This month we have a short summary of the bills currently working their way through the Colorado legislation, as well as an update on the Broomfield forced pooling lawsuit, and a quote from the indomitable Greta Thunberg.
Colorado 2019 Legislative Session Update
The 2019 Colorado Legislative Session is seeing a number of bills related to clean energy and climate change moving forward already, with at least two major bills expected to be introduced later in the Session.
Introduced last week was The Protect Public Welfare Oil And Gas Operations bill (SB19-181), and it includes language focused on the following:
Putting health and safety first by clarify that the mission of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is to regulate oil & gas activities, NOT to foster the development of oil & gas.
Empowering local communities by giving local governments the power to regulate oil and gas operations, and clarify local governments can go beyond state regulations.
Protecting the environment from oil and gas drilling by strengthening protections for wildlife, directing air quality experts to adopt common sense rules to reduce harmful emissions including methane, and fixing and prevent abandoned orphan wells.
Protecting property owners form forced pooling by increasing the threshold required to "force pool" mineral interest owners.
Senate Committee Room 357 (Third floor of capitol, likely to be full, arrive early if you can. State Capitol is a formal place. Business attire is best if you can.)
Already moving through the Legislature are bills related to collecting greenhouse gas emission data (SB19-096), expanding the size and reach of solar gardens (HB19-1003), extending tax credits for electric and innovative vehicles (HB19-1159), including greenhouse gas impacts as part of legislative fiscal notes (HB19-1188), and allowing utilities to build electric vehicle infrastructure within their service territories (SB19-077).
Clean Energy Action is watching the "securitization" bill (HB19-1037) closely. We support the goals of the bill- accelerating the phase out of coal plants and providing support for the affected workers and communities, but we are concerned that this complex and not widely understood bill is not the most direct, effective or equitable way to achieve these ends. We are also concerned about the way the "non-bypassable" securitization charge will be implemented and its potential impact on communities and customers that choose alternative ways to obtain their electricity.
In addition, there are at least two major bills expected to be introduced later in the 2019 Colorado Legislative Session that will address the following:
Setting green house gas emission goals and a process for enforcing the goals
Reauthorization of the Public Utilities Commission while addressing a number of reforms needed to ensure the PUC process is more equitable and properly weighing impacts on future generations.
Clean Energy Action will provide updates in future newsletters, so stay tuned.
COGCC to Hold Forced Pooling Protest Hearing
There has been some recent movement in the ongoing legal battle between Wildgrass Oil and Gas Committee (WOGc) and Extraction Oil and Gas, regarding the use of forced pooling in Broomfield CO.
Judge R. Brooke Jackson ordered the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Committee (COGCC) to hear WOGc's forced pooling protest, and the hearing has been added to the COGCC's March 11-12 docket.
The hearing before the COGCC is an unprecedented platform for a forced pooling protest, and it could
also set a precedent for municipalities to request that no drilling take place before an operator proves full mineral access.
A good summary of this recent development, plus an archive of these ongoing legal challenges, can be found
HERE.
