Since 2015, Colorado has received $55.7 million from the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) and $7.8 million from the State Energy Program (SEP), resulting in the following benefits:

* Findings from a National Evaluation of the State Energy Program and a National Evaluation of the Weatherization Assistance Program.   

States report outcomes of State Energy Program and Weatherization Assistance Program formula (annual) fund activities to DOE on a quarterly basis. The metrics above are outcomes of formula-funded activities since 2015.

The SCEP Project Map highlights the annual formula and competitive funding for WAP and SEP.

Energy CAP

Clean by 2040 Study

The Clean by 2040 study is a modeling project investigating various pathways for Colorado’s statewide electricity system to achieve zero or near-zero emissions by 2040. The study will assess various scenarios, some of which will target 95% emissions reductions by 2040 and most of which will achieve zero emissions in 2040. These scenarios will include a least-cost approach, an emphasis on future technologies such as geothermal or clean hydrogen, a wind+solar+storage-only approach, a pathway excluding new fossil fuel resources, and a pathway focusing on demand-side resources.  The final report will provide a policy-neutral assessment of the various pathways modeled, including data on cost, emissions, and reliability, as well as a brief overview of impacts on jobs and a brief analysis of relevant policies implemented outside of Colorado.

Transportation

The SEP Block grant supports planning and research activities related to electric vehicles. In 2018, the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) released the Colorado Electric Vehicle Plan. The plan includes actions and strategies to build out fast-charging stations along the state's major transportation corridors and increase the adoption of electric vehicles. CEO also funded an analysis that looked at how different utility rates impact the cost of direct-current fast charging.

Energy Savings Performance Contracting

Colorado's SEP award supports the Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) program's outreach, contract management, and technical assistance functions throughout the lifecycle of client projects. The ESPC program has increased engagement with industry stakeholder groups and other government agencies to improve advocacy and better leverage grants and incentives. 

During FY22, the EPC program launched the first bundled project in a “Just Transition” community. In addition, the largest ESPC project in program history was signed for Denver International Airport. In order to expand the ESPC program in Colorado, we engaged in a pilot program identifying energy and operational savings for three non-profit projects using our Investment Grade Audit process.

The program signed 12 ESPCs with some notable project achievements listed below.

City & County of Denver 

• Denver Administrative & Public Services Buildings: Two EPC program ESCO developed projects that resulted in 21 million annual CO2 savings. The projects were the recipient of almost $3M in grants and incentives with a total project cost of approximately nineteen million dollars.
• Denver Public Schools: This project includes energy upgrades across 27 district schools, covering 3.8M sqrft. Benefits include improved learning environment, resolution of maintenance issues, reduced utility and operational costs, educational opportunities for more than 15,000 students. 
  • $1.5M in guaranteed annual cost savings.
  • $215,000 in utility rebates.
  • GHG reduction (10,000 MTCO2e).
• Denver International Airport: Denver International embarked on the largest Energy Performance Contract ever performed in the state of Colorado. The project includes lighting, water, EMS, and cooling tower sub-metering. The project is guaranteed to save the airport 20% in energy use, 28% in water savings, and 30,278 MTCO2e in greenhouse gas emissions.

City of Fountain

Fountain used the CEO EPC program and funding from DOLA (sister agency) to become the first front range city to offset 100% of its electricity use for buildings and streetlights. Project details include:

• 1.67 MW PV system = 100% municipal energy use offset.
• $1.35M DOLA RENW grant award.
• 2,400 MTCO2e annual reduction.
• Additional $180,000 in annual cost savings from all implemented EPC measures.

Monte Vista School District 

MVSD used the EPC program to address critical facility modernization needs with limited budget/funding resources. Using energy and operational savings, the project will alleviate $1.3 million in unfunded capital improvement needs, reduce utility costs by 29%, and generate lifecycle savings of over $2.7 million. Improvement measures include replacement of antiquated furnaces and RTUs, installation of VFDs, lighting upgrades, and the incorporation of BAS.

Building Energy Codes

Through SEP funding, CEO offered 30 energy code trainings attended by more than 1,000 building industry practitioners representing more than 40 jurisdictions across the state. The program provided support for seven jurisdictions to update their codes. Additionally, CEO updated the online Energy Code Adoption Toolkit resource to include documents detailing the significant changes of the 2021 IECC, 2021 vs. 2018 code comparisons, costs of adopting the 2018 IECC, 2021 plans examiner and commissioning checklists, as well as links to all recorded webinars accessible on a dedicated YouTube channel.

Benchmarking and Building Performance Standards

Colorado developed a statewide benchmarking program, Building Performance Colorado, which requires commercial, multifamily, and public buildings 50,000 square feet or more to report their annual energy. This program covers an estimated 8,600 buildings and will help building owners better understand how their building’s energy performance compares to similar buildings, and identify opportunities to reduce energy waste.

In addition to benchmarking, Colorado also convened a Task Force to develop Building Performance Standards (BPS) recommendations to meet building sector-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets of 7% by 2026 and 20% by 2030. These standards help drive energy efficiency improvements and reduction in energy use and GHG emissions in building stock over time. Once the Task Force has finalized their recommendations, those recommendations will be passed to the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) to promulgate rules that will go into effect on or before June 1, 2023.

Energy Investment Partnership Pathways Project

In December 2018, the Colorado Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) was incorporated as a Colorado non-profit Green Bank, a development announced by then-Governor John Hickenlooper. Since then, CCEF has established its governance structure, developed its business plan and its inaugural loan products, and sourced a significant pipeline of clean energy projects seeking capital support. 

In June 2021, the Colorado Legislature passed SB21-230, directing $30 million in funding to CCEF to capitalize and operationalize CCEF as the state's Green Bank. The CEO is currently in the process of transferring these funds and formalizing its relationship with CCEF. It is anticipated that CCEF will achieve a private-to-public leverage ratio of greater than $4-to-$1 on a portfolio-wide basis.

Learn more about SEP competitively awarded projects.

The Colorado Energy Office is the managing agency for Colorado's Weatherization Assistance Program. The Colorado WAP contracts with local community action agencies, nonprofits, and other organizations to install weatherization improvements in low-income households throughout the state.

Colorado was the first state to complete installation of a rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) array as part of its services. For 40 years, WAP focused on advancing energy efficiency in the residential sector, but developments in the solar industry allowed the program to integrate solar PV technologies into its weatherization services.

Colorado also developed "Installer Passport," a WAP training program that may serve as a national model for structured, verifiable on-the-job training as a way to reduce out-of-field time for technicians while maintaining high levels of training and accountability.

Between 2010 and 2022, Colorado weatherized an average of 951 homes per year with formula funds.

Read other SCEP News and Success Stories.

More than 900 organizations are involved in the Better Buildings Initiative working to reduce energy and water waste and modernize the nation’s buildings and industrial facilities. Download the 2023 Better Buildings Progress Report for more information on the Initiative as a whole.

BETTER BUILDINGS CHALLENGE PARTNERS

The cities of Arvada and Denver, Aurora Public Schools, and Poudre School District have taken on the Better Buildings Challenge, a commitment to reduce the energy use of their entire building portfolios by 20% within 10 years and are making progress toward their energy reduction goals. As of 2021, public-sector Challenge partners have cumulatively saved 133 trillion Btus of energy, $1.27 billion, and 1.5 billion gallons of water since the Challenge was launched in 2011.

In the past five years, SCEP has engaged nearly 100 partners in Better Buildings Accelerators. These Accelerators are designed to demonstrate specific innovative policies and approaches, which will accelerate investment in energy efficiency upon successful demonstration. Each Accelerator is a targeted, short-term, partner-focused activity designed to address persistent barriers that stand in the way of greater efficiency.

To learn more about other Better Buildings partners and solutions in the state of California and other states involved in the Better Buildings Initiative, check out the Better Buildings Partner map.

ESPC Accelerator Partners

The state of Colorado helped catalyze public-sector energy efficiency investments of over $2.1 billion in Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) from 2014–2016 as one of 25 state and local agency partners in the ESPC Accelerator. See demonstrated best practices in the ESPC Toolkit.

Outdoor Lighting Accelerator Partners

Garfield Clean Energy Collaborative, a partner in the Outdoor Lighting Accelerator (OLA) from 2014-2016, pledged to upgrade its streetlights as a part of a nationwide commitment to retrofit 1.3 million light poles with high performance lighting. These commitments are expected to result in annual savings of $48 million. See the Outdoor Lighting Toolkit for more information and demonstrated best practices.

Sustainable Wastewater of the Future (SWIFt) Initiative

The state of Colorado committed to improving the energy efficiency of their participating water resource recovery facilities as part of the Sustainable Wastewater Infrastructure of the Future (SWIFt) Initiative Phase 1 from 2016-2019. SWIFt Phase 1 hosted 25 state, regional, and local agencies that engaged with more than 70 water resource recovery facilities in their jurisdictions and successfully reduced their total energy consumption by almost 7%, adopted best-practice energy management approaches showcased in the Wastewater Energy Management Toolkit, and created plans to achieve 30% energy savings.

The cities of Basalt, Broomfield, Louisville, Pueblo, and Telluride committed to improving the energy efficiency of their participating water resource recovery facilities as part of SWIFt Phase 2. SWIFt Phase 2 is engaging wastewater treatment facilities in a voluntarily partnership to achieve 5% short-term and 25% long-term facility-wide energy savings and implement at least one next-generation technology (e.g., renewable energy, resource recovery, and advanced data management). 

C-PACE Working Group

Jefferson County, a partner in DOE’s Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) Working Group, actively worked to develop or refine their C-PACE program with technical assistance from DOE, National Laboratories, and other subject matter experts. The C-PACE Working Group, which concluded in 2020, included more than 30 state and local participants working to learn about, launch, and refine C-PACE financing programs. Partners in the C-PACE Working Group achieved $70 million in C-PACE-financed investments in building upgrades. For more information, see the C-PACE Working Group.
 

• State and Local Solution Center, a one-stop-shop of impactful public-sector resources
• Weatherization Assistance Program
• State Energy Program
• NASEO State Energy Office Contact
• Contact State Weatherization Agency
• EIA Colorado State Profile and Energy Estimates
• Arvada Better Buildings Challenge Partner Profile
• Denver Better Buildings Challenge Partner Profile
• Aurora Public Schools Better Buildings Challenge Partner Profile
• Poudre Public School District Better Buildings Challenge Partner Profile