WATCH: Q&A with Will Toor, Executive Director of the Colorado Energy Office

Will Toor, Director of the Colorado Energy Office, has helped lead one of the most ambitious state-level clean energy transformations in the country. We spoke with him about how Colorado is accelerating renewable energy projects amid federal rollbacks, expanding access to electric vehicles, and what drives his long-term commitment to climate and innovation. The highlights are below, and you can watch the full interview here.

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On Colorado’s Clean Energy Push:

“[Governor Jared Polis] was elected on a platform of bold climate action…That first year the legislature passed bold climate legislation…adopted legislative goals for cutting economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and now net zero by 2050. The governor really tasked the Energy Office with sort of convening state agencies and stakeholders…to develop our greenhouse gas roadmap that was the sector by sector map for how we could achieve those goals.”

On Accelerating Renewable Projects to Meet Federal Tax Credit Deadline:

“When the H.R.1 stripped away investment and production tax credits for wind and solar earlier than anticipated, that really created some urgency to move forward as rapidly as possible…The governor responded with a letter directing state agencies to focus on accelerating renewable projects.

“We were able to do a joint motion to our Public Utilities Commission to create what we’re calling a near-term procurement process that is allowing up to 4,000 megawatts of wind and solar and potentially several hundred megawatts of battery storage to go through an expedited procurement process that is designed to get under construction in time to qualify for the federal tax credits in order to save consumers across Colorado, literally billions of dollars.”

On How Colorado is Incentivizing EVs After Federal Tax Credit Expiration:

“We’ve emerged as one of the top two EV markets in the country, along with California and at times we’ve had the highest market share in the nation…So one of the things that we’ve been able to do is announce a $3,000 increase in the value of our vehicle exchange program rebates. And we still have a $3,500 state tax credit for essentially all electric vehicles as well as a $2,500 additional state tax credit for low-cost electric vehicles…So Low and moderate income Coloradans could still potentially get $15,000 of incentives to help them make that transition to an EV.”

On The Biggest Risk He’s Ever Taken:

“When my wife and I, while mountaineering in Rocky Mountain National Park three years ago, had a cornice collapse and took a thousand foot tumble down a slope, leading to me having a helicopter rescued by the National Guard with a broken femur. So I think that was my highest risk moment…Both my wife and I made full recoveries…but we did do an easier climb just down the same drainage about a year and a half later just to make sure we still could.”

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