Construction of a new solar project in northeastern Colorado was recently completed and the site began generation on November 15. More than 5,000 panels make up Highline Electric Association’s 1.5-megawatt Riverview solar project. The single-axis panels face east in the morning and track the sun across the sky throughout the day. This is the Holyoke-based […]
From rebates and EV chargers to solar projects and industry awards, 2019 was an impressive year of innovation at Colorado’s electric cooperatives. Many co-ops, including San Isabel Electric and Mountain Parks Electric, gave local community businesses tens of thousands of dollars of rebates for everything from lighting upgrades to heat pumps. Mountain View Electric Association, […]
By Paul Wesslund and Amy Higgins Attention to energy and the environment focuses new light on one of the oldest sources of power: falling water. “Hydropower was the first source of electrical energy used in the United States,” states a U.S. Department of Energy report issued in recent years. In fact, hydropower has always been […]
The Pitkin County Board of Commissioners approved the development of a new solar farm. The site, developed by Holy Cross Energy, will be built near the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport on land owned by the Aspen Consolidated Sanitation District. The land was used as a biosolid disposal site until 2005. The sanitation district sees the solar […]
Stakeholders from all parts of the electric industry in Colorado were among the approximately 375 people attending the CREA Energy Innovations Summit October 28 in downtown Denver. A lively discussion of what is needed for Colorado’s electric industry, particularly the electric co-ops, to transition to more renewables opened the event. Former Gov. Bill Ritter, now […]
Mountain Parks Electric presented a $29,700 rebate check to River Run RV Resort. The Granby resort installed low-temperature, all-electric, air-source heat pumps for heating and air-conditioning in its 44 rental cottages. The heat pump in each unit is more efficient and has lower heating costs than electric baseboard heat. This innovative solution will help the […]
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy ranked Colorado 14th in the nation on its 2019 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. This annual report measures states’ progress on a variety of energy efficiency efforts including utility policies, transportation policies, building energy efficiency policies, combined heat and power, and state government initiatives. Colorado electric cooperatives contribute to […]
By Amy Higgins In 1891, the White House flipped a switch that shined new light on President Benjamin Harrison’s provisional home. In Cynthia Simmelink Becker’s book Lights On! Ike Hoover Electrifies the White House, young Ike Hoover navigates the White House rafters and walls to install the wiring for electric lights, replacing the conventional candles and […]
Turret Peak, sitting 16,662 feet above sea level, has a new solar site thanks to Monte Vista-based San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative. Completed in September at Humphreys Ranch, the solar site addition was constructed to supplement a solar setup that wasn’t fully supporting the infrastructure that delivers high-speed internet to the ranch. Challenging, to […]
The power that Mountain Parks Electric delivers to local homes and businesses is becoming greener and greener as the Granby-based electric co-op incorporates even more solar into its generation mix. Contractors installed a large 1-MW commercial solar array near Walden — Whiskey Hill Solar— which begins production later this year. And Sifers Solar, another 1-MW […]