From Colorado Working Landscapes, December
22, 2003, Volume 1, Issue 1
This newsletter supports the Colorado
Renewable Energy Coalition's Rural Initiative by bringing information to rural
constituencies. Additional issues will be sent throughout Colorado's 2004
Legislative Session. If you would like to be added to the distribution list
or taken off please send an email to
frank@workinglandscapes.com.
Speaker of the House Lola Spradley
met with rural organizations and the Colorado Renewable Energy Coalition to
discuss legislation creating a renewable energy standard (RES).
On Monday, December 15 Speaker of House
Spradley met with representatives from the Rocky Mountain Farmer's Union,
Colorado Farm Bureau, RC&D's, Colorado Livestock Association, Environment
Colorado, Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies, Western Resource
Advocates, and Colorado Working Landscapes. Speaker Spradley said rural
support is critical for passage of RES legislation during the upcoming
legislative session. She stated, "The high cost of energy is a fact. The time
could not be better as far as the consumer cost issue. . . . For rural
Colorado wind energy is rural economic development. That is my passion . . .
rural economic development."
The Renewable Energy Standard is a market-based mechanism
requiring utilities to gradually increase the portion of electricity produced
by biomass, hydroelectricity, geothermal, wind and solar energy to
900 Megawatts by 2010. REA's and municipal utilities will be exempted from
the Standard. Fourteen states have adopted a similar standard including Texas
and Minnesota.
Senator Terry Phillips
also attended the meeting and discussed a bill he will sponsor that
will facilitate local ownership of renewable energy projects. A Pipestone,
Minnesota project completed in 2001 is an example of what the Phillips bill
will promote. This farmer-owned wind farm produces 4.5 million Kilowatt hours
of electricity per year and will yield $30,000 to $40,000 annually for the
first 10 years and $110,000 to $130,000 thereafter. Jim Nichols,
a wheat farmer, county commissioner and former commissioner of agriculture was
intimately involved in the pipestone project. He will be a featured speaker
during the February 19th Colorado Agricultural Outlook Forum.
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Upcoming Events:
(Future newsletters will provide additional
information on the events listed below)
"Colorado Farm Fuels - What's
Next?: A traveling rural community forum on renewable energy"
Co-sponsored by Rocky Mountain Farmer's Union, Colorado
Farm Bureau, Independent Bankers of Colorado, Governor's Office of Energy
Management & Conservation, CSU Cooperative Extension, Colorado League of RC&D
Councils, Northeast Colorado RC&D, Colorado Association of Conservation
Districts.
- Akron - January 8, Thursday
- Burlington - January 9, Friday
- Greeley - January 12, Monday
- Monte Vista - January 20, Tuesday
- Grand Junction - January 21, Wednesday
For more information about location, times, and the agenda
contact Ben Way, Rocky Mountain Farmer's Union,
ben.way@rmfu.org, 303-283-3530.
2004 Colorado Agricultural Outlook Forum
"Profits Outside the Box: Agri-Energy and Beyond"
Renaissance Denver Hotel - 3801 Quebec Street
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Colorado Wind and Distributed Energy: Renewables
for Rural Prosperity Conference (CWADE)
Doubletree Hotel, in Colorado Springs
April 13-14, 2004
This second biennial conference is being held by the
Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation (OEMC) and the U.S.
Department of Energy's Wind Powering America.
______________________________________________________
Colorado Working Landscapes (CWL), a private non-profit corporation, is a
landowner-driven public policy forum where multiple viewpoints can be
expressed and shared understanding achieved leading to win-win solutions to
land use and other natural resource issues.
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