Bill tagging nuclear as a clean energy source clears Colorado House
March 1, 2025
Complete Colorado
Bill tagging nuclear as a clean energy source clears Colorado House - Complete Colorado 3/2/25, 8:56 AM
Sherrie Peif
DENVER — After two failed attempts in prior legislative sessions, a bill that
will change the way Colorado approaches nuclear energy has passed the
House of Representatives with bipartisan support and now heads to the
Senate for consideration.
House Bill 25-1040, sponsored in the House by Denver Democrat Alex
Valdez and Pueblo Republican Ty Winter and in the Senate by Frisco
Democrat Dylan Roberts and Colorado Springs Republican Larry Liston
would add nuclear power to the state’s definition of “clean energy.”
The bill passed out of the House Energy and Environment Committee, which
Valdez chairs, on a 8-5 bipartisan vote, and out of the full House by 43-18-4.
The bill didn’t escape amendments, however, with two added in committee
and another on second reading on the House floor.
The legislature’s seal of approval is important as those forms of energy
officially classified as “clean energy” are the only types eligible for what the
bill summary refers to as “clean energy project financing” at the county and
city level.
It also determines which energy resources may be used by a qualifying retail
utility to meet Governor Polis’ lofty, and ever-increasingly expensive goal of
net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
If passed it would mark a major legislative shift on energy policy by majority
Democrats, who have to this point avoided conversations about nuclear as a
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clean energy option.
The three amendments were:
Clarifying how federal regulation would advance Colorado’s clean
energy priorities.
Allowing public utilities to recover up to $15 million from the state for
studies regarding potential sites, facility designs, and other activities
related to the development of nuclear energy.
Cleaning up grammatical errors.
Going nuclear
Amy Oliver-Cooke, director of energy and environmental policy work at the
Independence Institute,* who has been working to add a nuclear option to
Colorado’s energy portfolio for more than a decade testified in committee
that nuclear is not only important “because it provides clean, reliable, and
safe energy, but also because of its critical role in national security.”
“China currently operates 56 nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 54.3
gigawatts (GW) and has 30 more reactors under construction, adding 32.5
GW of capacity,” she said. “… nuclear power is experiencing a long-overdue
renaissance in the United States.”
Closer to home, Cooke noted that in addition to the 28 states already
utilizing nuclear power, Illinois recently lifted a four-decade moratorium on
new nuclear construction, and Wyoming is emerging as a nuclear energy
leader in the Mountain West, with approval for a 35,000-square-foot training
facility and TerraPower’s advanced nuclear reactor receiving key state
permits.
“As power demand increases and grid reliability declines, more states are
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turning to nuclear energy as a solution. Unfortunately, Colorado is getting
left behind,” Cooke said.
Coloradans are not new to nuclear energy. Fort St. Vrain, which was south of
Greeley and operated from 1974 to 1989, was decommissioned in 1991 after
several years of multiple problems and concerns with its operation.
However, Fort St. Vrain was a first of its kind high-temperature gas reactor, a
much different type than today, and not used since.
This was the first time (after nearly identical previous attempts in 2023 and
2024 failed) that Democrats have been on the bill as prime sponsors.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where it was assigned to the Transportation
and Energy Committee. No hearing date has been set.
Cooke is hopeful this is the year that Colorado goes nuclear, adding it is
more important than ever to add the energy source to Colorado’s portfolio. In
fact, Gov. Jared Polis has admitted his electrification plan is driving up the
cost of energy.
“Colorado’s current energy policies send mixed signals,” she said. “For years,
the state pursued a 100 percent wind, solar, and battery goal by 2040.
However, the Colorado Energy Office report from 2024 concluded that this
strategy is the most expensive way to decarbonize and barely meets
reliability standards.”
*Independence Institute is the publisher of Complete Colorado.