CD12FDC798EF9A99872584880062A769 Hearing Summary

Senator Garcia made a motion that the committee recommend Bill 1 to the Legislative Council.  Representative Hooton presented the bill.  The bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to study the implementation of community choice energy in Colorado through a third-party study and an investigatory docket.

Mr. Miloshevich made a statement in support of the bill.

Committee members made comments on the bill.

The motion passed on a vote of 4-2, with Representative Geitner and Senator Hisey voting in the negative.

Senator Garcia announced that Bill 1 will be sponsored by Representative Hooton, and will start in the House.

Senator Garcia made a motion that the committee recommend Bill 2 to the Legislative Council.

Representative Kennedy explained Bill 2.  For four years beginning in FY 2020-21, the bill establishes conditional transfers from the General Fund to the Energy Outreach Colorado and Colorado Energy Office Low-income Energy Assistance Funds, which are triggered if severance tax revenue to either fund falls below $1.0 million in a given year.

Max Nardo, representing Legislative Council Staff, responded to committee members' questions regarding the fiscal note.

The motion passed on a vote of 4-2, with Representative Geitner and Senator Hisey voting in the negative.

Senator Garcia announced that Bill 2 will be sponsored by Representative Kennedy, and will start in the House.

Senator Garcia made a motion that the committee recommend Bill 3 to the Legislative Council.  Senator Garcia presented the bill.  The bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to collect information from utilities on medical exemptions from tiered electricity rates; to adopt standard practices for gas and electric utilities to follow when disconnecting service due to nonpayment; and to conduct a proceeding to evaluate a policy of requiring public utilities to report positive information to credit reporting agencies. The bill also prohibits public utilities from employing certain rate structures without obtaining opt-in from customers.

The motion passed on a vote of 5-1, with Representative Geitner voting in the negative.

Senator Garcia announced that he and Senator Rodriguez would be co-prime sponsors of Bill 3, and that the bill will start in the Senate.

Duane Gall, representing the Office of Legislative Legal Services, requested permission to make technical changes.