LAKEWOOD — Gov. Bill Ritter today visited hundreds of students at Foothills Elementary School to sign into law three major New Energy Economy bills, including one that will help schools invest in solar panels, wind turbines and hybrid or electric buses.
 
House Bill 1312, sponsored by Rep. Andy Kerr and Sens. Gail Schwartz and Chris Romer, creates an innovative “Renewables for Schools” loan program to help schools afford clean-energy projects and electric or hybrid buses so they can reduce utility costs and invest those savings back where they belong – in the classroom. In January, with the help of the Governor’s Energy Office, Foothills Elementary installed a 9.5 kilowatt solar system on its roof.
 
“Schools all across Colorado spend more money on their utility bills than on computers or books combined,” Gov. Ritter told students during a schoolwide assembly. “This new law will help schools cut down those utility costs so they can invest the savings in you, in your teachers and in your classrooms. The reason we are building a New Energy Economy today is so we can lead Colorado forward for you.”
 
“By producing energy on-site with wind and solar, schools can reduce their utility bills, create a buffer against future energy price spikes, and put more money toward educating our kids,” Rep. Kerr said. “As a teacher, I look forward to seeing kids driven to school in 21st century school buses powered by hybrid electricity, and then teaching them 21st century skills in buildings energized by 21st century solar, wind and geothermal technologies.”

House Bill 1126, the solar thermal jobs bill, sponsored by Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst and Senate President Brandon Shaffer, will create hundreds of good-paying green-collar jobs by offering incentives to lower the cost of manufacturing and installing solar hot-water heaters. 
 
“Providing financial incentives for the Colorado solar thermal industry will create clean-energy jobs and strengthen local economies all across the state,” Gov. Ritter said. “These new manufacturing and installation jobs will improve energy efficiency in our buildings and grow Colorado’s New Energy Economy.”

“It’s not hot air to say that solar hot water cuts energy costs and creates jobs,” said Rep. Hullinghorst. “Besides reducing our carbon footprint, solar hot water will put more money into people’s pockets and more jobs into the economy.”

Senate Bill 124, sponsored by Sen. Jim Isgar and Rep. Ellen Roberts, is a bi-partisan measure that helps farmers and ranchers participate in the New Energy Economy. It allows the state’s Department of Agriculture to extend the Advancing Colorado’s Renewable Energy (ACRE) Program, which develops energy-related projects that helps farmers and ranchers use renewable energy.
 
“The ACRE Program helps create new jobs and economic activity in Colorado’s rural communities, and I am glad to see that it will continue to do so,” Gov. Ritter said. “This is a great tool that contributes to the sustainability and profitability of Colorado’s agriculture industry because it creates new markets for our agricultural products and encourages farmers and ranchers to participate in the New Energy Economy.”
 
“If we want Colorado to continue to grow and develop, we need to keep promoting its agriculture projects, which is Colorado’s number one industry,” Sen. Isgar said. “This bill will increase funding for the research and development of agricultural energy-related projects. As these projects grow, so will Colorado’s economy, agriculture industry and valuable workers.”

Gov. Ritter also signed two bills into law sponsored by Sen. Betty Boyd and Rep. Kerr, who represent the district that Foothills Elementary School is in. HB 1359 sets some new rules for board members of Homeowner’s Associations, and SB 223 improves public health and safety by ensuring the highest standards for restaurant inspections all across the state.
 
Visit www.colorado.gov/governor or click here for a list of 2009 legislative action by Gov. Ritter.