Senate committee advances three nominees to Colorado Geologic Storage Stewardship Enterprise Board

The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee unanimously recommended three nominees to the newly created Colorado Geologic Storage Stewardship Enterprise Board on Thursday.

Jeff Robbins, chair of the Energy and Carbon Management Commission, introduced Ashley Ross, Bob Bridal and Anna Littlefield and described the enterprise’s role in long-term monitoring and stewardship of geologic CO2 storage. "The enterprise is governed by a board consisting of five members," Robbins said, explaining the board will set stewardship fees and oversee post-closure monitoring so state taxpayers are not left to manage closed sites.

Ashley Ross described more than two decades of experience in carbon capture and storage work at institutions including MIT, BP and Carbon America, and highlighted federal grant work supporting sequestration in southern Colorado. Anna Littlefield said she manages the low-carbon energy program at the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines and emphasized geochemical monitoring and modeling expertise. Bob Bridal, a partner at Kaplan Kirsch LLP, recounted prior state energy and natural resource roles and earlier work convening Colorado’s carbon capture task force.

Committee members asked operational and project-status questions; Ross said a $33 million federal grant she helped secure is currently paused pending federal appeals. Senator Hendrickson moved the nominations to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation; the motion passed unanimously and the confirmations were placed on the consent calendar.

The committee record shows the nominees were presented as meeting the board’s statutory expertise requirements and the enterprise’s funding and oversight roles were described in committee testimony. The committee did not take additional action beyond the favorable recommendation.