Advanced Energy Perspectives

If you’ve been tracking the contours of recent legislative sessions under the Gold Dome in Denver, you’ll likely have high expectations about Colorado’s ability to deliver ambitious, even nation-leading, clean energy bills year-after-year, spurring headlines and the envy of other states. Take, for example, last year’s Senate Bill 218 to modernize distribution-system planning, Senate Bill 16 in 2023 to cement a statewide commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050, Senate Bill 264 in 2021 to initiate “Clean Heat Plans” and innovative gas infrastructure planning, or Senate Bill 260 (also in 2021) to create stable multi-year funding streams for clean transportation initiatives—the list goes on.

Less than a week after the legislature concluded its 2022 session, California was back in the news for record-breaking heat waves and emergency energy conservation efforts that staved off power outages. This combination of extreme weather and grid strain underscored the central theme driving energy legislation at the State Capitol this year: reliability. Throughout budget and bill deliberations, policymakers grappled with the core question of how to keep the lights on under increasingly challenging conditions without compromising California’s world-renowned climate leadership or spiking consumer energy bills. What came out of the session that ended August 31 was lawmakers’ current answer, but the question is not going away.

Californians are grappling with recurring power shut-offs, wildfires, poor air quality, heat waves, and rising energy costs. These combined challenges are straining the electricity system as well as Californians’ finances, so much so that 55% of Californians say their monthly energy bill is a significant concern. To prepare our energy system and protect communities from worsening climate impacts, California must continue to make a rapid transition to clean electricity. But the way California supports solar, its leading clean energy resource, is about to change. If not done correctly, this change could threaten the state’s ability to meet its clean energy goals, and leave our electric power system more vulnerable than ever. 

California’s legislative session drew to a close on September 10 this year, uncharacteristically early, and with less fanfare than in years past. In many ways, the session started off like a sequel to the one prior, with economic recovery, energy reliability, and wildfire severity all top of mind. But rather than a sprint, with a crowded field rushing to the tape, the 2021 legislative session was more like a marathon, with fits, starts, and a finish line stretching an additional week, when the tally for the September 14  gubernatorial recall election was finished. The implications of this consequential recall campaign – including raised stakes for the state’s clean energy ambitions – reverberated throughout the Capitol and, in some cases, had a chilling effect on political appetites. But in the end, the advanced energy industry gained major breakthroughs on electric transportation, with some unfinished business, as wildfire concerns dominated the conversation on reliability and resilience. 

Following a year complicated by the unique challenges and constraints of responding to a public health crisis, the Colorado Legislature lost no time this legislative session diving into an ambitious, jam-packed policy agenda. With over 30 bills on advanced energy and transportation across the finish line by the time the Legislature gaveled out on June 8, this session proved to be another banner year for Colorado’s advanced energy industry. Taking this latest boon of policy wins together with its 62,000-strong (and growing) advanced energy workforce, Colorado has flexed its position of strength and once again showed itself to be a leader to watch in the West.