GO SOLAR Colorado: Support HB 1350

(Rep. Madden / Sen. Romer)

Clean Energy Financing for Colorado Homes

This bill will allow every Coloradan to participate in the new energy economy and combat Global Warming by making home solar and other clean energy systems more affordable.

Good for Colorado

Abundant, Reliable, but Affordable?

Current financing systems do not reflect the fact that while the initial investment in home renewable energy systems are high, the long term benefits far outweigh those costs. By reducing the upfront costs, we can make clean energy more accessible to more Coloradans. Putting the New Energy Economy in the Hands and Homes of Ordinary Coloradans This bill empowers cities and counties to create programs to invest in clean energy systems and energy efficiency that will clear hurdles to investment by eliminating the upfront cost. They can do this by using existing bond potential or by creating improvement districts for investment in renewable energy to provide loans to homeowners.

Growing Colorado's New Energy Economy.

Residential renewable energy businesses have tripled in just over 3 years. As we install clean energy in more homes, the clean energy industry will create more high-paying jobs for the Colorado economy. Laying the Groundwork for a Statewide Program Today's bill is an important step, enabling the state to support those cities and counties that are moving early to make these investments. Several cities and counties want to create these programs to investment in renewable energy and efficiency. Depending on cities and counties will mean that some Coloradans will continue to be left out of the new energy economy. That is why this bill sets the groundwork for a state-level investment in clean energy for every Colorado home, farm or ranch.

What HB 1350 Does

• This bill permits local governments to utilize some or all of their federally-authorized and state "pass-through" volume cap allocation to issue bonds to create a fund for providing loans for private renewable energy systems and energy efficiency installations.

• The bill authorizes counties and statutory cities/towns to provide certain funding from their annual budgets in support of programs that fund capital improvements to residences and commercial structures for renewable energy systems and/or energy efficiency installations.

• Revises both the city and county powers acts to allow cities and counties to create improvement districts for the purpose of investing in renewable energy resources

• Enables the Clean Energy Development Authority to use its bonding capacity to support local programs for renewable energy and energy efficiency investment.

For More Information Contact:

Pam Kiely w/ Environment Colorado (303.929.8702) & Carrie Curtiss w/ CEC (303.525.4992)

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