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Committee hears proclamation support for CASR application to PUC for ambient loop pilot project
Summary
Council members heard a briefing and expressed support for a proposed proclamation backing the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency's application to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for pilot projects that could enable targeted decommissioning of gas distribution segments and demonstration of thermal alternatives.
City Council Finance and Governance Committee members on Jan. 14 heard a briefing from the city’s climate office on a planned proclamation supporting a state Public Utilities Commission application to pursue non‑pipeline and thermal‑alternative pilot projects.
Dan Shea, Senior Energy Policy Advisor with CASR, said the proclamation is intended to strengthen a local application under recently enacted state gas‑planning legislation. “Our energy policy vision is to ensure that affordable, reliable carbon‑free energy is available where and when it's needed in Denver,” Shea said, adding that the application would seek to demonstrate alternatives such as thermal energy networks and targeted electrification.
Shea described key dates for the application process cited in the briefing: an application deadline at Jan. 31, 2025 and subsequent PUC proceedings beginning June 1, 2026 and June 1, 2027 for proposals that include full customer support at the 2026 timeline. He said the legislation encourages geographically targeted projects that can avoid some pipeline upgrades and that the proclamation requested from council would “serve to strengthen the application.”
Shea told the committee the legislation and PUC process include safeguards intended to protect disproportionately impacted communities and income‑qualified customers, and that any specific projects would later move through the full PUC process with opportunities for public participation. Council members thanked the climate office for the briefing and discussed coordinating with the council’s legislative team on state engagement; council members noted the proclamation itself does not commit the city to any particular project.
The item was presented as a request for council support and information; it was not a committee action item requiring a committee vote at the meeting.
