To help Colorado meet its ambitious decarbonization goals, Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed Senate Bill 72, an infrastructure and transmission bill that requires utilities with transmission facilities to join an RTO.

MIT Energy Initiative’s Patrick Brown told the state’s Public Utilities Commission in April that the fastest and most cost-effective method to reaching deep decarbonization would be to interconnect the state’s grid to other regions. (See Colo. Regulators Consider the Advantages of Interstate Tx.) This allows for the transfer of more renewable energy and promotes grid resilience. By requiring local utilities to join an RTO, the state will be able to interconnect its transmission facilities and take advantage of other regions’ renewable resources.

The bill will exempt a utility from joining an RTO if the PUC determines that there is not a viable market or that it would not be in the public’s best interest. The commission will also be responsible for approving new transmission projects and ensuring that those projects “support future expansion as needed to enable the utility to participate in a regional transmission organization.”

Advanced Energy Economy Principal Emilie Olsen said in a press release that the bill “will put Colorado on a path toward achieving the state’s ambitious decarbonization goals, sustain economic growth, and prepare our electricity grid for the challenges ahead.”