Holy Cross Energy, the electric cooperative headquartered in Glenwood Springs and serving Vail and the Roaring Fork Valley, is enthusiastic about the Clean Energy Collective’s first community-owned solar array, which began delivering power in August.
The facility will generate electricity, which will be purchased by Holy Cross Energy. The new solar garden sits on land owned by the Mid-Valley Metropolitan District in El Jebel and includes 340 solar panels with a total capacity of 77.7 kilowatts. Each of the solar panels has been sold to residents of the Roaring Fork Valley for $725 per panel, or $3.15/kW. Holy Cross Energy will then credit the utility bills of its co-op members who also own a portion of the solar array. Members’ bills will be credited $0.11/kilowatt-hour based on what percentage of the array each member owns.
Holy Cross Energy CEO Del Worley was excited about the potential for locally-generated clean energy, according to a news release from the Clean Energy Collective. “It’s great to get local renewable energy off the ground, and this is one more arrow in our quiver for Holy Cross to meet its 20 percent goal of renewable energy by 2015,” he said.
Several more community solar arrays are in the process of being approved and/or built, including a 900 kW facility in Rifle and a 2 MW facility near Vail, which will be the largest privately-owned solar array in the state.
“We are extremely thankful to our partner Holy Cross Energy for continuing to execute on its commitment to clean energies and collaborating with us on this innovative initiative,” said CEC founder Paul Spencer.