Committee advances House Bill 12‑68 to Finance after agreeing to on-bill financing structure, contested use of unclaimed-property funds

The Energy & Environment Committee advanced House Bill 12‑68, a statewide on‑bill repayment program for energy‑efficiency and electrification upgrades, to the Committee on Finance with a favorable recommendation on an 8–4 roll call. Sponsors said the program will reduce upfront cost barriers for residential customers, expand existing utility on‑bill offerings and aim to lower household energy bills while contributing to greenhouse‑gas reductions.

Under the bill as amended in committee, the Colorado Energy Office would receive an interest‑free loan from the Unclaimed Property Trust Fund (UPTF) on Jan. 1, 2026, to seed an on‑bill cash fund. The office would repay that loan by Jan. 1, 2046. The office would then make loans or otherwise provide financing to utilities that operate qualifying on‑bill programs. The sponsors said the fund is large — testimony cited roughly $1.4 billion in unclaimed property assets — and that the bill would borrow a small percentage of that sum and return it within 20 years.

Key program features discussed and adopted in committee: - Eligibility and scope: The program is designed primarily for residential upgrades (heat pumps, heat‑pump water heaters, insulation, windows and similar measures). Utilities with more than 500,000 customers would be required to file a plan with the Public Utilities Commission by Dec. 31, 2027, describing how they would expand or offer on‑bill programs. - Consumer protections: Committee amendments strengthened consumer protections. Witnesses and the sponsors said the bill requires disclosures, outlines eligible measures, and builds default‑loss protections into program design, including a mechanism to cover defaults via a designated reserve or utility recovery method. - Project cap: Amendment L3 added a per‑project financing cap of $50,000 to limit the amount any single customer can borrow under the program. - Implementation support: Amendment L2 ties aspects of the bill to a separate building‑decarbonization enterprise (language from companion legislation would be incorporated if that companion bill passes). L2 also authorizes a fee on utilities that receive financing to pay for technical assistance from the enterprise; the fee amounts discussed on the record ranged from roughly $50,000 to the low‑hundreds of thousands depending on loan size.

Support and opposition on the record: The Colorado Energy Office, county officials, environmental groups, energy‑efficiency advocates and utilities’ program advocates testified in favor of the bill, arguing it will broaden access to savings and support state climate goals. Rewiring America, the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project and the Colorado Energy Office described average household savings of roughly $570 per year for typical upgrades and said the model is widely used across the country.

Opposition and concerns came primarily from the state treasurer’s office, bankers, realtors, title companies and Xcel Energy on implementation details. The state Treasury raised legal and fiduciary concerns about using the Unclaimed Property Trust Fund and warned of existing liabilities in the fund; the Colorado Bankers Association and realtors asked the committee to clarify lien, disclosure and title recording processes for property transfers; and Xcel said the bill’s proposed funding structure could create financial uncertainty for the utility sector and urged careful review of any loaning mechanism to utilities.

Vote and next steps: The committee adopted amendments L1 (strike‑below), L2 and L3 and then voted 8–4 to advance House Bill 12‑68 as amended to the Committee on Finance. Sponsors said they will continue stakeholder engagement on lien, title and consumer‑protection details as the bill moves forward.