San Miguel Power Offers Totally Green Option

An increasing number of San Miguel Power Association’s consumer-members in southwestern Colorado have expressed a desire to see their electricity generated from renewable sources, such as wind, solar and hydropower. This has led to a co-op campaign called Totally Green.

The program allows members to offset their electricity use with renewable energy by setting up a small monthly automatic investment. It’s the Ridgway co-op’s simplest way for its consumer-members to use electricity from 100% renewable sources.

Since the program launched in July 2019, more than 120 members have subscribed with the 1-cent per kilowatt-hour bill adjustment. Among subscribers that can identify as Totally Green are the Telluride/Mountain Village Gondola, Telluride Sports, Clark’s Market, Mountain Chill Radio, San Miguel County and San Miguel Power Association.

Holy Cross Energy Builds New Solar Sites

Glenwood Springs-based electric cooperative Holy Cross Energy celebrated two new solar arrays at its headquarters with a ribbon cutting ceremony in January.

The two arrays will help the co-op offset the energy use and carbon emissions associated with its office operations. Together, the solar arrays offset about 44% of current electricity consumption on HCE’s Glenwood Springs campus.

One of the solar arrays is innovative in that the 554 solar panels are not permanently affixed to the ground. The unique solar panel racking system, made by Powerfield, can be disassembled and redeployed in a different location using the same parts and materials.

The second solar array installed is a traditional rooftop design. The 268 panels operate at a higher wattage than previous panels, making them more efficient overall.

The cooperative is also slated to complete a third solar array later this year.

Dolores Canyon Solar has Project Developer

Tri-State Generation and Transmission, the power supplier to 18 of Colorado’s 22 electric co-ops, recently announced that it contracted with juwi Solar, Inc., for the Dolores Canyon solar energy project in southwest Colorado.

The 110-megawatt site in Empire Electric Association’s service territory is set to come online in the fourth quarter of 2023 and will meet the electricity needs of 32,000 households.

This site will contribute to Tri-State’s Responsible Energy Plan with a cleaner energy portfolio and support Tri-State’s goal of providing reliable service with stable wholesale rates. The power supplier is adding 1 gigawatt of additional utility-scale renewable wind and solar by 2024.