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Colorado's Renewable Energy Amendment |
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Renewable energy amendment blows to victory
DENVER – Colorado voters, by a margin of 53%-47%, decided in 2004 that the state should harvest more of its energy from renewable resources.
Amendment 37, which CAMU opposed because of its incursions into local control of municipal utilities, requires that 10% of the energy provided to Colorado electric customers must come from wind, solar and other sources by 2015. Munis Colorado Springs and Fort Collins will be impacted by the amendment when it takes effect in 2007. Longmont is expected to fall under the amendment’s requirements when it reaches 40,000 customers, likely by the end of this decade.
Amendment 37 was born in 2004 after the Colorado Senate killed a more modest renewable energy requirement proposed by former House Speaker Lola Spradley, R-Bulah. The renewable legislation easily passed the House. CAMU remained neutral on the legislation after it successfully excluded municipal utilities from the bill’s requirements. Frustrated by failed attempts at the Legislature during the past three years, renewable advocates successfully placed Amendment 37 on the ballot after gathering more than 100,000 signatures. Spradley and U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, co-chaired the campaign for Amendment 37.
Municipal utilities that must meet the amendment’s requirements can “self-certify” their own renewable initiatives so long as they meet the 10% requirement by 2015 and so long as they use at least one of the resources listed in the amendment – power generated from wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and small hydro (fewer than 10 megawatts) facilities.
Amendment 37 Votes
State
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Yes
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No
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53%
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47%
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| Larimer County |
55%
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45%
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| El Paso County |
45%
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54%
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| Boulder County |
74%
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26%
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Amendment 37 garnered mixed results in the counties that have municipal utilities. The amendment passed in Larimer County and Boulder County, where Fort Collins and Longmont are located, but failed in El Paso County, home to Colorado Springs. Interestingly, the amendment failed in eastern Colorado, despite promises that the amendment would be a boon for rural economies that may be the sites of wind farm development.
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Colorado's Renewable Energy Amendment 
