Senate Committee of Reference Report

Committee on Finance

Strikethrough:
removed from existing law
Screen Reader Only:
all text indicated as strikethrough will begin as 'deleted from existing statue' and finish with 'end deletion'
All-caps or Bold and Italic:
added to existing law
Screen Reader Only:
all text indicated as all-caps or bold and italic will begin as 'added to existing law' and finish with 'end insertion'

April 29, 2025

After consideration on the merits, the Committee recommends the following:

HB25-1268   be amended as follows, and as so amended, be referred to the Committee on Appropriations with favorable recommendation:

Page 1, Line 1Amend reengrossed bill, page 6, strike lines 20 and 21 and substitute "a

Page 1, Line 2participating utility, a utility-designated administrator, or the

Page 1, Line 3program administrator, money provided to the participating

Page 1, Line 4utility, a utility-designated administrator, or the program

Page 1, Line 5administrator".

Page 1, Line 6Page 7, line 11, strike "program" and substitute "its utility

Page 1, Line 7designated".

Page 1, Line 8Page 8, lines 4 and 5, strike "a participating utility's

Page 1, Line 9utility-designated administrator or a" and substitute "a

Page 1, Line 10participating utility, its utility-designated administrator, or

Page 1, Line 11the".

Page 1, Line 12Page 9, line 3 and 4, strike "utility or the regulated utility's" and

Page 1, Line 13substitute "participating utility or its".

Page 1, Line 14Page 9, strike lines 7 through 10 and substitute:

Page 1, Line 15"(d)  A participating utility, its utility-designated

Page 1, Line 16administrator, or the program administrator shall be

Page 1, Line 17responsible for repaying the amount of funding provided from

Page 1, Line 18the on-bill cash fund to the participating utility, its

Page 1, Line 19utility-designated administrator, or the program

Page 1, Line 20administrator.".

Page 1, Line 21Page 11, line 21, strike "section." and substitute "section, so long as

Page 1, Line 22the utility reports information in demand-side management

Page 1, Line 23reporting or in another report, as directed by the commission,

Page 2, Line 1regarding program participants' bad debt or lack of full

Page 2, Line 2payment for utility service and the repayment obligation

Page 2, Line 3associated with the utility's on-bill program.

Page 2, Line 4(7)  For a participating utility with more than five hundred

Page 2, Line 5thousand customers in the state that elects to use a

Page 2, Line 6utility-designated administrator for its on-bill program:

Page 2, Line 7(a)  A loan from the on-bill cash fund shall be made

Page 2, Line 8directly to the utility-designated administrator and shall not

Page 2, Line 9be made in a manner that requires the loan to be reflected in the

Page 2, Line 10financial statements of the participating utility;

Page 2, Line 11(b)  The participating utility shall act only as the

Page 2, Line 12collection agent for its utility-designated administrator; and

Page 2, Line 13(c)  The utility-designated administrator may address the

Page 2, Line 14risk of losses associated with the loans and bad debt in the

Page 2, Line 15interest rates charged to program participants.".

Page 2, Line 16Page 15, strike lines 25 and 26 and substitute "pursuant to section

Page 2, Line 1724-38.5-604, a participating utility that, on the effective date of

Page 2, Line 18this section, has an existing on-bill program and its own

Page 2, Line 19utility-designated administrator may seek".

Page 2, Line 20Page 19, after line 27 insert:

Page 2, Line 21"(b)  In evaluating whether a utility's on-bill program is in

Page 2, Line 22the public interest, the commission shall ensure that, if a

Page 2, Line 23program participant's utility bill payment is insufficient to

Page 2, Line 24cover both the costs of utility service and their repayment

Page 2, Line 25obligation associated with the utility's on-bill program, the

Page 2, Line 26utility applies the customer's payment in a manner that

Page 2, Line 27prioritizes coverage of the costs of utility service before

Page 2, Line 28applying any of the payment toward their repayment obligation

Page 2, Line 29associated with the utility's on-bill program, unless the

Page 2, Line 30commission finds that an alternative payment application

Page 2, Line 31structure:

Page 2, Line 32(I)  Does not harm nonparticipating customers;

Page 2, Line 33(II)  Does not harm the utility's financial health; or

Page 2, Line 34(III)  Allows for access to lower-cost capital to fund the

Page 2, Line 35on-bill program.".

Page 2, Line 36Reletter succeeding paragraph accordingly.

Page 2, Line 37Page 20, line 8, strike "(1)(e)" and substitute "(2)(e)".

Page 2, Line 38

Page 3, Line 1Page 20, strike lines 17 through 19 and substitute:

Page 3, Line 2"(2) (e)  If claims made pursuant to this article 13 exceed

Page 3, Line 3the balance in the unclaimed property trust fund, the state

Page 3, Line 4treasurer shall transfer from the general fund to the

Page 3, Line 5unclaimed property trust fund an amount needed to pay the

Page 3, Line 6claims and shall notify the joint budget committee of the

Page 3, Line 7general assembly of the transfer and the amount of the

Page 3, Line 8transfer from the general fund.".

Page 3, Line 9Page 22, line 27, strike "utilities or" and substitute "participating

Page 3, Line 10utilities,".

Page 3, Line 11Page 23, line 1, strike "administrators" and substitute

Page 3, Line 12"administrators, or the program administrator".

Page 3, Line 13Page 32, line 23, strike "three percent." and substitute "a rate based

Page 3, Line 14on fair market value.".

Page 3, Line 15Page 53, strike lines 3 through 5 and substitute:

Page 3, Line 16"SECTION 8.  Effective date. (1) Except as provided in

Page 3, Line 17subsections (2) and (3) of this section, this act takes effect upon passage.

Page 3, Line 18(2)  Section 38-13-801 (2)(e), Colorado Revised Statutes, as

Page 3, Line 19enacted in section 3 of this act, takes effect only if Senate Bill 25-290

Page 3, Line 20does not become law.

Page 3, Line 21(3)  Subsection (2) of section 7 of this act takes effect only if

Page 3, Line 22House Bill 25-1269 does not become law.".

Page 3, Line 23Strike "utility or" and substitute "utility, a utility-designated

Page 3, Line 24administrator, or the" on: Page 7, lines 3 and 4; Page 9, line 17; Page

Page 3, Line 2513, lines 15, 17, and 26; Page 14, lines 10 and 21; and Page 15, line 4.

Page 3, Line 26Before "utility" insert "participating" on: Page 8, line 14; Page 11,

Page 3, Line 27lines 3 and 18; and Page 15, line 15.

Page 3, Line 28Before "utilities" insert "participating" on: Page 8, line 19; Page 9,

Page 3, Line 29line 25; and Page 35, line 13.