Colorado lawmakers pass bill to consider nuclear power as clean energy option

A bill to add nuclear energy to the state's list of clean energy resources won approval from the state House on Tuesday and did it with a sponsor who's better known for his work on the environment.

House Bill 1040 won a 43-18 bipartisan vote and heads to the state Senate.

HB 1040 is sponsored by Rep. Alex Valdez, D-Denver and Assistant House Minority Leader Ty Winter, R-Trinidad. Its Senate sponsors are Sens. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, and Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, who sponsored most of the bills promoting nuclear energy in the past several years.

In its hearing before the House Energy & Environment Committee on Feb. 13, Valdez said, "I'm a solar guy!" He said he was anti-nuclear when he came to the state Capitol seven years ago.

How did he go from someone who didn't like nuclear energy to sponsoring a bill to move Colorado in this direction? His epiphany was joining a nuclear group through the National Conference of State Legislatures, and he affirmed then that he saw France's nuclear recycling capability, which is almost entirely powered by nuclear energy, including selling energy to Germany.

Valdez noted that his legislative agenda has been largely focused on the environment. But the Trump administration has now defunded most of those bills. "What are we going to do to stay clean?" he asked. France got to where Colorado wants to be —with complete clean energy—in 1985, Valdez said.

He noted that the federal government has already approved this technology for small modular reactors and that it is safe.

Winter said this is one of the bill that "gaps" the urban-rural divide. "My constituents want a chance to power Colorado again," he said. And as one of the poorest counties in Colorado, and "these plants will land in my backyard," this is economic stability.

But will Gov. Jared Polis get on board? The word "nuclear" doesn't appear anywhere on the Colorado Energy Office website section on "climate and energy."

Colorado's clean energy goals call for an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from coal or natural gas by 2030 and all the state's power to come from renewable sources by 2050.

But can it achieve this with its existing portfolio of wind, solar, and other smaller-generating clean energy sources? The answer is "no" for some utilities, and nuclear energy may help fill the gap.

Last week, the Colorado Springs Utilities Board of Directors approved a plan presented by its Utilities Policy Advisory Committee about the feasibility of nuclear power for the city. The committee will launch a more detailed review of adding small modular reactors in the city in the next two years, including looking at possible locations on utility land and opening a new request for proposals to bring in a nuclear consultant.

Since 2022, Republican lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to include nuclear energy as an alternative source. However, Colorado has no nuclear energy facilities; the last one, the St. Vrain Power Plant in Platteville, operated for only 13 years, from 1976 to 1989. It now operates as a natural gas electricity plant.

Colorado has uranium, which was mined in Central City from 1871 to 2009, when it was halted due to health and safety concerns.

According to a 2021 issue brief produced by the nonpartisan Legislative Council staff, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) researched and developed technological advancements to increase the use of nuclear energy, such as advanced small modular reactors. Since 2018, DOE has awarded funding to companies across the country to begin researching and developing their own advanced small modular nuclear reactors.

There's also the issue of federal funding. The Trump administration has called for a halt to any federal funding for "green" energy projects, but the President issued an executive order to cut red tape for the development of nuclear energy. One white paper said "nuclear power enters 2025 as a key player in America’s energy security and green transition."

But will Gov. Jared Polis get on board?  The word "nuclear" doesn't appear anywhere on the Colorado Energy Office website section on "climate and energy."

George Luebkeman of Oklo, an advanced nuclear technology company, said he expected to work in wind and solar after college. But that changed when he learned nuclear was among the cleanest and safest energy technologies available. He said a review of 20 studies showed nuclear emitted three times less greenhouse gases than solar and comparable with wind and hydropower. He explained that modern reactors are not like the past, and there's a growing need for carbon-free power. By classifying nuclear as clean, it shows that nuclear belongs in the conversation, he said.

Environmentalists and their allies showed up to challenge the measure. 

Lucy Molina of Commerce City said the bill is a perfect example of environmental racism. This isn't clean energy, its deadly energy, she said. 

Commerce City Councilwoman Kristi Douglas said she'd heard years ago nuclear would replace the Comanche Power Plant in Pueblo. "There is fear and there will be an uprising...Do not disguise this form of energy as clean. It's not." 

"We can hit our targets without nuclear," said Ian Thomas Tafoya of Green Latinos. Some forms of nuclear are not cost-effective, he said, pointing to a plant in Idaho that was canceled in 2023 for cost overruns and lack of subscribers. Small modular reactors don't solve the nuclear waste problem, he added.

The bill got little opposition during House debate last Thursday. Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, said the bill is not about nuclear safety or wind or solar, or whether to give a thumbs up or down to nuclear. "This bill is about adding nuclear as a clean energy source and that's downright Orwellian." To classify nuclear as clean is to ignore waste, much of which has been stored on tribal lands, she added.

Heading to the Senate

Liston told Colorado Politics that he felt gratified that his persistence had paid off. "I'm not doing this for me, I don't have a vested interest in it. This is for the people of Colorado, for five, ten or 50 years from now."

Liston said part of the reason nuclear energy has been so expensive is the anti-nuclear environment of the last 30 years, but if the regulatory environment changes, the costs will come down dramatically. Something must replace oil, gas, and coal, and nuclear could play that role.

As to the governor, Liston said he believes Polis will sign HB 1040. "I give him full credit that he understands the necessity of it," Liston said.

Liston also sponsors the second bill, which would promote workforce development opportunities in the state's nuclear sector.

Senate Bill 120, which has Sen. Janice Marchman, D-Berthoud, as a cosponsor, would create the Colorado nuclear workforce development and education program and a grant program to develop nuclear engineering degree or certificate programs or course offerings. The bill shows a cost of $500,000, but that's expected to be funded through gifts, grants, and donations, a key consideration in a year when the state has no money for new programs.

Liston said he does have organizations, including Xcel Energy, Black Hills Energy, San Isabel Electric, and Colorado Springs Utilities, that he believes are willing to consider those donations.

SB 120 has been assigned to the Senate Education Committee and is scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday.