CO HB1260

Electrical utilities under North American Electric Reliability Corporation jurisdiction must annually submit critical energy infrastructure information requests to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding geomagnetic storm regulations (EOP-010-1 and TPL-007-4) and contingency action plans

Utilities receiving permission must annually brief the Colorado General Assembly on their contingency action plans and ability to meet recovery timelines following geomagnetic storms of varying severity (G1 through G5)

Recovery timeline standards for G5 (extreme) storms: power generation within 5 days, critical infrastructure within 1 week, transmission lines within 2 weeks, community distribution within 2 weeks; shorter timelines apply to less severe storms

Department of Regulatory Agencies must present evaluation results during its SMART Act hearing by January 2027, with this reporting requirement expiring July 1, 2027

Applies to utilities subject to federal reliability standards and addresses threats from coronal mass ejections that can damage transformers, pipelines, and grid infrastructure through geomagnetically induced currents