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CC4CA briefs county on state climate advocacy; flags PUC sunset, data centers, budget cuts
Summary
Jacob Smith of Colorado Communities for Climate Action updated Chaffee County on CC4CA’s work: regulatory and legislative advocacy, collective state engagement on issues such as data centers, PUC reauthorization and extended producer responsibility, and potential impacts from the state’s large budget shortfall on local programs.
Jacob Smith, a representative of Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA), briefed the Chaffee County Board on Feb. 2 about CC4CA’s decade of growth and its role amplifying local government voices on state climate and energy policy.
Smith said CC4CA now represents about 47 jurisdictions — many rural and western‑slope communities — and that the organization focuses on legislative, regulatory and program‑implementation work at the state level. “The heart of what we do is advocating on behalf of our members on climate issues, mostly at the state legislature,” Smith said.
Key priorities Smith highlighted for 2026 include the PUC reauthorization (the ‘‘sunset’’ bill), scrutiny of utility proposals tied to generation and transmission, state work on Opportunity Zones, geothermal and other emerging technologies, and oversight of data‑center proposals because of their water and power implications. He noted CC4CA’s involvement in extended producer responsibility program implementation and recent PUC proceedings related to utility transition planning.
Smith cautioned commissioners that Colorado is facing a large budget shortfall that will increase pressure to reallocate or cut programs that many local governments rely on, and he urged counties to flag state rules or legal gaps that limit local authorities. He invited county staff to engage CC4CA when local barriers arise so the coalition can amplify those concerns at the state level.
No formal action was taken at the meeting.
