The House Energy & Environment Committee heard HB 26-1129, which would remove residential customers from gas utilities' Clean Heat plan emissions calculations, repeal the prohibition on gas utility line extension incentives, and allow automatic cost recovery for system safety projects. After hours of sharply contested testimony and a failed favorable recommendation vote of 9 to 4, the bill was postponed indefinitely.
Representative Barron and bill supporters cited 6.4% as the residential share of total Colorado GHG emissions, arguing exclusion was minor. Courtney Fieldman (Southwest Energy Efficiency Project) countered that residential loads represent 50% of the 8.9 megaton 2015 PUC baseline used in the Clean Heat framework, and that Xcel's residential emissions are 68% of its portfolio by sector, meaning exclusion would lower aggregate Clean Heat targets from 8 million metric tons to 3. Representative Slaw questioned the gap between 6.4% and 50-68%; Fieldman explained the 6.4% reflects all Colorado GHG statewide while the 50% figure reflects only emissions covered under the regulated utility Clean Heat framework.
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“We'll get a blizzard down there and power poles are snapped and grandma's in a house for four, four days without electricity. That heat pump isn't going to do grandma any good. But I'll tell you what, that furnace in the house running off of propane is going to keep grandma alive.”
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Sign in to subscribeGood afternoon. Call the committee to the dais and we will bring to order this meeting of the Energy and environment Committee today. We're getting a bit of a late start and we do have quite a few witnesses on the bill today, so we're going to do two minutes of witness testimony just to make sure we don't hold everybody over any longer than they'd like to be here. We know they love to be here, but we're doing that. And with that, Ms. Falco, please call the roll. Representatives Barone. Presente. Goldstein. Here. Jackson. Here. Joseph. Here. Pascal. Excused. Rootneau. Ooh, he's here. Saw. Here. Smith. Here. Wilford. She's here. She's here. I see her. Winter. Excused. Oh, Winter's here. Excuse me. Stopping today. Oh, okay. W. Here. Lasco. She is excused. Okay. And Mr. Chair, a key. Representative Barone, we are hearing your bill today, 1129. And my question for you, first and foremost, is it okay if we distribute the amendments, if you have any. Okay, so we have the green light from that. And with that, who would like to tell us about the bill? Representative Baronet. Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the…
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