As climate change continues, we all need to adapt – even our large utilities

Author: Karey Christ-Janer

First of all, I thank State Senators Chris Hansen and Steve Fenberg for introducing three important last-minute bills to address local renewable energy development, addressing siting issues, strengthening electric distribution systems (including expanded underground lines), and providing access to participation in solar gardens for income-qualified participants – all of which became law in Colorado at breakneck speed. Bravo, senators, in favor SB24-218, SB24-207 AND SB24-212!

Following Xcel Energy’s recent Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS), many of us felt an urgent need to contact our legislators to create or support legislation that increases grid resiliency – which could help mitigate the effects of future PSPS events – and which would enable locally developed microgrids on critical infrastructure, potentially under creative tariff structures that could enable participation by local customers, including disproportionately impacted communities.

Taken as a whole, the combination of these three bills To take a huge step in this direction. No one wants businesses or vulnerable people to suddenly lose access to critical equipment, food supplies or access to information and resources in an emergency, which is frustrating and, for some, even dangerous. Of course, the fire could have been worse, but even Xcel agrees that Colorado’s first PSPS event could have happened with better communication and that work is needed.

While the moving parts of these bills – which could help mitigate future PSPS events – may represent a somewhat heuristic approach, Senators Hansen and Fenberg wisely avoided a massive omnibus bill, which has not always been a summer success in recent years. Moreover, this approach helped ensure that at least some of this work was likely to be accomplished.

Particularly exciting is the study of so-called “virtual power plants” (essentially large, coordinated microgrids), which, as the name suggests, can provide flexible and dispatchable renewable energy – locally. From SB24-218: “Virtual power plants may offer the potential to economically and reliably increase the value of distributed energy resources networks, reduce the costs of enabling distributed energy resources, and increase the operational efficiency of the distribution system.”

There are also requirements for utilities like Xcel to speed up ground work and consider other “community investments,” which could include microgrids at, say, water treatment plants or hospitals. There are also regulations for community solar gardens – which there were basically invented in Colorado – to expand and become more accessible to customers with limited income.

What is also important, The siting of local renewable energy projects in the future will be based on a set of best practices developed by state agencies to protect wildlife and sensitive species as local renewable resources, including energy storage, continue to be expanded.

So I would like to say: thank you, senators! Many of us have been promoting similar measures for years, and it’s exciting to see their likely process of being updated in Colorado. As climate change continues, we all need to adapt – even our large utilities.

Karey Christ-Janer has been an advocate for renewable energy and utility innovation in Colorado and California for fourteen years.