The Energy Innovations newsletter is your source for the latest innovations by Colorado’s electric co-ops.

Colorado Co-op Approves Solar Project

Colorado electric cooperative Highline Electric Association is based in Holyoke and serves consumer-members in northeastern Colorado. Its board of directors recently approved a 1.5-megawatt solar project, to be developed by Denver-based Microgrid Energy.

Construction of the Riverview solar project is expected to begin later this year and go online in mid to late 2019. It will generate approximately 3.8 million kilowatt-hours per year under a 20-year purchased power agreement with Microgrid. The power purchased from the project will enter Highline’s electric distribution system to serve consumers in its service territory.

Highline expects to benefit from guaranteed savings over this 20-year agreement. The co-op is currently evaluating how the Riverview solar project could provide an option for community solar for its members.

The community solar model works well for several other Colorado electric co-ops and provides an opportunity for members to “buy into” and benefit from renewable solar energy with little to no personal financial investment.

Gunnison Co-op to Advance EV Charging

In its ongoing and innovative approach to advance the use of electric vehicles in Colorado, Gunnison County Electric Association will add three new level II (240-volt) electric vehicle charging stations and upgrade an existing station. The Gunnison-based electric cooperative was awarded a Charge Ahead Colorado grant to help with the costs of installation and upgrades in and around the Gunnison and Crested Butte areas it serves. The $36,000 grant covers 80 percent of the costs including hardware, labor and materials to install the stations.

GCEA received Charge Ahead Colorado grants in previous years to assist in building the Crested Butte and Lake City charging stations. These stations are useful for local EV owners and visitors. GCEA is seeing growth in station use, especially in Crested Butte.

The new stations will be located to enable greater use of existing EVs and to encourage new EV use by community members both near and far. Charging time limits will vary by station and “will be enforced to achieve a balance between facilitating participation in nearby activities and maintaining charging station availability,” according to Logann Long, communications specialist at GCEA. Fees charged to drivers at the four charging stations will vary. The project will start in September with completion by year-end.

GCEA is known around the state for its progressive programs in which they loan EVs to members who want to experience an EV. The “Adopt Spark-e” program is especially successful and popular in the area. The co-op is excited to promote clean energy technologies and encourage the use of more electric vehicles in the area.

For more information regarding the existing and new charging stations, visit www.gcea.coop.

Energy Innovations Summit Registration Open

The Colorado Rural Electric Association will host its 9th annual Energy Innovations Summit in downtown Denver at the end of October. The conference is open to anyone who is interested in innovative energy subjects. Sponsored in part by Tri-State Generation and Transmission, it features industry leaders, speakers and panelists, as well as vendors and exhibitors.

This year’s topics include: energy efficiency and demand response; forecasting renewable energy; examining energy storage technology; blockchains and the power industry; EV fast charging technology; and community choice aggregation.

Registration is now open and can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/2018-Innovations-Summit

Co-op Creates Landmark Program

Nucla-based San Miguel Power Association joined with EcoAction Partners, the Telluride Foundation and several regional governments to create a program called GREENLights. This landmark program ran successfully from May 18 through July. It allowed residents and businesses throughout the service territory to purchase LED light bulbs at a 75 percent discount. Consumer-members were allowed to order up to 50 bulbs per meter to replace incandescent or other traditional bulbs.

The mission of GREENLights is to encourage everyone to switch over to LED lightbulbs “to save money, reduce energy use and ultimately help the environment.” GREENLights buys the bulbs at a bulk rate from a local wholesaler and passes those savings along to the members.

Holy Cross Energy Sponsors EV Sales Event

Drivers in Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin counties will again get a chance to “rEV up” their ride and benefit from discounts on the purchase or lease of a plug-in electric vehicle. Colorado electric co-op Holy Cross Energy sponsors this program, which runs until October 31. Last year’s EV sales event led to sales of 42 plug-in electric vehicles.

Six dealerships across Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction participate in the sales event, offering $515 to $1,950 discounts on plug-in electric/gasoline hybrid models and plug-in, all-electric vehicles. Consumers can also combine these discounts with Colorado’s $5,000 Innovative Motor Vehicle income tax credit and a federal tax credit of up to $7,500.

Southern Colorado Co-op Welcomes More Wind Turbines

La Junta-based Southeast Colorado Power Association recently participated an official ribbon cutting ceremony for the Twin Buttes II wind farm. Avangrid Renewables owns the project in the co-op territory, Tri-State Generation and Transmission purchases the power and SECPA serves the project with electricity.

The wind project went online in December 2017 and brought economic development into the rural parts of the state. It provides 11 full-time jobs and brought about $5 million into the area during construction.

Consisting of 38 wind turbines the project sits on 11,000 acres south of Lamar. The turbines generate about 75 megawatts of electricity. Tri-State will purchase power from the project for the next 25 years and supply to its 43-member cooperatives across Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming.

A Big-Picture View of Energy in NE Colorado

Highline Electric Association, headquartered in Holyoke, serves consumer-members in Phillips, Logan, Sedgwick, Yuma, Washington, Weld and Morgan counties in Colorado, and members in Chase, Dundy, Deuel and Perkins, Nebraska. That’s a lot of counties, but not a lot of consumers. The co-op only has two meters per mile of line and even fewer actual members. The co-op is rural and dependent on its irrigation loads for about half of its sales.

Within its service territory is the Trailblazer Pipeline Compressor Station 601. Located just south of the Nebraska state line, the station and Highline have come together to create a unique and innovative way to generate electricity on the northeastern plains of Colorado. Owned by Tallgrass Energy, the facility compresses natural gas and pushes about 900 million cubic feet of that gas a day along its 436-mile path. Compressing that gas and raising the pressure of the gas in the pipeline takes energy and generates heat.

Originally that heat was exhausted into the sky. But Highline Electric had the idea to convert that waste heat into electricity. A partnership was established and today a heat exchanger captures that heat and, through a complicated process, turns a turbine to generate electricity. About 4.5 megawatts is generated annually. And because this electricity is generated without any fuel, it saves 27,600 tons of CO2 from being pumped into the air each year.

Colorado Co-op Expands Renewable Energy Portfolio

In an effort to supply 50 percent of its power needs through renewable sources by 2030, Gunnison County Electric Association is working with Boulder-based Microgrid Energy to construct two solar arrays.

GCEA’s board of directors approved the 500-kilowatt arrays, which will cover approximately 3.5 acres of land. Not only will the arrays factor into their renewables supply, but it will help increase participation in the voluntary green power program. The Green Power Club allows consumer-members the choice of three tiers of participation: 130 percent offset, 100 percent offset, or purchasing blocks of green power in 100-kilowatt blocks.

GCEA is also in the process of expanding its community solar garden. This, in addition to the solar arrays, will be local renewable projects that meet the co-op’s goal to provide power from renewable resources at or below the cost of its current power supply.

Poudre Valley REA Wins National Award

The Smart Electric Power Alliance has named Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association in Fort Collins the 2018 SEPA Power Players Electric Cooperative Utility of the Year, in part for its Coyote Ridge Community Solar Farm. The SEPA Power Players Awards honor utilities that provide the vision, models and momentum for the electric industry’s transition to a modern energy future.

“To win this award is such an honor for Poudre Valley REA. We developed the Coyote Ridge Community Solar Farm as a mechanism to serve all our members with solar energy and we’re proud to be able to deliver that opportunity,” PVREA President and CEO Jeff Wadsworth said in a press release.

The community solar farm, located south of the Larimer County Landfill in Fort Collins, was dedicated in August 2017. Coyote Ridge is Poudre Valley REA’s third community solar farm and is owned and maintained by PVREA. The 1.95-megawatt solar farm sits on 9 acres and has nearly 6,000 panels.

As of August 2017, it was the nation’s largest low-income community solar project, with the majority of the energy output benefiting low-income households, affordable housing providers and nonprofit organizations in the co-op’s service territory. The remainder of the energy output is offered to other consumer-members.

The Colorado Rural Electric Association is proud of PVREA for its forward-thinking initiatives.

Mountain Co-op Helps Schools

Holy Cross Energy, based in Glenwood Springs, awarded $252,000 in rebates to Eagle County Schools for an interior LED retrofit. Denver-based Iconergy completed the district-wide project. Crews updated 16,000 interior light fixtures in nine schools, the district office and the transportation center, totaling over 840,000 square feet.

Teachers and students will benefit from the efficient, bright and dimmable lights. The LEDs also have occupancy sensors, which automatically turn on and off the lights when someone enters or exits a room.

By replacing the old lighting in the school, the district expects to save more than 1.4 million kilowatt-hours in 2018 alone. This will add up to significant savings.