Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law House Bill 1281 and Senate Bill 100, two centerpieces of Colorado’s New Energy Economy legislative agenda, in March 2007.

• Sponsors: Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village; Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder; and Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genesee.
• Doubles the renewable energy standard established by voters with the 2004 passage of Amendment 37.
• Large investor-owned utilities must now provide 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020.
• Requires municipal utilities and rural electric providers to achieve a renewable energy goal of 10 percent by 2020 (they had been excluded from the requirements of Amendment 37).
• Provides a 3-to-1 credit to rural electric associations for investment in solar energy.

• Sponsors: Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon, and Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West.
• Requires electric utilities subject to rate regulation to identify high-potential wind-energy locations by undertaking biennial reviews to designate "Energy Resource Zones" where transmission constraints hinder the delivery of electricity.
• These utilities are then required to develop construction plans to improve transmission capacity.
• The bill allows utilities to recover costs during construction.