On October 28, CREA will host the 15th Annual Energy Innovations Summit in Westminster, Colorado. Each year, the summit is CREA’s signature event where speakers from Colorado and around the United States provide the latest updates on the state of the power industry. Over the last 15 years, the summit has featured more than 450 speakers addressing a wide range of energy issues.
We initiated the Energy Innovations Summit in 2010 to provide an opportunity for the staff and board directors of our members — Colorado’s electric co-ops — to hear from experts on the trends and technologies that are changing the face of power supply and delivery. Over time, we expanded our list of invitees to include all stakeholders in the industry: municipal and investor-owned utilities, regulators, environmental groups, legislators, think tanks, and anyone else who has an interest in these issues.
Back in 2010, we read the tea leaves and saw that the electric power industry was on the cusp of extraordinary change. To some extent, those changes began in Colorado back in 2004 with the passage of Amendment 37 by Colorado voters. That ballot measure started the shift toward renewable energy, such as wind and solar, in the portfolio of all Colorado electric utilities.
Over the past 20 years, the shift toward more renewable power and more distributed power has steadily increased in Colorado. This energy transition culminated in legislation that was passed in the 2019 legislative session that required Colorado electric utilities to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from their power supply portfolio by 80% from 2005 levels. This will result in the closure of all coal-fired power plants in Colorado by the end of this decade and the installation of thousands of megawatts of wind and solar plants as a replacement.
The energy transition in Colorado has been driven not only by government policy — that is, legislation and regulation — but also by advances in technology and co-op business models.
Here are a few examples in Colorado electric co-op country:
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the power supplier to many of Colorado’s electric co-ops, developed a “bring your own resource” program that will allow Tri-State members to supply up to 40% of their needs with locally-owned renewable energy projects. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently approved this innovative program.
Fort Collins-based Poudre Valley REA was recently awarded $9 million through the USDA’s Powering Affordable Clean Energy Program. The funds will be used to construct two new solar and battery energy storage projects, which will add 3.5 megawatts of solar and storage, enough to power approximately 800 homes and businesses. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced this award at PVREA on June 17.
After many years of study and negotiation, Gunnison County Electric Association, a co-op headquartered in Gunnison, has been planning a hydropower project at the Taylor Reservoir that will provide carbon-free power to members of the co-op. Upon completion, the project will include the largest single-phase power generator operating in the U.S., producing about the same amount of energy annually as a 2.5-MW fixed-tilt solar array.
United Power, a Brighton-based co-op, recently hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new battery energy storage system. The batteries will provide 798.3 MW and 313.34 megawatt-hours of storage capacity to United Power’s distribution system across multiple sites. The system will allow the co-op to incorporate local renewable energy more efficiently.
These are just a few of the many innovative and groundbreaking projects that have been developed and are underway in Colorado electric co-op territory.
Colorado’s electric co-ops are constantly thinking about new and innovative ways of providing power and meeting the needs of their consumer-members. For 15 years, CREA’s Energy Innovations Summit has helped support that mission.
Kent Singer is the executive director of CREA and offers a statewide perspective on issues affecting electric cooperatives. CREA is the trade association for 21 Colorado electric distribution co-ops and one power supply co-op.