Colorado Renewable Energy Portfolio Moving to 30 Percent?

It appears that Colorado is poised to increase its renewable energy portfolio standard from the current 20 percent to 30 percent by 2020.

The new standard, which has support from Gov. Bill Ritter, state-regulated electricity producers, and environmentalists, would position Colorado among the top five states in the U.S. in terms of the percentage of electricity generated from renewable energy.

One of the primary means to meet the new standard would be to encourage distributed electricity production, particularly from roof-mounted solar units, The Denver Post reported ("Panel Hears Proposal to Hike Renewable Energy Requirement," Feb. 5, 2010).

In many respects, the ambitious nature of the measure is not entirely surprising since Colorado has undertaken a strategic effort to become the center of the so-called "new energy economy."

The University of Denver Sturm College of Law has positioned itself as a leader in the study of renewable energy law and policy. Currently, the College of Law offers two renewable energy courses -- "Renewable Energy Project Finance" and "Renewable Energy for the 21st Century: Policy, Legislation, Markets, Technology" -- and several more are in the planning stages.