By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
What Happened: Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 9, which explicitly provides the state’s citizens the right to install energy storage.
- It also calls on utilities to streamline the interconnection processes for adding storage to existing net-metered systems.
- It instructs the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to create a regulatory framework surrounding such installations.
- Under the new legislation, Colorado utilities can’t require the installation of new meters to monitor energy storage.
- The law will go into effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns, which is expected to be on or about August 8.
SolarWakeup’s View: Colorado now joins four other states in their decisions to increase support for energy storage.
As might be expected, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper’s decision to sign SB 9 into law won widespread praise from the Solar Energy Industries Association as well as Colorado SEIA.
“This new law cements Colorado’s status as one of our nation’s renewable energy leaders,” said Sean Gallagher, SEIA’s Vice President of State Affairs. “Pairing energy storage with solar will allow consumers to have the cleanest, most reliable and most affordable electricity. The solar industry thanks Governor Hickenlooper and the Legislature for continuing to support the state’s solar market by taking this important step on storage.”
“Energy storage paired with solar energy gives consumers and businesses a way to be truly energy independent, and we commend our state’s leaders for declaring that citizens have a right to use this exciting technology,” said Rebecca Cantwell, COSEIA’s Executive Director. “We believe that this new law will spark more interest in going solar and will pave the way towards adding storage to many projects.”
The most interesting implication of this legislation, however, is the fact that the ability to install energy storage is now a legal right, something only a handful of other states have done to date. While many states are exploring ways to increase the amount of energy storage their states can install, there’s something particularly poignant about making energy storage installation a right.
I join SEIA and COSEIA in saluting Governor Hickelooper – it’s a nice-time Friday story that’s a great way to start off the weekend.
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