Environmental groups and clean-energy advocates lined up Wednesday behind a bill that caps building-permit fees for solar-panel installation.
Sponsored by Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, Senate Bill 117 would limit permit fees charged by cities and counties to a maximum of $300 for residential solar projects and $1,000 for nonresidential projects.
Currently, Mitchell said, some cities, such as Denver, charge as little as $60 for a permit, while others, such as Aurora, charge upward of $1,300.
Environmentalists see “homegrown power” as a major way to help the environment.
“This is a movement that’s spreading,” Mitchell said in a Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committee meeting. “And what’s neat about it is we’re not asking government to subsidize anybody. We’re asking government to get out of the way.”
People from two solar-energy companies as well as Environment Colorado spoke in favor of Mitchell’s bill. Representatives from the Colorado Municipal League and Colorado Counties Inc. expressed concerns the bill might prevent local governments from recovering inspection costs.
Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, questioned whether the Republican’s bill encroached on local control.
The committee passed the bill unanimously. It now goes to the full Senate.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
