Public Utilities Commission Study Of Community Choice Energy

The act concerns the concept of "community choice energy" (CCE) (also known as community choice aggregation or CCA), under which a community, or group of communities, may choose to purchase their electricity from a wholesale supplier other than the local investor-owned electric utility. The act declares that CCE has the potential to enable communities to meet their renewable energy goals and to reduce their electricity rates by allowing wholesale competition and local control over the energy supplier and energy mix without changing the local utility's current status as sole supplier of electric transmission, distribution, billing, and customer service functions.

To lay the groundwork for evaluating the potential adoption of CCE in Colorado, the act proposes an investigatory proceeding at the public utilities commission that would invite testimony and documentation from interested stakeholders, utilities, the public, invited subject-matter experts, and persons with firsthand knowledge of CCE operations, including regulators from states in which CCE has been implemented. The proceeding would address a series of questions and topics that are specified in the act, with the goal of better understanding CCE in the Colorado context and identifying best practices that would allow CCE to function well in Colorado if adopted. The act does not change current statutes and regulations governing the electricity system.

The act directs the commission to submit a report summarizing the investigatory proceeding to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over energy matters by December 15, 2022.

The act appropriates $48,391 to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the public utilities commission to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)