| Summary |
Section 1 of the bill, on and after January 1, 2027, prohibits the
sale and distribution of certain air conditioners that are manufactured on
or after January 1, 2027, (covered HVAC) unless the covered HVAC
complies with certain technical standards (technical standards).
On or before January 1, 2029, and again on or before January 1,
2034, the executive director of the department of public health and
environment (executive director) must assess compliance with the
technical standards. On or before February 1, 2029, and again on or
before February 1, 2034, the executive director must prepare a report of
the assessments.
Before January 1, 2027, the executive director must establish a
secure process that allows an individual to make an anonymous report of
a violation of the technical standards. In the case of the first 2 violations
of the technical standards, the executive director must send a warning
letter to the alleged violator. In the case of a third or subsequent violation,
the attorney general may bring a civil action to seek a civil penalty of no
more than $2,000 per ton of cooling and certain other remedial actions.
Section 3, on or before January 1, 2026, and every other January
1 until January 1, 2034, requires the Colorado energy office (energy
office) to conduct a market study or literature review to estimate the
average cost difference for certain income-qualified households and
income-qualified housing providers between installing a covered HVAC
that meets the technical standards and installing a covered HVAC that
does not meet the technical standards (study).
On or before January 1, 2027, the energy office shall establish a
program to offer certain financial incentives to certain income-qualified
households and income-qualified housing providers to cover the average
cost difference described in the energy office's most recent study.
For income tax years commencing on and after January 1, 2024,
but before January 1, 2034, section 4 creates a refundable, assignable
state income tax credit that a home builder or an HVAC contractor that
installs certain cold-climate heat pumps or ground-source heat pumps
(eligible heat pump) can claim in the tax year that the eligible heat pump
is placed into service. The amount of the tax credit is $5,000 per
installation of an eligible heat pump, but the amount claimed may be
increased based on certain criteria. A home builder or an HVAC
contractor must provide certain verification information to the department
of revenue to qualify for the tax credit.
Section 5:
•
Makes certain changes to definitions;
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Changes the state income tax credit amounts that may be
claimed for the installation of certain other heat pumps; and
•
Requires the energy office to post information about the tax
credit on the energy office's website.
Section 6 makes certain changes to definitions.
Section 8, on or before April 1, 2025, requires a public utility that
provides electricity to submit to the public utilities commission a proposal
for a specific voluntary rate or rates for electricity supplied to residential
customers who utilize a heat pump as their primary heating source.
Section 9 requires, on and after January 1, 2025, recipients of state
financial assistance for new building construction projects that include
energy-consuming products covered by the Energy Star program (covered
energy-consuming products) to use covered energy-consuming products
certified by the Energy Star program (requirements).
On and after January 1, 2025, a state agency that provides or
administers state financial assistance for a new building construction
project (state agency) must include certain requirements in the state
agency's criteria for receiving state financial assistance and request an
affidavit signed by the recipient of the state financial assistance that
declares that the requirements have been or will be followed or that the
recipient is requesting a waiver from the requirements. A state agency
may issue a waiver from the requirements based on certain evidence and
an attestation from a licensed professional engineer or design
professional. On or before December 1, 2024, the energy office must
distribute and periodically update certain guidance and forms related to
the requirements.
If the attorney general has probable cause to believe that a
recipient of state financial assistance has violated the requirements, the
attorney general may bring a civil action to seek a civil penalty of up to
the total amount of state financial assistance received by the violator.
Current law prohibits a person from selling or leasing new
residential windows, residential doors, and residential skylights in the
state on and after January 1, 2026, unless the product satisfies certain
criteria under the Energy Star program. Section 10 changes current law
to require new residential windows, residential doors, and residential
skylights to instead satisfy certain standards in the International Energy
Conservation Code.
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