| bill ritter innovators
a Prosecutor
Turns
Governor,
with a
Missionary
Zeal for
Clean Energy
by SETH MASIA
DaNbihN.coM
bill ritter
During a single term as governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter made spectacular progress on renewable nergy issues. On assuming office in 2007, he reinvigorated the Governor’s Energy Office, a cabinet-level agency that helped to pass 57
renewable energy bills through the state legislature. By
2009, Colorado boasted some 1,500 renewable energy
companies, including three Vestas wind turbine factories
and three photovoltaic (PV) module factories — Ascent
Solar, Abound Solar and GE/PrimeStar Solar. By the close
of 2010, the state ranked third, after California and New
Jersey, in grid-connected PV, and its large public utilities
were well on the way to meeting a 30 percent renewable
electricity standard.
Ritter has a Spencer Tracy air about him. The geniality
could mask a tough district attorney. That’s in fact what he
was, before running for governor.
August William Ritter, now 56, grew up on a wheat farm
seth masia is an editor of SOLAR TODAY and director of communications for the american solar energy society. Contact him at
smasia@solartoday.org.
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