Environmental activists took over Holy Cross Energy (HCE) with a mission to make the Colorado mountain co-op a leader in cutting-edge energy generation. It’s working. HCE’s investments in renewables include a solar array with battery storage installed at Colorado Mountain College last year, as well as plans to contract with two more solar projects, in Rifle and Parachute, when they come online later this fall. After an additional wind power project and a solar project begin delivering power from the Eastern Plains in 2024, HCE predicts it will be at 85 to 90 percent clean energy.

We owe it to our kids and grandkids and their kids to leave them a better planet. Transitioning to clean energy now is possible, it can improve our environment and even save us money. Look at this rate comparison to see where Kit Carson stands now after leaving Tri-State and switching to 100% renewables with battery storage. SDCEA can and should do it!!

In 2016, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in Taos, NM exited from Tristate. Guzman Energy financed the split and Kit Carson has now paid off the cost with savings from less expensive power. They have achieved their goal of 100% solar from local sources during the day with battery storage at night and expect to save their customers millions of dollars.

Colorado lawmakers returned to the Statehouse in January with an enormous opportunity to lower energy costs and improve electricity reliability for Coloradans. Yes, inflation will likely still be high, but so are the opportunities for Republicans and Democrats to work together on the energy issues facing Colorado.

Analysis from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory predicts that recent federal legislation could lead to a surge of clean energy deployment, and rapid reduction of emissions, by 2030. NREL forecasts that clean electricity shares could increase from 41% in 2022 to a range of 71%–90% of total generation by 2030. Solar and wind were found to be the primary drivers of the increase in clean electricity generation.

Clean energy is crushing the competition to supply new power plants for the U.S. this year. That’s a larger share than last year, when clean power plants made up 78 percent of new capacity. Fossil-fueled plants are expected to make up just 16 percent of new capacity additions completed in 2023, based on January data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.