ELR Citation: 44 ELR 20101
No(s). 11-cv-00859 (D. Colo. May 1, 2014) (Martinez, J.)

A district court held that a conservative nonprofit group lacked standing on four of its six claims challenging Colorado's renewable energy standard (RES), which requires utilities to obtain at least 30% percent of its energy from renewable sources by the year 2020. The group claimed that three discrete provisions in the RES-- the Renewables Quota, the Distributed Generation Provision, and the 2:1 Provision--violated the commerce clause and sought declaratory and injunctive relief for a total of six claims. But the group only has standing to pursue its claims challenging the Renewables Quota. The group demonstrated that the quota prevents at least one of its members--a coal producer-- from being able to compete for 30% of the energy market, and that this inability to compete is directly caused by the quota. In addition, this injury is redressable because, were the court to invalidate the quota, the 30% of the market currently set aside for renewable energy would reopen to non-renewable sources, such as coal producers. But the group failed to demonstrate standing on its remaining claims.