Governor stops in Fort Collins to sign bills. One will help Connexion expand

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis breezed through Fort Collins on Wednesday morning to sign bills sponsored by Larimer County lawmakers at Fort Collins City Hall.

One bill will help broadband providers like Fort Collins' Connexion gain access to certain properties so they can lay their infrastructure if residents request service.

House Bill 24-1334 was introduced by Fort Collins Rep. Andrew Boesenecker. It allows an internet service provider, after two requests have been made, to gain access to a multiunit property to put in the infrastructure.

"Right now what we see happening is that the owner of a property is sometimes not responsive and simply declines broadband services coming onto site. We've seen that acutely with our publicly financed services" like Connexion and Longmont's NextLight, Boesenecker said.

Right now, the property owner decides whether or not the residents get access, he said, and "it's really important that residents are ultimately the ones driving that."

Connexion Executive Director Chad Crager said while he would rather work directly with a property owner to get service to residents, "this is sort of a last resort that's needed for us to have as a tool in our toolbox."

"We have residents that are calling all the time — there's dozens of residents in certain mobile home parks that can't get connected even though it's a city owned utility because of the property owner's refusal to engage in even discussions with us."

Another bill, introduced by Fort Collins Rep. Cathy Kipp, would help create pilot neighborhoods that forgo the use of natural gas to reduce emissions and the cost of building more infrastructure.

House Bill 24-1370 will help utilities and governments learn what works on a smaller scale, said Keith Hay, senior director of policy in the Colorado Energy Office.

Kipp said doing that will help the state move to the next step in its efforts to address climate change.

Local governments would be able to partner with power providers on projects that provide energy through heat pumps or geothermal, Kipp said. It could happen in a new neighborhood to avoid running gas lines or even an existing one.

This story has been updated to correct the name of Longmont's municipal broadband service.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis stops in Fort Collins to sign bills