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House passes solar consumer protection bill after tightening disclosures, rescission and timing rules
Summary
The House approved Senate Bill 299 with floor amendments that clarify financial disclosure obligations, set a July 1, 2026 implementation date and require standardized consumer notices; sponsors said the measure aims to curb door-to-door fraud and provide a three-day rescission window for residential solar contracts.
The Colorado House on May 5 passed Senate Bill 299, a measure sponsors described as consumer-protection legislation for residential clean-energy transactions after years of complaints about misleading door-to-door sales.
"This is really about transparency and consumer protection," Representative Soper, a sponsor, told the chamber during debate. The bill requires sales representatives to make specific disclosures about financing arrangements, estimated savings, warranty terms and Renewal Energy Credits, and it gives consumers a short cancellation window for certain contracts.
Floor amendments narrowed and clarified language in several places. Representative Brown offered an amendment that: shortened a minimum equipment warranty period from 10 years to four years for a statutory disclosure, removed a requirement to record and retain welcome-call recordings, and clarified how renewable-energy-credit statements must be presented. Other amendments (L009, L023) postponed the bill's effective date to July 1, 2026 to allow the industry time to comply and required certain disclosures be made by the financing entity rather than a salesperson.
Sponsors said the bill is targeted at bad actors and not intended to burden reputable installers. "If you're a good residential solar company, you're already doing all that's in the bill," Representative Soper said. Supporters also noted the measure was negotiated with representatives of the industry and consumer advocates.
Opponents raised concerns about overreach, local solicitor rules and the difficulty of applying uniform rules to multilingual sales. Representative Valdez and others worked on targeted floor changes to require financial disclosures only be made by lenders and to make other technical refinements; several of those sponsor-driven amendments were adopted.
Why it matters: Residential solar is a major purchase in Colorado; the bill creates a three-day rescission window for some contracts, requires clearer finance and warranty disclosures, and delays implementation to give businesses time to update forms and compliance practices.
What happens next: The bill passed the House and will be sent to the governor. Supporters said they will monitor implementation and coordinate with the Division of Insurance and other regulators on consumer notices and enforcement.
