Solar projects on horizon by Eric Eriksen

Thank you for saying “hi!” I feel very welcomed by everyone as I continue to learn about the San Luis Valley. You truly live in a beautiful place. Recently, the Saguache County Commissioners, Mineral County Commissioners and the Baca Grande Property Owners Association invited me to their respective neighborhoods for “meet and greets.” These were very helpful opportunities to learn about concerns, bright ideas and meet members.
A frequent question was asked: “what about solar for the Valley?” I have exciting news for you! On April 25, It’s true! We’ve started the process to construct two solar facilities of about one-megawatt each for a combined total of two megawatts. These projects will be constructed on existing REC property. One will be located at the Creede substation and the other at the Moffat substation. As you can imagine there is a long path forward to completion including permitting, funding, design and construction. I would like to recognize the talented hard work of REC Engineering Manager Terry Daley, Engineer 1 Isaiah Abeyta and retired CEO Loren Howard. Our goal is to have them online in late 2024.
Our energy is purchased from Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association, which is 34 percent renewable today. We do this because it is the lowest cost and most reliable energy source for REC. And they have an aggressive plan to be 70 percent renewable by 2030— Yes, 70-percent renewable by 2030.  I support this because their cooperative goal, like ours, is one that’s always member-first to continue providing the most affordable, reliable and responsible energy to us over the long run. This is better than other alternatives because costs and risks will be shared among a much larger member group.  To ensure funding for this strategic plan, contractually we are limited to self-generating up to five percent of our energy. This means we must buy 95 percent or more of SLVREC’s energy from Tri-State. Today we are self-generating about three percent of our energy. My goal is to maximize every opportunity. In 2024, we will be self-generating a maximum of five percent of our energy from renewables. That’s exciting!
Feedback like yours helps us understand the values of our members and supports us all being closely aligned towards shared goals. Like you, we’ve analyzed the possibilities to implement renewable solar energy. Like you, we know that most of the time it’s more expensive to build a new project compared to using our existing ones. However, we constantly continue to analyze which resulted in these two new solar projects. Our plan is to build these solar projects with aid from federal grant funding. We haven’t secured these yet but are aggressively pursuing them with confidence. Expect to hear more about this exciting news in months to come.
You can expect passion, integrity and excellence from me as I lead with the great people of SLVREC to best serve you— improving your future. Today SLVREC is among the best cooperatives in Colorado, and we will constantly work at being better tomorrow.
Feel free to stop-in to say “hi,” write EEriksen@slvrec.com, or call anytime at 719-852-6330.  I look forward to your feedback, concerns and bright ideas.