Senate Committee of Reference Report
Committee on Transportation & Energy
-
All text that will be removed from the bill will be indicated by strikethrough as follows:
-
This is text that is removed from law. -
Text that is added to a bill will be indicated by either all capitals or bold & italic as follows:
-
- This all capitals text would be added to law.
- This is bold & italic text that would be added to law.
April 22, 2026
After consideration on the merits, the Committee recommends the following:
SB26-142 be amended as follows, and as so amended, be referred to the Committee of the Whole with favorable recommendation:
Page 1, Line 1Amend printed bill, page 3, line 24, strike "sense;" and substitute "sense;
Page 1, Line 2and".
Page 1, Line 3Page 3, strike line 25.
Page 1, Line 4Page 4, strike lines 1 through 8.
Page 1, Line 5Page 4, after line 8 insert:
Page 1, Line 6"(f) Geothermal energy and thermal energy networks have the
Page 1, Line 7potential to provide stable, predictable, and lower-cost energy for heating
Page 1, Line 8and cooling, and expanding access to geothermal and thermal energy
Page 1, Line 9resources can help reduce energy burdens for income-qualified
Page 1, Line 10households and improve energy affordability for Coloradans.".
Page 1, Line 11Page 4, line 13, strike "pathways;" and substitute "pathways; and".
Page 1, Line 12Page 4, strike lines 14 through 16 and substitute:
Page 1, Line 13"(b) This act does not limit any authority that a local government
Page 1, Line 14already has under the local government's organic statute or other state law
Page 1, Line 15to provide thermal energy service; and".
Page 1, Line 16Page 4, strike lines 19 through 27.
Page 1, Line 17Strike page 5.
Page 1, Line 18Page 6, strike lines 1 through 19.
Page 2, Line 1Renumber succeeding sections accordingly.
Page 2, Line 2Page 8, strike lines 6 and 7 and insert:
Page 2, Line 3"(4) A private entity, other than an entity that is a utility
Page 2, Line 4regulated by the public utilities commission or an affiliate of a
Page 2, Line 5public utility, as defined in section 40-3-104.3 (4)(b), that
Page 2, Line 6operates, maintains, or manages".
Page 2, Line 7Page 9, after line 1 insert:
Page 2, Line 8"(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
Page 2, Line 9nothing in this subsection (5) shall be construed to limit,
Page 2, Line 10restrict, or otherwise impair the bonding, financing, or
Page 2, Line 11credit-raising authority, or any powers incidental to that
Page 2, Line 12authority, granted to a local government by its organic
Page 2, Line 13statute or any other provision of state law.".
Page 2, Line 14Page 10, strike lines 7 through 27.
Page 2, Line 15Page 11, strike lines 1 through 6.
Page 2, Line 16Renumber succeeding sections accordingly.
Page 2, Line 17Page 12, after line 9 insert:
Page 2, Line 18"SECTION 7. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 34-60-106, add
Page 2, Line 19(2.5)(c) as follows:
Page 2, Line 2034-60-106. Additional powers of commission - fees - rules -
Page 2, Line 21definitions - repeal.
Page 2, Line 22(2.5) (c) In exercising the authority granted to the
Page 2, Line 23commission pursuant to this article 60, the commission shall not
Page 2, Line 24condition any approval of oil and gas operations on an operator
Page 2, Line 25agreeing to subject the operator's oil and gas wells to the data
Page 2, Line 26collection program described in section 37-90.5-112.".
Page 2, Line 27Renumber succeeding sections accordingly.
Page 2, Line 28Page 12, line 24, strike "or" and substitute "or, with the consent of
Page 2, Line 29the operator,".
Page 2, Line 30Page 13, line 25, strike "Collect" and substitute "Consider".
Page 3, Line 1Page 14, strike line 14 and substitute "environment and wildlife
Page 3, Line 2resources;
Page 3, Line 3(IV) Conducted voluntarily when data is provided by an
Page 3, Line 4entity other than the commission or the Colorado geological
Page 3, Line 5survey; and".
Page 3, Line 6Renumber succeeding subparagraph accordingly.
Page 3, Line 7Page 15, line 12, after "statutory" insert "or regulatory".
Page 3, Line 8Page 15, line 13, strike "responsibilities." and substitute
Page 3, Line 9"responsibilities or existing permitting and regulatory
Page 3, Line 10programs.".
Page 3, Line 11Page 17, line 2, strike "This section is repealed," and substitute "This
Page 3, Line 12subsection (4) and subsections (2) and (3) of this section are
Page 3, Line 13repealed,".
Page 3, Line 14Page 17, strike line 4 and substitute "(2)(a)(IV) as follows:".
Page 3, Line 15Page 17, strike lines 15 through 27.
Page 3, Line 16Page 18, line 5, after "duties -" insert "labor requirements -".
Page 3, Line 17Page 18, line 14, strike "net" and substitute "nameplate".
Page 3, Line 18Page 18, line 22, strike "net" and substitute "nameplate".
Page 3, Line 19Page 19, line 6, strike "may" and substitute "shall".
Page 3, Line 20Page 19, line 10, strike "request-for-proposal period" and substitute
Page 3, Line 21"request for proposals".
Page 3, Line 22Page 19, line 12, strike "may" and substitute "shall".
Page 3, Line 23Page 19, line 13, strike "projects," and substitute "projects if the
Page 3, Line 24utility receives a bid in response to the request for proposals
Page 3, Line 25solicited in accordance with this subsection (2),".
Page 3, Line 26Page 20, strike lines 1 and 2 and substitute "submitted pursuant to
Page 3, Line 27this subsection (2) within one hundred twenty days after
Page 3, Line 28receiving the application, or within one hundred eighty days
Page 3, Line 29after receiving the application, for good cause shown.".
Page 4, Line 1Page 20, strike line 6 and substitute "factors that include:".
Page 4, Line 2Page 20, strike line 18 and substitute "utility shall request, as
Page 4, Line 3appropriate:".
Page 4, Line 4Page 20, line 24, after "any" insert "used and useful".
Page 4, Line 5Page 20, line 27, after "(a)" insert "(I)".
Page 4, Line 6Page 21, line 4, strike "may" and substitute "shall".
Page 4, Line 7Page 21, line 5, strike "or (4)".
Page 4, Line 8Page 21, after line 5 insert:
Page 4, Line 9"(II) When soliciting a request for proposals in
Page 4, Line 10accordance with this subsection (3)(a), the investor-owned
Page 4, Line 11electric utility shall target the acquisition or development of
Page 4, Line 12no more than three hundred megawatts of nameplate electric
Page 4, Line 13generating capacity from large-scale geothermal projects.".
Page 4, Line 14Page 21, line 8, strike "request-for-proposal period" and substitute
Page 4, Line 15"request for proposals".
Page 4, Line 16Page 21, line 10, strike "may" and substitute "shall".
Page 4, Line 17Page 21, line 11, strike "projects," and substitute "projects if the
Page 4, Line 18utility receives a bid in response to the request for proposals
Page 4, Line 19solicited in accordance with this subsection (3),".
Page 4, Line 20Page 21, line 21, strike "and".
Page 4, Line 21Page 21, line 24, strike "customers." and substitute "customers;".
Page 4, Line 22Page 21, after line 24 insert:
Page 4, Line 23"(V) The proposed ownership structure for the
Page 4, Line 24large-scale geothermal projects, which may include full or
Page 4, Line 25partial build transfer ownership structures, joint ventures, or
Page 4, Line 26independent power production ownership structures with a
Page 4, Line 27power purchase agreement; and
Page 4, Line 28(VI) A description of any specific customer or group of
Page 4, Line 29customers that the investor-owned electric utility may partner
Page 5, Line 1with to support the development of a large-scale geothermal
Page 5, Line 2project in accordance with subsection (3)(d) of this section.".
Page 5, Line 3Page 21, strike line 27 and substitute "submitted pursuant to this
Page 5, Line 4subsection (3) within one hundred twenty days after receiving
Page 5, Line 5the application, or within one hundred eighty days after
Page 5, Line 6receiving the application, for good cause shown.".
Page 5, Line 7Page 22, strike line 1.
Page 5, Line 8Page 22, line 12, strike "resources," and substitute "resources to
Page 5, Line 9make progress toward the economy-wide goal of net-zero
Page 5, Line 10emissions by 2050,".
Page 5, Line 11Page 22, line 27, strike "(3)" and substitute "(3).".
Page 5, Line 12Page 23, strike line 1 and substitute "An".
Page 5, Line 13Page 23, after line 7 insert:
Page 5, Line 14"(4) Labor requirements. A small-scale geothermal project
Page 5, Line 15or a large-scale geothermal project authorized pursuant to
Page 5, Line 16this section that is considered an energy sector public works
Page 5, Line 17project, as defined in section 24-92-303 (5), must comply with:
Page 5, Line 18(a) The prevailing wage requirements in part 2 of article
Page 5, Line 1992 of title 24;
Page 5, Line 20(b) The apprenticeship utilization requirements in section
Page 5, Line 2124-92-115 (7); and
Page 5, Line 22(c) The labor requirements in part 3 of article 92 of title
Page 5, Line 2324.".
Page 5, Line 24Page 23, strike lines 8 through 27.
Page 5, Line 25Page 24, strike lines 1 through 8.