Colorado will recognize nuclear power as a ‘clean’ energy source after governor signs bill 

Colorado will add nuclear power to its portfolio of potential “clean energy” sources after Gov. Jared Polis approved a bill from the state legislature. 

The governor’s office on Monday said Polis had signed into law House Bill 1040, which puts nuclear power on par with wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal energy in terms of being a clean resource in the eyes of the state. 

The effort is a breakthrough for nuclear energy proponents and Republican lawmakers who have been trying for three years at the state Capitol to pass such a bill. While previous measures failed to garner support from Democrats, this year’s bill passed the legislature with broad bipartisan support, with a 43-18 vote in the House and 29-5 vote in the Senate. 

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Lawmakers say having nuclear energy as a clean energy option could help the state meet its goal of having 100% renewable electricity from large utility providers by 2050. 

“The fact of the matter is that this body imposed very strict carbon emission reduction goals that I supported, and I think many in this chamber support,” said Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, during a March 13 debate on the Senate floor. “For nuclear to be considered an option for energy generation, that needs to count towards those carbon emission reduction goals.” 

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Roberts, one of the prime sponsors of House Bill 1040, also sees it as a way to protect local jobs and tax revenue in communities where coal-burning plants have long been an economic driver. His district includes Hayden and Craig, where coal plants are slated to close before the end of the decade. 

Those communities “are seeking to continue to be a part of the energy generation future in this state and they want to be able to have as many options on the table as possible,” Roberts said. 

The bill, however, faced pushback from a coalition of environmental groups who lambasted the idea that nuclear power is a clean form of energy production. In a March 18 letter to Polis, 76 organizations and community leaders — including GreenLatinos, Sierra Club Colorado and Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate — urged the governor to veto the measure. 

“The idea that nuclear power is a clean energy source could not be further from the truth,” the letter states. “Nuclear power is the only energy resource that generates dangerous waste that will remain radioactive for thousands of years.” 

The letter criticized nuclear energy’s environmental impacts in the form of waste and water usage as well as its cost compared to other renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

A spokesperson for the governor’s office said in a statement, “This bill does not move forward any particular nuclear energy project in Colorado, nor have any been proposed as part of resource planning by any utility.”

“With this new law, and if nuclear energy becomes sufficiently cost-competitive, it could potentially become part of Colorado’s clean energy future,” the statement continues. “However, it must be conducted safely, without harming communities, depleting other natural resources, or replacing other clean energy sources.”

The statement adds that House Bill 1040 “in no way takes away the multiple layers of state and federal oversight of these initiatives.”

Nuclear energy production in Colorado has been dormant since 1989, when the state’s only nuclear power plant, Fort St. Vrain in Weld County, ceased operations.