Colorado Public Utilities Commission to review local energy-siting appeals
The review will consider which utilities may challenge local siting decisions on behalf of energy developers and whether standalone battery projects fall under the commission’s authority.
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The Colorado Public Utilities Commission opened a proceeding Oct. 28 to consider who may appeal local energy-facility siting decisions and whether the commission’s authority covers standalone battery-storage projects.
The commission accepted a petition from the Colorado Energy Office and directed notice and review by an administrative law judge to develop a factual and legal record, the meeting recording shows. Staff said the notice and intervention period would last 30 days. The commission has not yet ruled on the petition’s proposals.
Staff summarized the petition as proposing that municipal utilities and cooperative electric associations be allowed to appeal adverse local siting decisions. It also proposes that investor-owned, municipal and cooperative utilities be allowed to appeal on behalf of independent power producers and transmission developers when their projects are part of an approved electric resource plan or clean energy plan.
The Colorado Energy Office also argued that the commission’s authority should extend beyond major electric or natural-gas facilities to standalone battery storage. These are the petition’s positions, not findings adopted by the commission.
The proceeding could determine which utilities and developers can challenge local siting decisions and whether standalone battery projects fall within the commission’s authority.