certainty for
after voters first approved it in 2004 renewable energy companies selling
to 20 percent during Governor Ritter’s rooftop solar, small wind turbine
first term, and finally to 30 percent markers and developers constructing
utility-scale wind and solar farms.
Colorado’s RES has undergone
important adjustments at every turn,
but the latest version may provide the
best lesson for policy makers.
Colorado’s RES now includes a 3
percent “carve out” for distributed
renewables. That means that utility
companies must obtain 3 percent of
their electricity from smaller-scale
systems on residential rooftops,
small, environmentally sensitive
hydro-electric projects or small wind
turbines often found on rural farms
and ranches. This requirement
guarantees an explosive business
opportunity – and jobs – for companies
installing distributed renewables and
has been a key force in Colorado’s
dramatic growth in solar
photovoltaic firms.
The impact of an expanded RES
in 2010 was immediate. Jeff Scott,
founder and president of SolSource
Inc., one of many Colorado-based
solar firms, announced on the day the
bill was signed: “We will be training
and employing 20 to 30 new people
in the next 30 days, and we see (this
bill) signing by Governor Ritter as a
commitment to supporting Colorado
clean-tech jobs.”
15

CHAPTER THREE – FIRST STEPS ARE GIANT STEPS
“Loop field” or coils are staged and ready for
installation at Colorado Mountain College in
Glenwood Springs-Spring Valley. These coils
enable the new geoexchange system for energyefficient
cooling and heating of the residence
halls. The highly efficient system is the first of
many energy-saving measures slated for the
college’s 11 sites this academic year, and was
made possible, in part, by the Governor’s
Energy Office. Photo courtesy Colorado
Mountain College.
closely aligned with the governor’s efforts
to move Colorado and electricity and
gas providers into a 21st century energy
economy. These appointments would prove
critical throughout the governor’s term,
as they worked closely with stakeholders
to implement important regulations
that expanded renewable energy, energy
efficiency and low-carbon resources.
Shift in oil and gas oversight
In the most difficult step of his initial
year, Governor Ritter moved to bring
more balance to the state Oil and Gas
Conservation Commission, which oversees
Colorado’s extraction of natural gas, oil
and related fuels. This was a challenging
move in a Western state where industry
interests traditionally dominated the board,
and it proved controversial as it moved
through the Legislature. But the effort
came at a critical time, when Colorado was
experiencing a natural gas drilling boom
unrivaled in its history. Many residents of
the state’s Western Slope were concerned
about the dramatic increase in drilling,
truck traffic, air emissions, erosion, threats
to water quality, intrusion on wildlife
habitat and the region’s recreation economy.
Bringing more balance to the commission
was crucial if Colorado was to put in place
stronger rules to guide the development
of oil and gas drilling. Governor Ritter
long supported the natural gas industry;
he acknowledged its importance to the
economy and saw it as a cleaner-burning
Colorado energy source that could be a
significant component of the New Energy
Economy - as a heating fuel, source of
electricity and even as a transportation
fuel. But before he could amplify its role in
the state’s clean energy portfolio he had to
address decades of lax regulation and the
serious concerns of residents most affected
by the enormous rise in drilling activity
(by 2007, drilling applications submitted to
regulators had more than doubled – to 6,400
- from the numbers submitted in 2004).
Following contentious, often partisan
debate, lawmakers passed two bills
advancing this effort in the 2007 legislative
session. One bill expanded the oil and gas
commission from seven to nine members
and balanced its membership with the
addition of members representing public
health, environmental and wildlife
concerns. A companion bill required the
newly constituted commission to more
deeply consider how to protect wildlife
habitat from fast-growing oil and gas
development. The new commission would
then set about a significant rewrite of
regulations guiding oil and gas exploration
to take into account myriad impacts on
land, water, air, wildlife and communities.
Despite blaring political noise, much of
the hue and cry dissipated as industry and
regulators worked to implement the rules
and drilling continued. “That statute has
16

CHAPTER THREE – FIRST STEPS ARE GIANT STEPS
now become a landmark, kind of a flagship
law for all other states” dealing with
heavy natural gas extraction, said Robert
F. Kennedy Jr., who has become one of the
nation’s leading clean-energy advocates.
Vestas comes to Colorado
Amid the avalanche of far-sighted
policy and legislation, the New Energy
Economy began bearing true fruit almost
immediately. The Ritter administration
had been working tirelessly to convince
Denmark-based Vestas – the world’s
largest wind turbine manufacturer – to
locate its North American manufacturing
facilities in Colorado. In March 2007, just
a week after state lawmakers approved
the expanded Renewable Energy Standard,
the company announced it would open
its first plant in Windsor, a community on
Colorado’s northern Front Range. The plant
was projected to produce 1,200 turbine
blades a year and employ nearly 500 people.
Ultimately VESTAS committed to making an
investment in Colorado of around $1 billion
spread over four plants that will create well
over 2,000 new jobs.
The Office of Economic Development and
International Trade and the Governor’s
Energy Office were critical in luring Vestas,
which was attracted to Colorado by its welleducated
labor force, its access to railroads
and its geography, among other reasons. But
Colorado was up against Texas and other
regions, some of whom could offer greater
financial incentives.
“The deal was at some level maturing
when we came into office, but it had some
pretty significant speed bumps in front of
it,” recalled Don Elliman, who at the time
directed the state’s economic development
office. “We found the resources to flatten
out the speed bumps.”
That administration officials were able to
complete the deal with far fewer economic
enticements than offered by other states
was notable. Vestas could have received far
more money from Texas, Iowa or others,
Elliman said. “They liked the fact we had
a strong labor force and a very supportive
administrative structure to help
them through the permitting” that a big
manufacturing facility faces, Elliman said.
Governor Ritter’s repeated public pledge to
build a New Energy Economy was ultimately
key, Elliman said. They saw a Governor
testifying before Congress, speaking publicly
– repeatedly – about a new energy future.
”They looked at Colorado and said, ‘We’re
not going to find another state where this
is as important to an administration as it is
here,’” Elliman said.
Ditlev Engel, the company’s CEO, said the
decision to build in Colorado was based on
the good rail system, qualified work force
and the state’s leadership on energy. “The
decision by the Governor to go for the clean
energy agenda and really seeing that we can
make a transformation is very important to
us,” said Engel. “The leadership is crucial.”
Vestas was the first in a parade of
New Energy Economy companies arriving
and expanding in Colorado. Vestas alone
would announce plans to bring three
additional manufacturing facilities and a
research and development group to
Colorado. Vestas also attracted suppliers,
such as Bach Composite and HeXcel
Energy. With critical legislation and policy
steps moving fast, the private sector was
responding. “It all just started to come
together,” Elliman said.
WIND [MEGAWATTS]
(CUMULATIVE)
231
Vestas’ arrival prompted this prophetic
public statement from Governor Ritter at
the time: “We are quickly making a name
for ourselves as a state that’s open for
business in what will be one of the most
important industries of the 21st century.”
THE N E W E NERGY E C O N O M Y
291
Wi nd Totals
1067 1068
1244
1295
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
17

CHAPTER FOUR – SUSTAINING MOMENTUM
Sustaining Momentum
Sustaining momentum in advancing the New Energy Economy might appear
challenging following such an accomplished and an ambitious inaugural year.
But the Ritter administration and lawmakers would continue their charge. “It
wasn’t like we achieved something and rested on our laurels,” recalled Alice
Madden, the Governor’s Climate Change Advisor. “You always knew that Bill
Ritter was in this for the long haul.” Dozens of pieces of legislation that built on
the strong foundation of a higher Renewable Energy Standard and the Colorado
Climate Action Plan would emerge over the next three years. The ability of the
Governor’s Energy Office to energize markets would be boosted by a massive
influx of federal stimulus dollars under President Obama.
Photo, Left
Gov. Ritter, left, tours Confluence Energy in Kremmling with owner, Mark Mathis, center.
Confluence Energy’s facility is a key component of Colorado’s biomass production industry.
The ability of the Governor’s Energy Office
to energize markets would be boosted by a
massive influx of federal stimulus dollars
under President Obama. And the work of a
newly constituted Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission to fashion rules protecting air,
water and wildlife would make it easier for
the administration to champion the cleanerburning
qualities of homegrown natural
gas as a “mission critical” component of the
New Energy Economy.
Additional legislation
Administration officials and lawmakers set
about building on the advances of 2007,
with bills that developed more opportunities
for the clean energy marketplace to grow.
A follow-up net-metering proposal was
introduced that more firmly expanded its
benefits to customers of municipal utilities
and rural electric associations, so that they,
too, would be credited for the energy they
generated through their own solar or wind
systems. That further increased incentives
to adopt distributed renewable energy and
provided companies wishing to provide
those services with a wider customer base.
A series of additional bills further advanced
the marketplace, particularly for solar
energy. Successful measures included one
requiring new home developers to provide
the option for solar energy, or for solar “prewire,”
for homebuyers. Another bill limited
the ability of homeowner associations to
stop residents from adding solar power
and other clean-energy and energy-saving
measures through restrictive convenants.
One of the most significant new bills,
in 2009, took steps to make solar energy
systems more affordable by allowing
financing models that help homes and
businesses spread out the expensive upfront
costs of a system over several years. It
also offered treasury bonds to participating
banks and lenders that provide more
financing options for solar installation.
The model allowed third-party ownership
of a system – often by the company that
installed it – while a homeowner leases it
19

CHAPTER FOUR – SUSTAINING MOMENTUM
Chris Roma, left, and Danny Smith, right, of
Shaw Environmental, construct a piping system
to extract methane gas from the Larimer
County Landfill. The methane gas will be
converted to electricity and represents the
first clean energy project partially funded
by the Colorado Carbon Fund.
at less than the cost of its monthly electric
bill, thereby saving money from day one.
The impacts were dramatic: installers saw
a spike in business opportunity, and solar
energy companies rapidly expanded into
Colorado. The bill led to 700 such systems
in 2010 alone.
Another important package of New Energy
Economy legislation provided a wide variety
of financing tools, tax incentives and
property tax valuation rules to encourage
development of renewable energy and
installation of energy efficiency upgrades.
These bills were particularly important to
20
Colorado, which has long struggled to
compete with other states to lay out cash
or property incentives to lure companies
to the state. But a long list of bills did away
with various financial barriers that stood
in the way of development of small hydro,
biomass, biofuels and other facilities. Other
bills offered out-right tax exemptions – for
example, on solar power systems owned
by third parties, such as those discussed
earlier, to even the playing field between
customer-owned and leased solar power
systems. Another bill created a financing
tool to make it easier to upgrade energy
efficiency in state buildings and repay the
costs through utility bill savings.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
On Feb. 17, 2009, President Obama
acknowledged Colorado’s New Energy
Economy leadership with a visit to Denver’s
Museum of Nature and Science to sign
the $787 billion American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act. This package of economic
stimulus, designed to help pull the country
out of the toughest recession since the
1930s, set aside $90 billion for research
and capital projects across the country
to steer the entire United States in the
same direction as Colorado’s New Energy
Economy. Of those dollars, some $770
million had been directed into a wide
array of new energy initiatives in
Colorado by the summer of 2010.
Additionally, Colorado directed roughly $150
million of its own energy-related Recovery
Act dollars in dynamic and creative ways
through the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO).
The office developed an array of grant,
rebate and loan programs that created
significant stimulus across the new energy
sector – for solar installers, insulation
companies and high efficiency furnace
installers. It created a popular new website
– rechargecolorado.com – that enabled the
public to access rebates and other

CHAPTER FOUR – SUSTAINING MOMENTUM
incentives through state, local and utility
partners simply by entering their zip code.
The GEO also dramatically stepped up
weatherization and efficiency efforts geared
toward low-income Coloradans to ensure all
economic levels of the state were sharing in
the benefits. The office added a new partner
– Veterans Green Jobs – that specializes in
putting returning military veterans to work
on weatherization projects. Such a wide
spectrum approach to building the new
energy marketplace drew praise from across
the sector. Jeff Scott, founder of SolSource
Solar – one of nearly 400 new solar
companies in Colorado - said his company
added 34 new employees in two months to
keep up with the demand for solar systems
generated by rebates. Combined with
Colorado’s new energy policies, they are
“definitely getting people employed and off
of unemployment,” he said.
Colorado’s far-sighted views on energy
made it a magnet for additional Recovery
Act dollars beyond those administered by
state officials. Indeed, some $600 million
in additional stimulus was directed
toward wind farms, next-generation solar
companies, the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory and energy efficiency projects
in federal buildings. Dozens of recipients
included UQM Technologies, which received
$45 million to accelerate the manufacturing
and deployment of electric vehicle batteries,
two utilities, which shared $24 million to
advance the Smart Grid, along with
Vestas and Abound Solar to advance
innovation in manufacturing their
wind and solar products.
Natural gas
The New Energy Economy does not
exclude fossil fuels. It looks for ways to
use fossil fuels with greater efficiency,
fewer emissions and more environmental
protections, including “mission critical”
natural gas. Governor Ritter’s support
for increasing the use of cleaner-burning
natural gas in Colorado has at times been
overshadowed by his initial efforts to
strengthen oversight of the gas drilling
industry. That came through the regulatory
overhaul designed to protect air, water, land,
wildlife and local communities from what
was an unprecedented expansion of
drilling during a boom period from
2004 through 2008.
But greater oversight was also strategic –
a prelude to a higher-profile role for natural
gas in Colorado. To generate support for
greater use, residents needed assurances
of environmental protections. In 2009,
Governor Ritter – in a speech to an oil and
gas industry conference – made it clear that
it was a “mission critical” part of Colorado’s
New Energy Economy. It was not a bridge
fuel, but an important component of the
energy picture, providing baseload electric
power, lower emissions of carbon and
pollutants and a growing role as
a transportation fuel for fleet and
heavy-duty vehicles.
The reconstituted Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission set out in 2007 to strengthen
rules guiding oil and gas development
in Colorado. The process was arduous.
Industry groups were opposed, while
sporting and environmental groups
supported the changes. It was the
most contentious fight of Governor
Ritter’s administration.
But the ordeal represented the kind of
difficult steps Governor Ritter was willing to
take throughout his tenure, and what had
to happen to get the state to the right place
for increasing natural gas use in the New
Energy Economy, according to deputy chief
of staff Weil. “The industry through those
times completely vilified Bill Ritter,” he
recalled. But, “Bill Ritter’s vision was living
his campaign phrase - to be a ‘stubborn
steward’ of the environment and to find
a constructive balance between energy
development and environmental protection.
This is a brilliant example of why politicians
need to do remain committed to what
is in the best long-term interest of their
constituents. You go through these cycles
where you’re the devil one day and a saint
the next. In this environment, having a solid
core and strong vision is essential.”
The rules set the stage for the industry’s
long-term presence in Colorado and as a
critical energy and economic player and
important partner. As the firestorm over
the rules calmed, and the economy began
to stabilize, natural gas firms continued
to drill and many announced new,
expanded development plans. A major
announcement in the summer of 2010 saw
the administration forge agreements with
nine major energy companies to protect
more than 350,000 acres of wildlife habitat
on Colorado’s Western Slope while also
allowing for drilling at an accelerated pace,
and providing the firms with the certainty
they need for business planning. “This
balanced approach will drive our economy
forward, allow us to maximize our vast
energy resources and ensure sustainable
communities for years to come,” Governor
Ritter said.
The administration has also worked closely
with the natural gas industry to expand
the use of compressed natural gas (CNG)
as a transportation fuel. In 2009, the GEO
awarded two grants totaling nearly $800,000
to develop fueling stations in two Western
Slope communities with heavy natural gas
production. The grants would allow public,
private and heavy-duty vehicles powered
with CNG to more easily access the fuel and
provide more options for fill-up along the
Interstate 70 corridor.
Creating a regulatory structure that allowed
natural gas drilling to keep growing,
while also protecting the scenic natural
environment that is key to Colorado’s
economy, was a critical part of the
Governor’s New Energy Economy strategy.
It would set the stage for a revolutionary
measure in the final legislative session that
would cement natural gas a cornerstone
of Colorado’s energy picture for decades
to come.
21

CHAPTER FIVE – ECONOMIC IMPACT
Economic Impact
The Ritter administration’s work to drive legislation, policy and economic
development began netting results even as the building blocks of the New
Energy Economy were only beginning to fall into place. The arrival of Vestas in
early 2007 acted as what one administration official likes to term a “bell cow”
and other companies began to follow. Work by Governor Ritter, his staff and
officials inside the Office of Economic Development and International Trade and
the Governor’s Energy Office also helped drive employers to Colorado.
Photo, Left
Kyle Remley and Chris Martin of Headwaters Energy get a helping hand from clients
Lou and Betsy Puls as they install a windmill at the Puls’ Westcliffe home.
Trade missions to several foreign countries
planted additional seeds, as did the rising
profile of the state’s “Collaboratory,” which
joined universities with the National
Renewable Energy Lab to advance new
energy technology. All told, Colorado’s
ambitious renewable energy goals, its
natural and intellectual attributes, the
Governor’s trumpet and a hard-driving
recruitment effort combined to bring
thousands of New Energy Economy jobs
to the state.
Solar flare
Colorado was on the map with the solar
energy industry since late 2004, when
voters created a 10 percent renewable
energy standard through Amendment 37.
The vote saw the market surge in the two
years prior to Governor Ritter’s election. The
administration, teaming with lawmakers,
doubled the renewable energy standard
to 20 percent within two months of
taking office, leading to additional growth.
Colorado’s solar energy industry grew to
more than 400 companies by the summer of
2010 – up from 40 prior to Amendment 37.
A bill in 2009 allowing homeowners to lease
solar energy systems from third-parties
was another big driver, bringing companies
including SolarCity and SunRun Solar from
California and other solar-heavy states into
the Colorado market. The CEO of SolarCity
in December 2009 credited the state’s
“forward thinking” in creating policies to
attract companies like his. “Colorado has
the potential to become a national leader
in solar power adoption per capita,” said
Lyndon Rive. Importantly, this migration was
happening amid the worst of the national
economic downturn.
Colorado’s progressive renewable energy
policies were attracting companies domestic
and from overseas. A small sampling:
Abengoa arrived from Spain and SMA, a
solar inverter maker, came from Germany.
PrimeStar Solar, specializing in thin-film
photovoltaics, debuted in Colorado just
a 10-minute drive from the National
23

CHAPTER FIVE – ECONOMIC IMPACT
Renewable Energy Laboratory. Ascent Solar
opened its solar cell manufacturing facility
in Thornton, north of Denver, in 2009.
Namaste Solar in Boulder dramatically
expanded its workforce to keep up with
growing demand. More firms arrived from
solar hotbeds of California and Arizona.
Abound Solar, a technology spin-off from
Colorado State University, broke ground on a
manufacturing facility in Longmont in 2008.
SkyFuel – a maker of parabolic troughs
for concentrating solar power – moved its
headquarters to Colorado in the fall of 2010.
Even the East Coast has taken notice. Solar
Energy Systems, a New York-based solar
company opened an office in late 2010.
“Colorado, particularly the Denver County
region, has emerged as a strong solar
market,” SES President David Buckner said.
“We are looking forward to contributing to
Denver’s renewable energy movement.”
“I do think it created a kind of a herd
mentality,” said Jeff Lyng, Renewable Energy
Policy Manager at the GEO. “We were meeting
with a company recently; they were asking
how many other renewable energy companies
do you have in the Denver metro area Who
are they Where are they located This many
companies can’t be wrong. It’s a snowball
effect. The first couple, you have to fight hard,
then … Well, it’s like they say, the first million
dollars is the hardest.”
A blossoming New Energy Economy
It wasn’t only solar companies. Renewable
energy companies across the board were
expanding within, or moving to Colorado.
So were firms specializing in energy
efficiency, “smart grid” and biomass and
biofuel companies. In 2008, ConocoPhillips
announced it would build a massive
research cluster geared toward clean energy
in Louisville, a suburb outside Denver. The
Ritter administration’s close work with
Vestas would pay additional dividends
when the Danish company announced it
would open three more manufacturing
plants in the state for different turbine
components. Companies supplying Vestas
with turbine components also arrived. Wind
giant RES Americas moved its headquarters
to Broomfield and another wind company,
RE Power USA, moved its headquarters to
Denver. Siemens opened a wind energy
R&D facility. Again and again companies
announced a new Colorado presence.
K E Y S TO T HE N E W E NERGY E C O N O M Y
X c el Energy
Colorado’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, The utility worked closely with
deserves significant credit for advancing the administration and lawmakers
a New Energy Economy in the state. to increase Colorado’s renewable
The utility opposed a ballot measure energy standard from 10 percent by
in 2004 to create a renewable energy 2015 to 20 percent by 2020. It also
standard out of concerns about its supported policies to reduce demand
feasibility including cost to customers, by increasing energy efficiency on the
but would later say it took the wrong customer side, invested in emerging
position and went on to become an “smart grid” technology and legislation
important partner in the administration to replace a suite of coal-fired power
of Governor Ritter.
plants with facilities fueled instead
with cleaner fuels such as natural gas.
Dick Kelly, the Minnesota-based
utility’s chief executive officer, said the
company was motivated to support
the move into new energy because
it wants to be part of improving
Colorado’s quality of life. “As Colorado
thrives, Xcel Energy thrives,” Kelly said.
“That’s why it was so easy to get on
board with the Governor and what he
was trying to do.”
The collaboration worked, too,
thanks largely to good relationships
and a willingness by both parties to
compromise, Kelly said. “I can’t tell
you how many people have called me
from other utilities, wondering how I
got this kind of relationship with the
Governor of Colorado. And as
I told them, quite candidly, a lot of it
is just the Governor, and the rest of
it is that he surrounded himself with
people who were willing to listen
and cooperate.”
The Ritter administration, too, credited
Kelly as a CEO with vision. “They had
a leader in Dick Kelly who decided this
is an important part of the future. …
I think Dick had the vision of the CEO
to move this ball forward,” said Don
Elliman, chief operating officer for
the state.
24

CHAPTER FIVE – ECONOMIC IMPACT
Keith Goshia, principal engineer at Abound
Solar in Loveland cleans off solar modules
inside a Light Soaker. Abound, a spinoff
from Colorado State University, opened
in the spring of 2009 in Longmont.
In all, through the summer of 2010, the
Ritter administration was directly involved
with some 40 company expansions or
relocations to Colorado, creating 6,500
primary jobs. A study found that by 2009,
the state was home to the fourth-highest
concentration of clean-energy workers in
the country and had more than 1,500 clean
energy companies operating throughout the
state. Colorado was also attracting some
of the highest levels of clean-tech venture
capital in the country.
Sometimes lost in the glamorous glow of
new technology and renewable energy
companies are firms with expertise in
conserving energy. But they, too, found
Colorado’s New Energy Economy to be
a welcoming home. Through programs
at the Governor’s Energy Office that
aggressively promoted energy efficiency in
schools, public buildings and businesses
to legislation that required utilities help
customers reduce energy use, energy
efficiency has been another job engine that
has driven dramatic growth at engineering
and construction firms with expertise in
energy retrofits.
One company, McKinstry, serves as a telling
example. The firm coincidentally opened
its Rocky Mountain Region office the same
month Governor Ritter was elected. Since
then, a variety of state-driven efficiency
programs fueled the company’s growth, as
it installed $50 million worth of efficiency
and renewable retrofits in four years. The
office directly employs 26 “green collar”
professionals and has created hundreds of
localized jobs in green construction. The
firm’s work has saved its customers $3
million a year in utility costs.
Colorado was well-positioned for this kind
of economic expansion. It was home to a
highly educated workforce. It sat at the
crossroads of some of the country’s top
wind resources in the Midwest and its best
solar resources in the Southwest. It was
home to a slew of topical federal research
centers, such as the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory and the National Center
for Atmospheric Research, as well as
universities committed to energy. Quality
of life in the state is also high, making it an
easy draw for companies and institutions
looking to attract top talent. It also
benefited from good timing. The director of
the Governor’s Energy Office, Tom Plant, said
the administration was “slightly ahead of
the curve” and took advantage of a national
shift toward clean energy by pursuing
opportunities before others. “There’s an old
Cherokee saying: the success of a rain dance
depends a great deal on timing,” Plant said.
Everything came together under Governor
Ritter, Plant explained. “You have your
25

CHAPTER FIVE – ECONOMIC IMPACT
Jose Guillen, working with the Northeastern
Colorado Association of Local Governments,
weatherizes the attic of a Greeley home.
natural assets, you’ve got a policy structure,
you’ve got the benefits of the Governor
using his position to loudly trumpet the
opportunities out there and make Colorado
a player in the market, and then the
Governor actively went out and started
recruiting.” There were other, less apparent,
advantages too. One key factor missing in
many competing states was a bureaucratic
structure that had Colorado’s energy office
and economic development office as arms
of the Governor’s office, and the directors of
both offices were members of the Governor’s
cabinet. This made it easier for all three
to work together, cross-pollinate their
expertise and lean on the strengths of the
others. “It just facilitates communication
when (these agencies) are not in completely
different, siloed departments,” Plant said.
“I know this just from having colleagues
in other states that aren’t in the same
situation, and being asked by them how
we were able to do this.”
The administration took other important
steps. In the case of Vestas, Governor
Ritter realized the state needed an “anchor
tenant” for the New Energy Economy.
Understanding the magnitude of what
the company could bring to the state, the
economic development office assigned a
full-time employee to work solely with
Vestas to solve problems. And while it
couldn’t provide the big cash and tax
incentives that competing states could offer,
it could deliver a regulatory process that, as
Tom Clark of the Metro Denver Economic
Development Corporation described, “is
predictable and speedy” while adhering
to the letter and spirit of the state’s
environmental rules.
Vestas officials said they’d never worked
with a government that was so collaborative
and nimble when it came to navigating
regulatory processes. A fast-moving, fairminded
bureaucracy is “real money,” Clark
said, and can be as important as other
higher-profile incentives when attracting
industry. “The way the services of the
government were provided, there was
incredible partnership (between agencies),”
he said. “There was no in-fighting, no hairpulling,
everybody had the opportunity
to lead at the local and regional level at
the appropriate time. From the company’s
standpoint, it feels incredibly seamless that
everybody is on the same page. It starts at
the top with the Governor and it really is a
part of what sets us apart.”
26

CHAPTER FIVE – ECONOMIC IMPACT
Colorado also took policy steps that would
prove appealing to new energy companies.
Legislation in 2009 provided a tax credit
for firms that produced 20 or more jobs, a
policy that some companies – much like
policies to create solar energy incentives –
cited as the primary reason for moving to
the state. The administration in 2008 also
led a rewrite of state corporate tax policy
that significantly simplified the tax code
for companies such as Vestas that must
allocate across multiple states. That helped
the new energy manufacturers exporting
their materials and gave Colorado another
way to compete for cleantech companies.
The creation of the Colorado Jobs Cabinet
weaved another crucial thread into the
New Energy Economy tapestry. It aligned
the state’s economic development and
education goals with funding and strategies
to prepare the modern workforce for new
energy jobs. Top business leaders and
representatives from K-12 and higher
education, as well as economic and
workforce development officials, joined to
see where opportunities to prepare more
Coloradans for the kind of 21st century jobs
the state’s laws and policies were attracting
to the state.
Perhaps most simply, experts credit the
Ritter administration with focusing on what
it wanted, and keeping its energy channeled
into a handful of initiatives, instead of
allowing itself to be spread so thin that it
couldn’t accomplish anything – an all-toocommon
outcome. “You have to pick a few
things you’re going to focus on,” Elliman
said. “It doesn’t mean you don’t take
advantage of things that come along outside
that stream, but I think the governor was
very early to identify (the New Energy
Economy) as an area he was going to put a
lot of time and energy into.” Added Clark:
“This is a state that knows where it’s going,
and has a purpose.” The Governor’s focus on
economic development was critical, Clark
said, “when the whole country was going
through a meltdown.”
Governor Ritter said he focused so hard
on economic development “because it
has the most direct correlation to quality
of life for Colorado families. That’s why
our focus has been on these 21st century
jobs, things that will be sustainable going
forward. A call center comes and goes, but a
turbine manufacturer doesn’t, a biomedical
research job doesn’t. I want the families of
Colorado to enjoy the fruits of our efforts,
and that happens if you have a focused
strategy on what the 21st century is going
to be about.”
Utility-scale power grows in the state
Sometimes lost in the exciting news about
New Energy Economy manufacturers,
installers and research and development
companies moving to, or expanding within,
Colorado was the rise in large, utilityscale
renewable energy projects in the
state. Under Governor Ritter, plans for
three utility-sized solar power plants were
announced for southern Colorado. Two of
those, an 8.2 megawatt and 19-megawatt
site, were completed in his four-year term.
Another, a 30-megawatt complex to be
built by the firm Iberdrola Renewables, was
announced in October 2010. Additionally,
large institutions, including universities, the earliest projects providing clean power
military bases, federal complexes, hospitals, to rural electric associations in Colorado.
schools, even prisons, added numerous All told, wind-generated energy more than
solar projects, often of 1 to 3 megawatts, quadrupled between 2006 and 2010 under
providing clean electricity for the facility Governor Ritter. Colorado is projected to
that offset fossil fuel use and will protect have nearly 1,800 megawatts of wind energy
taxpayers from rising electricity prices into on-line by 2011, keeping it in the top 10
the future.
wind-producing states in the country.
Wind farms also expanded dramatically The construction of these facilities provided
under Governor Ritter. Three utility-scale thousands of jobs in rural parts of the state
wind farms producing 775 megawatts had in great need of the economic injection.
been announced prior to Ritter coming Going forward, the projects also boost
into office, driven by the passage of a
the counties’ property tax base and often
renewable energy standard in 2004. Two include lease payments to local farmers and
expansions and two new wind farms
ranchers for the use of their land – creating
totaling another 775 megawatts were
a long-term flow of dollars into often
built or under construction during the struggling communities. The facilities also
Governor’s term. Included in those is one create long-term local jobs for workers who
of the most encouraging developments. supervise and maintain the projects. Again,
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Xcel Energy – the purchaser of much of this
Association, which supplies power to rural utility-scale clean energy – deserves credit
cooperatives in Colorado and adjoining for helping drive demand for these projects.
states, neared completion of a 51-megawatt
wind farm in Colorado’s Kit Carson County
in late 2010. The wind farm will be one of
Xcel Energy proved a reliable partner in
helping develop Colorado’s New Energy
Economy. The public utility will spend more
than $1 billion converting coal-fired power
plants to burn natural gas, which is a $225
million savings over installing pollution control
equipment. Photo courtesy Xcel Energy.
27

CHAPTER FIVE – ECONOMIC IMPACT
Trade missions
Colorado officials made countless trips
domestically and numerous trips abroad, to
advertise Colorado’s New Energy Economy.
Governor Ritter as well as directors and
staffers at the economic development office
and the Governor’s Energy Office visited
Spain, France, Japan, China, Denmark,
Finland, Israel and Germany in trips that in
some cases yielded fruit quickly. “You’ve got
to get out there and let people know,” Plant
said. He described a recent trip to France
where he spoke to a large company heavily
invested in solar. “They thought their best
play was in California and Arizona – they
knew little about our renewable energy
standard and about our policies to advance
solar energy in the state.” Now, Plant said,
Colorado is on their map. “We are a state
they will look at investing in.”
Trips to Copenhagen to meet personally
with Vestas executives continued to bolster
the productive relationship between the
two parties. In the fall of 2010, Vestas
announced it would be building a fifth
facility in the state devoted to research and
development. The site selected, Louisville,
Colorado, is the same community where
ConocoPhillips plans a massive alternative
energy research facility. Clark of the Metro
Denver Economic Development Corp.
said Governor Ritter helped strengthened
Colorado’s relationship with trade partners,
particularly Japan. Traveling to their
homelands, and developing the personal
relationships, has been a critical part of
growing the New Energy Economy. Said
Plant: “It’s no guarantee we get investment,
but I can guarantee without doing it, we
wouldn’t get investment.”
The Collaboratory
One of Colorado’s greatest assets in building
a New Energy Economy was its established
status as an intellectual garden, sprouting
ideas and technologies that were pushing
forward energy innovations without much
of the world even knowing it. U.S. Senator
Ken Salazar helped tie it all together in
an effort to raise Colorado’s profile in
2006, when he worked with political and
academic leaders to create the Colorado
Renewable Energy Collaboratory, a
partnership tying the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory to Colorado’s three major
research universities: the University of
Colorado, Colorado State University and the
Colorado School of Mines.
Governor Ritter’s focus on the New Energy
Economy created momentum for, and
raised the profile of, the Collaboratory. “He
quickly became the best booster we had. He
helped cement the Collaboratory as a leader
in renewable energy R&D. For companies,
it became another Colorado selling point –
and an important one. “Even with Colorado’s
other assets, you can’t attract the private
research offices as we have if you don’t
have an outstanding research community,”
said David Hiller, the Collaboratory’s
executive director.
The administration was deliberate about
uniting researchers and the private sector:
the idea was “to create a process by which
we would be ready to train the next
generation of scientists and engineers, a
critical resource for industry. By making
Colorado a center for that kind of education,
it would reinforce the reputation of
Colorado as a leader in renewable
energy,” Hiller said.
During Governor Ritter’s tenure, the
Collaboratory developed three renewable
energy research centers: the Colorado
Center for Biorefining and Biofuels,
the Center for Revolutionary Solar
Photoconversion, and the Center for
Research and Education in Wind. These
centers work together to accomplish
three goals:
• Create and commercialize renewable
energy technology
• Serve as an economic driver for Colorado
• Act as a sophisticated workforce training
center to develop engineers and scientists
for industry and academia.
The Collaboratory also worked closely
with private companies, including Xcel
Energy, Abengoa Solar and SunEdison,
to support the creation of a solar energy
test and demonstration center: the Solar
Technology Acceleration Center (SolarTAC).
The fundamental idea: create research
centers that combine existing capabilities,
labs and research talent and link them with
private industry. That, in turn, becomes a
lighthouse for innovation companies.
“It’s important because you need
that critical mass around a variety of
technologies and technical ideas and
innovation to attract private sector capital.
That’s really what the Collaboratory is
aimed at doing,” said Dan Arvizu, director of
the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
“It brings together a number of the
institutions that have expertise so that the
collective domain expertise is a real value
to attracting investors that can begin to do
business incubation and those kinds
of things.”
The Collaboratory represents in a way the
cherry atop a strong academic environment
tied to clean energy and energy efficiency
in Colorado, from research universities
into the community college system.
Increasingly, the state’s universities have
spun off innovations in solar, battery and
biofuel technologies into private companies.
Community colleges, too, dramatically
expanded offerings and certificates to
train students in a variety of new energy
disciplines, from weatherization to solar
installation. Private, for-profit colleges also
increased their focus. EcoTech Institute and
Redstone College are preparing students
for careers in renewable energy, sustainable
design and energy efficiency in an effort
to ride the wave of New Energy Economy
momentum moving Colorado forward.
28

CHAPTER FIVE – ECONOMIC IMPACT
K E Y S TO T HE N E W E NERGY E C O N O M Y
Creating Jobs, Attracting Businesses
and Strengthening Our Economy
Greg Voss climbs down a ladder as he unhooks a cable from a newly installed windmill
by employees of Headwaters Energy at the Westcliffe home of Lou and Betsy Puls.
New Energy Economy Job and Company Announcements Since 2007:
Company Community Industry # of Jobs
2007
Vestas Blades Windsor Wind Energy 600
IBM Boulder Green Data Center 100
Abengoa Solar Lakewood Solar Energy 65
Iberdrola Renewables Boulder Wind Energy 5
2008
ConocoPhillips Louisville Renewable Energy TBD
RES Americas Broomfield Wind Energy 200
Dragon Manufacturing Lamar Wind Energy 200
Vestas Towers Pueblo Wind Energy 500
Vestas Blades Brighton Wind Energy 600
Vestas Nacelles Brighton Wind Energy 700
Broadwind Energy Englewood Wind Energy 100
Sun Edison Westminster Solar Energy 30
Woodward Governor Fort Collins Wind Energy 100
Confluence Energy Kremmling Biomass Energy 90
Rocky Mtn. Pellet Co. Walden Biomass Energy --
Camco Global Broomfield Carbon Management 10
2009
HeXcel Energy Corp. Windsor Wind Energy 100
Abound Solar Longmont Solar Energy 300
Ascent Solar Thornton Solar Energy 200
Solix Biofuels Ignacio Biomass Energy 10
Prime Star Solar Arvada Solar Energy 200
GE Energy Controls Longmont Wind Energy 200
Creative Foam Longmont Wind Energy 35
E.ON Renewables Denver Wind Energy 10
RE Power USA Denver Wind Energy HQ 75
Bach Composite Fort Lupton Wind Energy 150
UQM Technologies Frederick Hybrid Vehicles Parts 78+
SunRun Inc. Denver Solar Energy -
Siemens R&D Boulder Wind Energy 50
SMA Solar Denver Solar Energy 700
SGB USA Wheat Ridge Wind Energy 15
PMC Technology Golden Wind Energy 40
SolarCity Westminster Solar Energy 40
2010
SPG Solar Denver Solar Energy 5
A+F Sun Carrier USA Lone Tree Solar Energy 5
Dacke PMC Golden Wind Energy 40
Aluwind Castle Rock Wind Energy 30
Abound Solar Longmont Solar Energy 300
Vestas R&D Louisville Wind Energy 125
Juwi Wind Boulder Wind Energy 20
American Zephyr Corp. Westminster Wind Energy 30
29

CHAPTER SIX – MARKET TRANSFORMATION
Market Transformation
A key ingredient to building a New Energy Economy was never letting up.
Entering the final year, Governor Ritter’s administration continued to move
aggressively, working with lawmakers to pass the two most important pieces
of energy legislation in the Governor’s tenure. One of those further increased the
state’s Renewable Energy Standard, pushing it up to a nationally front-running
30 percent. Another landmark measure called for the conversion of Denver
metro-area power plants to cleaner-burning fuel, such as natural gas, as a way
to stay ahead of increasingly stringent federal air pollution regulations.
Photo, Left
PHd. student, Syndi Nettles-Anderson works on an alternative fuel engine for vegetable oil
at the Colorado State University Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory in Fort Collins.
Other bills further strengthened the
renewable energy market, while the state
energy office advanced efforts to ease
barriers to development of small hydro
electric and geothermal projects in coming
years. The Governor continued to barnstorm
the state, the country and points overseas
and talked often of the need for states
to lead the way on climate and clean
energy – all while pitching Colorado
as a welcoming place for clean
energy companies.
Landmark legislation
The administration believed two additional
steps were needed to solidify the New
Energy Economy and sustain its momentum
going forward. Two bills - one to again
expand the renewable energy standard and
another to replace coal with natural gas -
may prove to be the most significant actions
of Governor Ritter’s four-year term in office.
And remarkably, both bills were passed with
the support of the state’s largest utility,
Xcel Energy - the organization most affected
by the measures.
One bill expanded the renewable energy
standard to 30 percent by 2020 for investorowned
utilities. It also included a critical
component that said 3 percent of Xcel
Energy’s energy supply must come from
so-called “distributed generation,” that
being from rooftop solar, small hydro,
small wind and other systems not part of
large, utility-scale plants. Such a provision
ensured a predictable marketplace for
renewable energy for years into the
future, and strengthened Colorado as a
major center for solar energy and other
renewable companies that thrive on market
certainty. One study found that, over the
lifetime of the systems, 1,000 megawatts of
“distributed” solar energy would generate
enough power for 146,000 homes, create
more than 33,500 jobs and produce $4.3
billion in total economic output.
The measure gave Colorado one of the two
highest renewable energy standards in
the country, and its passage reflected the
wisdom of the state’s step-by-step approach
to building the New Energy Economy,
31

CHAPTER SIX – MARKET TRANSFORMATION
beginning with the 10 percent standard in
2004. “It can be worth passing measures
that might seem terribly incremental.
This is a case where you get the camel’s
nose under the tent and people realize the
sky did not fall, and in fact, great things
happened; you can then steadily build on
that progress,” said the Governor’s Climate
Change Advisor, Alice Madden. “The building
block approach in a state that’s not solidly
progressive is a very strategic way to proceed.”
Xcel Energy once opposed a renewable
energy standard for Colorado, especially one
with solar energy requirements, believing it
would be too expensive for customers. But
the state’s gradual approach on a standard
changed the utility’s view. “It turned out
that we were wrong and that (and) it
became obvious we could do the 10 percent
and blow through it. We went back and said
let’s go up to 20 percent because we can do
that. And that’s why it was easier to tell the
governor that we could probably take a good
shot at 30 percent,” said Dick Kelly, Xcel
Energy’s chief executive.
The new RES and strengthened rules
guiding oil and gas drilling set the stage for
another revolutionary law incorporating
more natural gas into Colorado’s diverse
energy economy. The Clean Air-Clean Jobs
Act created a comprehensive process
to bring the state into compliance with
federal Clean Air Act requirements
while maximizing benefits for Colorado
consumers. The Act required Xcel Energy
to dramatically reduce air pollutants by
retiring, retrofitting or repowering metroarea
coal-fired power plants by the end
of 2017 and replacing them with facilities
fueled by cleaner-burning natural gas and
other low- or non-emitting energy sources,
K E Y S TO T HE N E W E NERGY E C O N O M Y
Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act
It was – along with setting a 30 percent on the state’s Western Slope. “If
renewable energy standard – the (residents and activists) know the
boldest policy advance of the Ritter drilling is going to proceed responsibly,
administration. The Clean Air-Clean they’re going to be more at ease
Jobs Act of 2010 united the state’s supporting natural gas” fueling large
largest utility, environmentalists and power plants,” said Governor Ritter’s
the natural gas industry to set a target climate change adviser, Alice Madden.
date of 2017 for taking 900 megawatts
of coal-based power off-line in
Motivating the legislation were
Colorado, to be replaced by natural gas
a desire to increase markets for
or other cleaner fuels, and making a
Colorado’s homegrown natural
dramatic cut in air pollution for a state
gas, reduce air pollution tied to
that prizes (and markets) its clean,
decades-old power plants near the
Rocky Mountain air.
state’s major population center and
proactive compliance with tightening
Key to making this work in Colorado federal health and environmental
was, first, to develop tighter
regulations for ground-level ozone
regulations on the gas drilling
and regional haze. The change has
industry, which has a heavy presence the complementary effect of reducing
emissions that have also been found
to harm the ecology of the state’s
jewel: Rocky Mountain National Park.
Significantly, the approach made
winners out of an unusual coalition,
including key Republican lawmakers
that had been critical of Governor
Ritter’s efforts to impose tough rules
on natural gas drilling. “Gas folks
wanted to increase the use of gas,”
Xcel Energy lobbyist Mike Beasley
said in a media interview before the
bill was signed. “Environmentalists
wanted a cleaner, better utility
fuel. And utilities wanted a cleaner
fuel but wanted to do it in a costeffective
manner. Policy-wise, it was
one of those rare perfect storms.”
The measure also appealed to some
limited-government conservatives,
who saw it as a smart way to head
off intervention from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
to deal with local air pollution
challenges.
But executing the bill required a tough
political decision from Governor
Ritter: setting aside the concerns of
the state’s powerful coal lobby. “My
approach was always to try and get
as much stakeholder agreement as
possible, but there are just certain
things in this world and in this
building (the Capitol) where people
are not going to agree with you,”
Ritter said. “The coal interests said
they wanted a one-year study (of the
proposal). My sense is that wouldn’t
have gotten it done. I appreciate
having a broad group of stakeholders,
but at times if you broaden it wide
enough, there are people who will lie
down in front of the train.”
32

CHAPTER SIX – MARKET TRANSFORMATION
including increased energy efficiency
measures. The bill had bipartisan support,
including Republicans from regions rich in
with natural gas resources on the state’s
Western Slope.
Natural gas plants play an important role in
the New Energy Economy, too, because they
can be readily integrated with wind energy.
“As wind increases or decreases, you want
to have another generator you can toggle
up or down, and you can do it much more
easily with gas plants,” said Paula Connelly,
an attorney with Xcel Energy. “One benefit we
see from the Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act is this
should enable us to integrate more wind.”
A big key to building support for the
measure was the administration’s efforts
in the previous years to develop stronger
environmental protections around oil and
gas drilling. With those in place, it was
easier to build support from conservation
groups even though the Act would increase
demand for natural gas.“We went through a
war, but ended up with very thoughtful and
balanced rules for oil and gas drilling. That
really opened the door and allowed for the
Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act,” explained deputy
chief of staff Weil.
Getting diverse players to the same place
was crucial. “Some of our success in the
clean-energy economy was getting to the
point where our table included fossil-fuel
industry and natural gas, environmentalists,
utilities, a variety of people from legislative
constituencies,” explained Governor Ritter.
“And then developing a certain amount of
trust among all the players – (signaling)
that nobody was out to get somebody else,
and that this was not a ‘zero-sum game.’
Developing that level of trust among
stakeholders that weren’t natural allies in
the past made all the difference in really
moving the serious parts of the New Energy
Economy agenda.”
In all, lawmakers passed nearly 60 pieces
of New Energy Economy legislation during
Governor Ritter’s term. The landmark
steps taken in 2010 were a capstone finish.
“Those two pieces coming into place in
the final year was no accident. It was
after four hard years of work and a lot of
groundwork that was laid,” said Pam Kiely
of Environment Colorado.
More key policy steps
The administration executed other
important tasks to strengthen the clean
energy marketplace. The legislature passed
a bill to ease the creation of “solar gardens”
– which gives people who may rent or
whose property doesn’t have good access
to solar energy that ability to tap into solar
power, through ownership or participation
in an off-site project. Another bill called
for Colorado State Parks to be a “net-zero”
energy user by 2020, so that as much energy
is produced from renewable sources as is
consumed by the agency.
The Governor’s Energy Office took additional
steps to lay the groundwork for geothermal
and more small hydro-electric projects
in the state. The GEO funded a full-time
professorship at the Colorado School of
Mines as well as an expert geologist in a
full-time position at the Colorado Geological
Survey to assist updating and expanding
the mapping of geothermal hotspots in
Colorado, and providing developers with
technical assistance.
The state also worked with federal agencies,
including the Bureau of Land Management
and the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, to develop memorandums
of understanding designed to reduce
barriers to develop of geothermal and small
hydroelectric projects while maintaining
high-level environmental protections.
The administration also worked with
lawmakers on bills to lower a variety of
hurdles at the state level for such projects.
Barnstorming
A potentially overlooked factor in driving
Colorado’s New Energy Economy was
Governor Ritter and his administration’s
relentless promotion of what the state was
executing and accomplishing. He testified
twice before Congress, addressed national
and international conferences, advocated
to officials at the federal level and spoke to
countless groups and meetings in Colorado
about the importance of the New
Energy Economy.
The Governor’s tireless effort to drive the
theme home has made an undeniable
impact. “Perhaps the Ritter Administration’s
greatest legacy will be in reaching such a
broad spectrum of sectors and creating
consensus that a New Energy Economy is
not only good for our environment, but is
the foundation of a truly sustainable 21stcentury
economy,” said Roger Freeman, a
long-time Colorado attorney with deep roots
in both the traditional energy and cleantech
practice.
A key theme and one relevant to
policymakers interested in implementing
such efforts involved the need for states
and local governments to lead the way
in moving to a clean energy future,
and not just wait for Congress to act.
Though analysts agree that congressional
movement on carbon limits or the creation
of a national renewable energy standard are
crucial steps, Governor Ritter said it so far
has been up to state governments to take
the actions that federal lawmakers will not.
In July of 2009, Governor Ritter testified
before the U.S. Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works: “As
Congress debates energy and climate
legislation, it may be helpful for you to hear
how these laws are working at the state and
local levels. In Colorado, our New Energy
Economy is creating new jobs, attracting
new companies and leading the way to a
new energy future for America. This didn’t
happen by accident.”
Governor Ritter cited dozens of laws
passed in Colorado to move the state into
the energy future: “Laws that encourage
manufacturing; laws that increase demand
for renewables; laws that make them more
affordable. We even passed a law that lets
residents sell excess electricity back to their
utility company. … Colorado’s New Energy
Economy can be a model for all of America.
Our New Energy Economy can be America’s
New Energy Economy.”
33

CHAPTER SEVEN – CONCLUSION
Conclusion
“Just as the industrial revolution created the jobs of the 20th century, we now
usher in a new century of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial vigor. The New
Energy Economy is creating the pathway to these careers and a new American
century of leadership.” – Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr.
Colorado was a state ready to embrace a Through policies, vision and action,
new direction. Governor Ritter seized on Colorado has become a national leader in
that public desire and set about positioning charting a new energy future. The Ritter
Colorado for a change that is not just administration built markets for renewable
coming – but one that is here today. Under energy and energy efficiency companies
Governor Ritter, Colorado has built a New through policies that made Colorado a
Energy Economy that creates jobs, increases magnet. It broadcast its vision to the world,
energy security and keeps Colorado and and recruited hard, signaling to researchers,
the United States competitive with a world entrepreneurs, executives and investors that
moving quickly to adopt cleaner, renewable the state supported their clean energy and
and homegrown sources of energy.
energy conservation work and they could
find a home in the Rocky Mountains.
“We have a story to tell in Colorado. We’re
proud of that story,” Governor Ritter told a
Washington D.C. forum in the fall of 2010,
near the end of his term. “We don’t think it’s
the end of that story at all. It’s really only
the beginning.”
We hope this document provides
policymakers, governors, planners and other
decision-makers with a road map that will
accelerate the nationwide development of
a New Energy Economy – one that
keeps and creates jobs in the United
States, insulates citizens and businesses
against the rising costs of dwindling and
high-demand fossil fuels, protects our
environment and climate, keeps American
on the front-edge of global competition,
and helps guide the country along the road
to a more secure, stable, sustainable and
affordable energy future.
Photo, Right
Vicente Apodaca carries solar panels at the Greater Sanhill Solar Project
being constructed by SunPower Corporation outside of Alamosa.
34
A drill rig is set up for a geothermal project in
front of the state capitol in downtown Denver.

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for gluing
back pocket.

57 Pieces of New Energy Economy Legislation
1. HB07-1037, Energy Efficiency Rebates
for Consumers (Levy/Fitz-Gerald)
2. HB07-1060, Bioscience Research Grants
(Riesberg/Shaffer)
3. HB07-1087, Wind for Schools Grant
Program (A. Kerr/Romer)
4. HB07-1145, Renewable Energy Development
on State Lands (Merrifield/Gordon)
5. HB07-1146, Energy Conservation
Building Codes (Levy/Gordon)
6. HB07-1150, Clean Energy Authority
(C. Gardner/Kester)
7. HB07-1169, Net Metering (Solano/Shaffer)
8. HB07-1203, Energy Management
Conservation Studies (Fischer/Romer)
9. HB07-1228, Renewable Fuel Crops
(C. Gardner/Shaffer)
10. HB07-1279, Tax Credits, Renewable
Energy Machines (McKinley/Romer)
11. HB07-1281, Renewable Portfolio
Standard (Schwartz/Pommer & Witwer)
12. HB07-1309, School Energy Efficiency
(Weissmann/Tupa)
13. HB07-1379, County Enviro. Sustainability
Program (Weissmann/Tupa)
14. SB07-51, High Performance State
Buildings (Gordon/Witwer)
15. SB07-91, Renewable Resource
Generation Areas (Schwartz/Massey)
16. SB07-100, Energy Transmission
Development (Fitz-Gerald/McFadyen)
17. SB07-126, Funding for the
Collaboratory (Keller/Pommer)
18. SB07-145, Local Incentives for
Renewable Energy (Tupa/Gibbs)
19. SB07-246, Clean Energy Fund
(Fitz-Gerald/Buescher)
20. HB08-1160, Net Metering & Rural
Electric Utilities (Solano/Shaffer & Isgar)
21. HB08-1164, New Solar Energy
Technologies (Solano/Schwartz)
22. HB08-1207, Procure Environmentally
Preferable Products (Kefalas/Bacon)
23. HB08-1270, CICs Allow Energy
Efficiency Measures (A. Kerr/Tupa)
24. HB08-1350, Financing Renewable
Energy (Madden/Romer)
25. HB08-1368, Tax Prop. Used to Prod.
Renewable Energy (Buescher/Brophy)
26. HB08-1387, Low-Income Energy
Assistance Funding (Buescher/Veiga)
27. SB08-078, Energy Efficiency Hist.
Preserv. Grant (Renfroe/Sonnenberg)
28. SB08-081, Renewable Energy Authority
(Schwartz/Madden)
29. SB08-117, Limit Local Bldg. Permit Fee
Solar Panels (S. Mitchell/McNulty)
30. SB08-147, Increase Energy Efficiency
State Buildings (Gordon/Hodge & Levy)
31. SB08-184, Colorado Clean Energy
Finance Program (Romer/Levy)
32. SB08-186, Colorado Carbon Fund
Special License Plates (Johnson/Levy)
33. SB09-51, Renewable Energy Financing
Act (Carroll/Levy)
34. SB09-075, Low-Speed Electric Self-
Propelled Vehicles (Schwartz/Marostica)
35. SB09-092, State Motor Vehicles Use
Natural Gas (Kopp/Marostica)
36. SB09-124, Extend Ag Energy-Related
Projects (Isgar/Roberts)
37. SB09-297, Expedite Federal Stimulus
Act Projects (Sandoval/Judd)
38. HB09-1126, Encourage Solar Thermal
Installations (Hullinghorst/Shaffer)
39. HB09-1149, Solar Home Pre-Wire
(Merrifield/M. Carroll)
40. HB09-1331, Innovative Auto Act
(Gagliardi/Boyd)
41. HB10-1001, Renewable Energy Standard
(Tyler & Schwartz/Whitehead)
42. HB10-1365, Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act
(Solano/Roberts & Schwartz/Penry)
43. HB10-1098, REA Electric Co-op Board
of Director Elections (Levy/Hodge)
44. HB10-1182, Transmission Facilities and
Clean Energy Project (Solano/Schwartz)
45. HB10-1267, Property Tax on
Independently-owned Residential Solar
(Kerr/Romer)
46. HB10-1328, New Energy Jobs
Creation Act (Miklosi/Schwartz)
47. SB10-100, Cross-Boundary
Energy Improvement Districts
(Schwartz/Miklosi)
48. HB10-1333, Green Jobs Colorado Program
(Vigil/Schwartz & Newell)
49. HB10-1342, Community Solar Gardens
(Levy/Williams)
50. HB10-1349, Renewable Electricity for
Parks (Fischer & Pace/Schwartz & Tapia)
51. HB 10-1418, Community-Based
Renewable Energy Projects
(McFadyen & Bacon)
52. HB 10-1431, Renewable Energy Facility
Property Tax Valuation (McKinley/Penry)
53. SB10-019, Property Tax on New Hydro-
Electricity Facilities (Schwartz/Fischer)
54. SB10-174, Promote Geothermal
Energy Development
(Schwartz/Massey & Scanlan)
55. SB10-177, Promote Biomass Energy
Development (Schwartz/Scanlan)
56. SB10-180, Colorado Smart Grid Task
Force (Williams/Kerr)
57. SB10-207, Financing State Energy
Efficiency Projects (Johnston/Romer)
For more information on
The New Energy Economy, visit
www.rechargecolorado.com
Note:
1/2” flap
for gluing
back pocket.