CORE Electric Cooperative (formally Intermountain Rural Electric Association), headquartered in Sedalia, recently signed a 25-year agreement with Duke Energy Renewables to buy the electricity generated on a 13-megawatt solar site, dubbed the Victory Solar Power Project. Duke Energy acquired the site from developer juwi Inc. The Victory Solar Power Project will power approximately 2,600 homes […]
By Kent Singer, CREA executive director If you are in a certain age group and attempted to learn the guitar as a teenager, I bet you mastered as least one riff: the opening notes to the 1972 Deep Purple hit “Smoke on the Water.” (You know it: bump, bump, bum…bump, bump, da-dum…bump, bump, bum…bump-bum.) And […]
By Tom Tate If you were asked to describe your electric cooperative’s system, you might say, “Poles, wires and those round gray things.” Round gray things? That is often the description given for transformers, the pieces of equipment crucial in converting electricity to a voltage that is safe for use in homes and businesses. So, […]
By Justin LaBerge Most military bases are located in rural areas, and the power systems at some bases are operated by electric cooperatives. A disproportionately large percentage of our nation’s troops — some estimates suggest as high as 40 percent — come from rural America. Even the organization responsible for representing electric cooperatives in Washington, […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan raised more questions than answers since the rule’s finalization in August 2015. Basin Electric Power Cooperative, a not-for-profit generation and transmission cooperative that provides supplemental power to rural electric cooperatives in nine states, including Colorado, has an energy portfolio that includes coal, gas, oil, nuclear, distributed and […]
Delta-Montrose Electric Association, which serves Delta, Montrose and Gunnison counties, partnered with GRID Alternatives to develop a 150-kilowatt community solar array, specifically for members qualified as low-income. Once the project is complete, participants can take advantage of locally-produced solar power and experience long-term energy savings. Other benefits include energy efficiency and basic solar education, full […]
A crowd of employees, partners and members recently gathered for the Yampa Valley Electric Association Community Solar Farm Raising. The 145-kilowatt solar garden, made up of 558 panels, was made possible through the combined efforts of GRID Alternatives Colorado, the Colorado Energy Office and Yampa Valley Electric Association, with offices in Craig and Steamboat Springs. […]
United Power, Inc., and Silicon Ranch Corporation announced that the largest co-op solar farm in the state of Colorado is now live and generating renewable energy for United Power members in northern Colorado. The solar farm, approximately 4 miles east of Fort Lupton on Highway 52, occupies 90 acres and features a single-axis tracking system […]
By Mary Peck For cooperative businesses, October brings more than all things pumpkin and masses of Halloween paraphernalia. October is National Cooperative Month, a 50-year-old tradition and time for co-ops across the country to reflect on their principles and share the value of cooperative membership with others. This year, it also happens to be the […]
Paul Gelose’s businesses, The Palace Restaurant and the Quiet Lay Tavern in downtown Durango, are now 100 percent LED. “I’m more ecstatic about lightbulbs than I ever have been in my life,” says Gelose, who celebrates 20 years as owner of The Palace this year. “With all the money I’ve spent in improvements over the […]