WHAT'S NEW:

No recent state activity has been identified.

AIR EMISSIONS REGULATIONS:

Air Quality Status	There are 9 areas designated as Subpart 1 under the 8-hr ozone standards. EPA's Nonattainment Areas
Major Source Threshold	PTE 250 tons (100 tons of listed sources) of any criteria pollutant in attainment areas; 100 tons in nonattainment areas.
Minor Source Permitting Exemption	Emit less than 2 TPY of all criteria pollutants in attainment areas and 1 TPY in nonattainment areas
Minor Source Treatment	Opacity less than 20%
Emergency Generating Limits	Hourly limits based on size

 

DE MINIMIS EXEMPTIONS

To be exempted from permitting (with no state notification requirements) a source must emit less than 2 tons per year in attainment areas and 1 ton per year in nonattainment areas of all criteria pollutants. Facilities that emit less than 5 tons per year of NOx and CO in nonattainment areas and 10 tons per year of NOx and CO in attainment areas may request exemption with notification to the state. The following units are also exempt from permitting –

• Fuel burning equipment (except smokehouse generators, and internal combustion engines) that use gaseous fuel, and that have a heat input rate of less than or equal to 5 MMBtu/hr.
• Stationary Internal Combustion Engines that meet the following requirements –
• Less than or equal to 175 horsepower that operate less than 1,450 hours per year; or
• Greater than 175 horsepower and less than or equal to 300 horsepower that operate less than 850 hours per year; or

Greater than 300 horsepower and less than or equal to 750 horsepower that operate less than 340 hours per year.

MINOR SOURCE PERMITTING

Sources with a potential to emit less than 100 tons per year of all criteria pollutants will not be required to meet any specific requirements (beyond a 20% opacity limit). However, operating and emission limits may be included in the permit to keep the unit below the 100 ton per year threshold. Sources that are above the 100 ton per year threshold will have to obtain a Title V permit. There are not likely to be any additional emission controls required, but there will be additional reporting and testing requirements.

There is a 30-day public comment period for sources with a potential to emit greater than 25 tons per year in nonattainment areas and 50 tons per year in attainment areas. The entire permitting process is likely to take approximately 60-120 days.

MAJOR NSR/PSD PERMITTING

A potential to emit 250 tons per year of a criteria pollutant triggers PSD in attainment areas. In nonattainment areas a potential to emit 100 tons per year of the nonattainment pollutants will trigger NSR.

Colorado adopted Regulation No. 7, related to the control of VOC emissions from oil and gas operations. This regulation became effective in 2007, and applies to oil and gas operations, and natural gas-fired reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE). Stationary or portable RICE with a manufacturer’s rating greater than 500 hp, and beginning operation in the 8-hour ozone control area on or after June 1, 2004 must meet the following standards –

• Rich burn engines must have a non-selective catalyst reduction and an air controller will also be required.
• Lean burn engines must have an oxidation catalyst.

RICE, with a rating greater than 500 hp, located in the 8-hour ozone control area prior to June 1, 2004, must comply with the bulleted requirements listed above by May 1, 2005.

Separate statewide standards apply to RICE that are operated in all other areas of the state (besides the 8-hr ozone control area). RICE must meet the following emission limits –

Additionally, regulation No. 7 requires existing sources of VOCs which are not subject to specific emission limits, and which have a PTE 100 tons/yr of VOCs to use RACT.

The legislature has set the processing fee for major source operating permits at $59.98/hour. Information on major source operating permits can be found here, http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/ap/Titlev.html#whoneeds.

TREATMENT OF EMERGENCY ENGINES

Emergency engines can be exempted from permitting if they operate only during emergencies and for maintenance. These units will have run hour limits based on the size of the unit as follows:

>260 hp = unlimited operation

up to 737 hp = 250 hrs/year

up to 1,840 hp = 100 hrs/year

Larger units do not qualify for this exemption, however the unit's potential to emit will be based on 500 hours per year if the source operates only for emergencies and maintenance.

Air pollutant emission notices are required for emergency and backup generators that are ancillary to the main units at electric utility facilities however, these units may be included on the same air pollutant emission notice as the main unit.

Four Corners Air Quality Task Force and Emergency Engines

Colorado and New Mexico have been working together to meet NAAQS. The two states created the Four Corners Air Quality Task Force to work on air emission concerns in the Four Corners Region (part of Southwest Colorado and portions of New Mexico, Utah and Arizona). The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is already implementing interim emission standards in the Four Corners Region. NOx emission limits apply only to new and relocated engines within this region. For engines 300 hp or less a NOx limit of 2 gm/hp-hr applies. For engines greater than 300 hp a NOx limit of 1gm/hp-hr applies.

The Four Corners Air Quality Task Force is working on regulating air emissions in the Four Corners Region, which is essentially the San Juan Basin. More specifically, the Four Corners Air Quality Task Force has an Oil and Gas Workgroup. In November 2007, the Task Force released its final report on mitigation options for the oil and gas sectors. The report can be accessed from here.

SITING REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-UTILITY GENERATORS:

Non-utility builders of power plants in Colorado are not required to obtain approval for construction from the Colorado Public Utility Commission. A regulated utility seeking to build a power plant, however, requires the Commission's approval.

The Public Utility Commission does have a role in the approval of new power plants if the builder wishes to sell any electricity produced by the plant to a utility regulated by the Commission. The Commission's Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) rules require that regulated investor-owned utilities must acquire resources through a competitive resource acquisition process, with limited exceptions.

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission’s “Rules Regulating Electric Utilities” can be found at http://www.dora.state.co.us/PUC/rules/723-3.pdf.

BUILDING, ZONING AND FIRE CODES:

Building Codes: Colorado does not have a statewide building code. There is a state building program for state-owned facilities that is based on the 2006 IBC. This initiative is run by the Office of the State Architect. [1]

Energy Codes: HB 07-1146 mandates the statewide implementation of the 2006 IECC for all construction. This automatically applies to any county or municipality that currently has a building code of its own.

• State Energy Office
• Text of the bill

Fire Codes: Colorado does not have a statewide fire code. Consult each community for fire codes in the locality.

• Office of the State Fire Marshall

Zoning: For the most part, Colorado counties and municipalities have primary authority on zoning. Consult each community for zoning codes in the locality.

Resources (information may not be as current as provided above)

A general overview of each state’s enacted codes can be found HERE.

The International Code Council Adoption page gives state-by-state adoption status of specific ICC codes, as well as information about code adoption by some municipal governments within that state.

Information about energy codes can be found at the DOE’s Building Codes for Energy Efficiency page or at the Building Codes Assistance Project

INTERCONNECTION REQUIREMENTS:

In Progress: HB 1160 requires the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to initiate new rulemaking by October 1, 2008 to determine if cooperative utilities should be required to follow PUC rules in their current form, or if the rules should be modified. Until then the current PUC rules will continue to apply.

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) adopted standards for net metering and interconnection in December 2005, as required by Amendment 37 - a renewable energy ballot initiative passed in November 2004. These standards apply to all cooperatively owned utilities, and generally to utilities with 40,000 or more customers. Enacted in 2008, HB 1160 requires utilities with 5,000 customers or more to adopt standards that are functionally similar to those of the PUC.

Systems that generate electricity using qualifying renewable resources with a capacity of up to two megawatts are eligible for net metering. Colorado’s interconnection rules are based on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) standards for small generators. More information on FERC rules and guidelines can be found here.

Colorado has three levels of requirements, standards, and review procedures for interconnection which are outlined as follows: Level 1 applies to systems with up to a 10 kW capacity. Systems must meet IEEE 1547, UL 1741, and all other applicable standards. Liability insurance of $300,000 is required; Level 2 applies to systems with up to a 2 MW capacity. These systems must also comply with IEEE 1547 and UL 1741 standards. Systems must be connected to a portion of the distribution system that is subject to the utility’s tariff, and there are specific limitations on a single system’s impact on the grid. Liability insurance of $2 million is required; Level 3 applies to systems up to 10 MW that do not qualify for Level 1 or 2. Level 3 may require special studies prior to interconnection and the customer may have to pay a portion of the associated costs. Insurance requirements are determined on a case-by-case basis.

The first step in DG interconnection is to contact your electricity generation and transmission utility or the PUC:

Richard Mignogna
Colorado Public Utilities Commission
1560 Broadway, Suite 250
Denver, CO 80202
Phone: (303) 894-2871
E-Mail:richard.mignogna@dora.state.co.us

EXIT FEES:

Colorado does not have a statewide policy on exit fees for electric utilities. DG system owners/operators will not be charged such fees.

Only gas utilities can recover their stranded costs.

UTILITY STANDBY RATES:

Colorado does not have a statewide policy on standby rates. Relevant provisions for Colorado utilities are summarized below.

Public Service Co of Colorado (Xcel Energy) - Schedule PST - standby service is provided to customers that contract with the utility for a specific amount of standby capacity. A demand-based reservation charge and a customer charge is assessed every month. Actual usage is charged through demand and energy charges. Billing demand is based on the maximum demand of the month. Rate available at: http://www.xcelenergy.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/docs/psco_elec_entire_tariff.pdf