Reaction to state legislature’s work on energy runs gamut

How do you sum up a legislative session that saw the passage of more than a dozen bills on renewable energy, energy efficiency, climate change and electric vehicles?

Transformative. A true example of sausage-making. A leap forward to the 21st century. A burden on the most vulnerable consumers. And, easily the most original description, a turducken.

Actually, that last one refers to legislation that reauthorizes the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. A turducken is a chicken stuffed into a duck, stuffed inside a turkey. Thus, the name for the PUC bill, which ended up incorporating two other bills — one that sets carbon-reduction targets and another that issues low-cost bonds to retire power plants for cleaner sources.

Whatever the description, the measures approved by the Democratic-controlled legislature and waiting to be signed by Gov. Jared Polis are ambitious attempts to get Colorado to a future where 100 percent of the electricity comes from renewable sources and carbon emissions are significantly reduced.

“If I had to sum it up in a word, I think I’d say ‘transformative.’ It’s a real shift in our policy, and I think it really shows the direction that Colorado is headed,” said Erin Overturf, chief energy counsel for the conservation group Western Resource Advocates. “I think it shows that we’re starting to take climate change seriously and recognize the task that’s truly ahead of us if we’re going to do our part to help solve this problem.”