Two state legislators representing El Paso County are sponsoring bills that aim to establish emergency power systems in rural communities and more accurately record data on motorcycle crashes.
House Bill 1013 would create the Microgrids for Community Resilience Grant Program, providing funds to rural communities to establish microgrids — standalone, backup power systems to provide up to five days of power in case of an emergency. The microgrids would be set up to power a community’s emergency response systems, including fire stations, police stations, evacuation centers and hospitals.
Rep. Marc Snyder, D-Manitou Springs, is sponsoring the bill, calling it a “game changer” for the protection and support of rural communities in Colorado.
“When you lose power, you lose all capacity for public safety,” Snyder said. “We realized that the rural communities really don’t have the capacity to build up a resilient system and have a backup system that will serve