Clean Energy Economy News | Online edition

April 14, 2008 | Vol. 1, No. 1

This e-Update comes to you from the Formation Project Team of the Regional Partnership for a Clean Energy Economy.

We've been making great progress in vetting the Regional Partnership concept with dozens of business and community leaders from Rifle to Aspen. To download the latest version of the project Overview (4 pgs, 132 KB), click here. To date, we've collected 47 endorsements.

Our next steps are to:

• Continue meeting with local government and private sector leaders, briefing them on this exciting concept and how they can help make it a reality.
• Conduct a series of workshops for community and business leaders to advance the partnership structure, governance, funding and work plan.

This Update also offers a quick roundup of news from our region and the state related to the seven focus areas.

A key advantage to this regional effort is communication between the people who share the goals of moving to a clean energy economy. Feel free to share your news items - ideas, events, successes - with us for the next issue.

Heather McGregor, Update Editor

Formation Project Team
Alice Laird, director, NCTF
Bill Stirling, board president, CORE
Gary Goodson, executive director, CORE
Jacque Whitsitt, board president, NCTF
Calla Rose Ostrander, project manager, Canary Initiative
Tripp Adams, Basalt Green Team
Dan Richardson, energy consultant, Schmueser Gordon Meyer
Valerie Borthwick, Executive Service Corps consultant to team
Neal Batson, Executive Service Corps consultant to team

In this issue

Rifle's Energy Innovation Center
RFTA aims toward BRT vote in November
New Castle Earth Day Expo
Aspen's ZGreen offers green certification
Solar Energy Int'l workshops
GEO offers solar and biomass grants, wind forum
West heating up faster than rest of U.S.
Legislators emphasize clearn energy financing

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Rifle lays plans for Energy Innovation Center

Gas drilling may be the most visible activity in Rifle, but city leaders are focused on developing an Energy Innovation Center to produce clean, renewable energy and attract bio-industry.

The mission is to move Rifle's economy away from "extractive, destructive industries" that frequently result in boom and bust cycles and toward industry that is "sustainable, renewable and vibrant."

Matt Sturgeon, Rifle's assistant city manager, said the goal is to build a functional industrial cluster on the city's west side that attracts bio-based industry and pioneering energy technologies.

The first project is already in the works: a grid-tied, 2-megawatt solar array that will provide more than half the power needed to run the city's wastewater treatment facility.

Another project, still in the formative stage, is a waste-to-energy facility. It could use feedstocks such as wastewater treatment sludge or beetle-killed timber, convert them to synthesis gas, which could then be converted to other base chemicals or used to produce electricity.

The city's vision for the Rifle Energy Innovation Center is to provide clean, reliable power, promote green jobs and businesses in the growing bio-economy sector, and attract creative entrepreneurs to live in Rifle.

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RFTA aims toward BRT vote in November

The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority board is leaning toward asking voters to approve a funding package this November to upgrade regional transit through a Bus Rapid Transit system.

"(BRT) would provide a spine for the transit system that is rail-like and helps focus development around the stations, and makes areas more transit friendly," said Dan Blankenship RFTA executive director.

RFTA is pursuing BRT as one component of a regional transportation vision adopted in 2006:

"By 2017, our region will significantly reduce dependence on oil through a resource efficient, climate friendly, multimodal transportation system with a regional express line unimpeded by traffic and weather, competitive with the private vehicle in terms of convenience, travel time and quality."

The RFTA board considered 15 BRT funding scenarios at its April 10 meeting, and plans to select a preferred package at the May meeting to take to the voters.

RFTA is currently gathering input on the proposed BRT system and how to fund it. Visit RFTA's BRT website for more information or contact Sylvia Cranmer, RFTA communications manager, at 384-4984 or scranmer@rfta.com to schedule a presentation to your group.

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New Castle Earth Day Expo 2008

Saturday, April 19, 2008 · 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
New Castle Community Center, 423 W. Main St.

Displays: Solar energy · Natural yard and garden care
Weed control · Home energy savings · Hybrid cars

Free Stuff: Compost · Shopping bags · CF light bulbs

Prizes: Aspen Skiing Co. lift tickets · Green building supplies · Sunlight season pass

Mini-lectures: Green Home Building 101 · Solar 101 · Greening Your House Inside and Out · The Garden Gulch Spill · Grid-Tied PV Systems

Presented by the New Castle Environmental Advisory Committee and the Town of New Castle
Info: Suzie Romig, 984-0502, sromig@sopris.net

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Aspen's ZGreen offers green certification

The City of Aspen has launched a new effort aimed at making Aspen a greener place to live. ZGreen, announced March 25, is a multi-pronged program designed to reduce the environmental footprint of Aspen's residents, businesses and visitors.

"What's great about ZGreen is that it provides individuals and businesses with tangible ways to reduce their impact," said Calla Ostrander, a projects coordinator with the Canary Initiative - the city's program aimed at addressing climate change. "ZGreen also serves as a trustworthy green certification that recognizes businesses and events that are actively engaged in sustainable practices."

Citizen participants in the ZGreen program fill out an online questionnaire explaining what they are already doing to help the environment and then commit to five new actions to become official "ZGreen Citizens." Businesses and events must complete a checklist of things they are already doing before being certified as "ZGreen."

There are already five official ZGreen businesses in Aspen: Community Banks of Colorado, Bluegreen, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Aspen Skiing Company and the Aspen Alps. Five other businesses are going through the application process.

Learn more about ZGreen at www.aspenzgreen.com.

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SEI workshops in Carbondale

Solar Energy International of Carbondale offers dozens of hands-on workshops and online courses. Many courses are already full, but these 2008 workshops, all offered in Carbondale, still have openings:

Successful Solar Businesses, May 27-30, July 21-24, $675
Sustainable Home Design, June 2-6, $700
Micro Hydropower, June 9-13, $850
Renewable Energy for Educators, June 23-26, $400
Renewable Energy for the Developing World, Aug. 25-29, $700

For more information and to register, visit www.solarenergy.org

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GEO promotes solar, biomass and wind

The Governor's Energy Office is promoting solar, biomass, wind energy through grants and two forums.

Solar Innovation Grants: GEO is seeking grant applicants for $350,000 in incentives to support programs that can overcome financial, educational and technical barriers and boost the use of solar electric and solar thermal technologies in the residential and commercial sectors. Applications due April 30. Click here for info.

Community Woody Biomass Grants: GEO is seeking applicants for $100,000 in incentives for bio-heating projects that use community woody biomass and incorporate wildfire mitigation efforts, provide alternatives to slash pile burns and build local wood-fuel markets. Click here for info.

Wind Forums: GEO, the U.S. Department of Energy, Colorado Harvesting Energy Network, and the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union offer two wind energy forums, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 7 in Lamar or May 8 in Wray. Topics include the economic benefits of wind, trends in public policy, transmission considerations, financing, and legal issues. $20 in advance, $35 at the door, includes lunch. Click here for registration and more info.

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Report shows the West heating up faster
than rest of the United States

Temperatures in the Colorado River Basin have warmed more than twice as much as the rest of the planet over the past five years, according to a report released March 27 by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (RMCO) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

"Scientists have been saying that heat-trapping gases will make the West hotter and drier, and our analysis shows that the changes are already well underway," said Stephen Saunders, RMCO president and a principal author of the report.

The report, Hotter and Drier: The West's Changed Climate, includes temperature analyses for Western states, comparing the five-year period of 2003 through 2007 to averages recorded from 1900 to 1999. The state-by-state increases were:

Arizona: 2.2 degrees warmer
Utah: 2.1 degrees warmer
Montana: 2.1 degrees warmer
Wyoming: 2.0 degrees warmer
Colorado: 1.9 degrees warmer
Idaho: 1.8 degrees warmer
Nevada: 1.7 degrees warmer
Oregon: 1.4 degrees warmer
Washington: 1.4 degrees warmer
New Mexico: 1.3 degrees warmer
California: 1.1 degrees warmer

Hotter and Drier executive summary (4 pgs, 404 KB)

Hotter and Drier report index page, hosted by NRDC
Download the full report (2.3 MB) or separate chapters

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Legislators emphasize clean energy financing

Colorado legislators are considering more than two dozen bills related to clean energy in the 2008 session. Here is a summary of key bills, based on a report from the Governor's Energy Office by Mim Mirsky:

HB 08-1107 "Municipal and REA Electric Energy Efficiency" (Levy/Veiga)
Require municipal utilities with 5,000+ customers and REAs to invest 1 percent of revenues on energy efficiency programs in 2009 and 2 percent in all years after. Utilities may ask GEO or a contractor to run these programs.
Passed House; in Senate State Affairs Committee.

HB 08-1160 "Net Metering for Municipal & Rural Electric Utilities" (Solano/Shaffer & Isgar)
Requires municipal utilities with 5,000+ customers and REAs provide net metering for residential, commercial or industrial customers.
Signed by Gov. Ritter on 3/26.

HB 08-1164 "New Solar Energy Technologies" (Solano/Schwartz)
Asks the PUC to consider new solar technologies, allows the PUC to consider potential carbon tax legislation when evaluating utility proposals.
Passed House, amended in Senate committee.

HB 08-1270 "Allow Energy Efficiency Measures" (A. Kerr/Tupa)
Bars covenants and deed restrictions from limiting the use of efficiency devices such as wind-electric generators, shade structures, shutters, fans, swamp coolers, energy-efficient outdoor lighting and retractable clothes lines.
Passed House and Senate, House considering Senate amendments.

HB 08-1350 "Financing Renewable Energy" (Madden/Romer)
Allows the state Clean Energy Development Authority and local governments to issue bonds for energy efficiency retrofits and renewable energy fixtures for homes and commercial property.
Passed House; awaiting introduction in Senate.

HB 08-1375, Governor's budget request
Requests $2 million to support investment in new energy technologies through the Clean Energy Fund.
Passed House & Senate, in JBC conference committee.

SB 08-117 "Limit Local Building Permit Fees for Solar Panels" (S.Mitchell/ McNulty)
Prohibits cities and counties from charging added building permit fees for small-scale solar energy devices.
Passed House and Senate, amendments now being considered in conference committee.

SB 08-184 "Colorado Clean Energy Finance Program" (Romer)
Creates program in the Governor's Energy Office to provide loans for energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements for homeowners. Includes loan buy-down for low-income homeowners.
In Senate Appropriations Committee.

For a list of clean energy bills from the 2007 session, visit the Governor's Energy Office website.

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