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Tony's Newsletter
Tracking Public Policy
for Colorado's Renewable Energy Farmer's Network
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 mailto:frankt@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.
_____________________________________________________
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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