HB 25-1040: Adding Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource - Colorado

Rerevised (03/14/2025) → Revised (03/13/2025) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was revised to remove all Senate sponsors and references to Senate committee action, indicating the bill is now in a House-only status without Senate sponsorship. This reflects a procedural change where the bill has not yet been adopted by the Senate or is being tracked as a House-only measure pending further legislative action.

PROCEDURAL

Removed all Senate sponsors from the bill, reducing the list from multiple senators to just Roberts and Liston.

Changed the version header from 'REREVISED' to 'REVISED' and updated the amendment status language to reflect amendments adopted only on second reading in the Senate rather than all amendments adopted in the Second House.

Removed the '3rd Reading Unamended' date stamp and Senate-specific revision date, indicating the bill is no longer in that specific Senate stage.

PA1 (02/14/2025) → Rerevised (03/14/2025) · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill was revised to expand Senate sponsorship and add committee assignments, while incorporating all amendments adopted during the second reading. The substantive policy content remains focused on adding nuclear energy to Colorado's statutory definition of clean energy. The revision consolidates the legislative record to reflect all adopted amendments rather than just committee versions.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains unchanged - it still amends Colorado Revised Statutes to include nuclear energy in the definition of clean energy and clean energy resources.

ELIGIBILITY

Added multiple co-sponsors to both House and Senate versions, expanding bipartisan support

TECHNICAL

Updated committee assignments to include Transportation & Energy in Senate

Changed header from 'PREAMENDED' to 'REREVISED' to indicate all amendments have been adopted

Removed preliminary committee-only version markers and replaced with final adopted amendment status

Added reading dates and chamber identifiers (3rd Reading Unamended, 2nd Reading Unamended, Amended 2nd Reading)

Final Act (03/25/2025) → PA1 (02/14/2025) · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was renumbered from HB 25-1040 to LLS No. 25-0358.01 and updated with committee amendments. The core policy content remains the same, adding nuclear energy to Colorado's statutory definitions of 'clean energy' and 'clean energy resource' to support future clean energy projects and utility compliance.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on updating statutory definitions to include nuclear energy, with no changes to the substantive policy provisions regarding eligibility or applicability.

TECHNICAL

Bill number changed from HB 25-1040 to LLS No. 25-0358.01, indicating it has been amended by legislative committees and is in a pre-final stage.

DEFINITION

Added a bill summary explaining that the definition changes affect which projects qualify for county/city financing and which resources utilities can use to meet 2050 clean energy targets.

Updated Section 2 to add nuclear energy to the definition of 'clean energy' with specific language about projects awarded funding through the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Nuclear Reactor Programs.

Updated Section 3 to add nuclear energy to the definition of 'clean energy resource' while maintaining an exemption for public utility nuclear energy from property tax purposes.

Signed Act (03/31/2025) → Final Act (03/25/2025) · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill was amended to clarify that nuclear energy is excluded from the definition of 'clean energy resource' for property tax purposes, despite the legislative declaration supporting nuclear energy as a clean energy source. The changes appear to be primarily formatting and structural adjustments to the bill text rather than substantive policy modifications.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding nuclear energy eligibility for property tax exemptions was modified to explicitly exclude nuclear energy from the clean energy resource definition.

DEFINITION

Added explicit language in subsection (2.4)(b) stating that 'clean energy resource' for property taxation purposes does not include nuclear energy, creating a contradiction with the legislative declaration that supports nuclear energy as clean energy.

TECHNICAL

Added a note indicating the bill has been prepared for signatures and directing readers to consult legislative status sheets for gubernatorial action.

Reorganized the bill structure with formatting changes, including moving the bill title and sponsor information to different positions in the document.

Reengrossed (02/25/2025) → Signed Act (03/31/2025) · 5 edits · Mar 31, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was amended to add nuclear energy to Colorado's statutory definitions of 'clean energy' and 'clean energy resource' for most purposes, including eligibility for clean energy financing and utility compliance with 2050 carbon reduction goals. However, the bill includes a specific exemption for property tax purposes, where nuclear energy remains excluded from the clean energy resource definition. The amendments also expanded the legislative declaration to include more findings about nuclear energy's benefits, such as high capacity factors, job creation potential, and federal policy support.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include nuclear energy in most clean energy definitions and eligibility criteria, but maintained an exemption for property tax valuation purposes.

DEFINITION

Added 'nuclear energy' to the statutory definition of 'clean energy' in C.R.S. 30-20-1202(2), including projects funded through the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Nuclear Reactor Programs.

Added nuclear energy to the definition of 'clean energy resource' in C.R.S. 39-4-101(2.4)(a) for general purposes, but created an exception in subsection (b) that excludes nuclear energy from property tax valuation under this section.

ELIGIBILITY

Added nuclear energy to the list of 'clean energy resources' in C.R.S. 40-2-125.5(2)(b), making it eligible for clean energy project financing and utility compliance with carbon reduction goals.

REQUIREMENT

Expanded the legislative declaration to include additional findings about nuclear energy's high capacity factor, job creation potential, and alignment with federal clean energy policy.

SCOPE

Modified the bill's scope by adding nuclear energy as an eligible clean energy source while maintaining a property tax exemption that keeps nuclear energy out of the clean energy resource definition for property tax purposes.

Engrossed (02/20/2025) → Reengrossed (02/25/2025) · 3 edits · Mar 14, 2025

MINOR

The bill was reengrossed to add four new co-sponsors to the House and update the House of Introduction summary to reflect that third reading occurred unamended on February 25, 2025. The substantive policy content regarding nuclear energy definitions remains unchanged from the previous version.

SCOPE

Four additional House co-sponsors were added: Barron, Bird, Brooks, Caldwell, DeGraaf, Duran, Gonzalez R., Johnson, Keltie, Lieder, Lindstedt, Marshall, Paschal, Pugliese, Richardson, Rutinel, Soper, Weinberg, and Woog.

TECHNICAL

The House of Introduction summary was updated to indicate the bill passed third reading unamended on February 25, 2025, replacing the previous placeholder text.

Page numbering and formatting artifacts from the previous version were removed during reengrossing.

Introduced (01/08/2025) → Engrossed (02/20/2025) · 4 edits · Mar 14, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was amended to add 'geothermal' to the list of clean energy sources in the legislative declaration, and to include new findings about federal nuclear energy policy advancements and fuel recycling capabilities. The core definition of 'clean energy' was updated to explicitly include nuclear energy projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Nuclear Reactor Programs.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include geothermal energy as a clean energy source and to recognize federal nuclear energy policy developments as relevant to Colorado's energy goals.

DEFINITION

Added 'geothermal' to the list of clean energy sources in the legislative declaration findings.

Added new findings about federal nuclear energy policy advancements (Atomic Energy Advancement Act) and fuel recycling capabilities (up to 96% recycling of spent fuel materials).

Updated the statutory definition of 'clean energy' in C.R.S. 30-20-1202 to explicitly include nuclear energy projects awarded funding through the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Nuclear Reactor Programs.

Updated the statutory definition of 'clean energy resource' in C.R.S. 40-2-125.5 to explicitly include nuclear energy projects awarded funding through the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Nuclear Reactor Programs.

Adding Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource

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