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Holy Cross Energy, CMC partner with Ameresco, Inc. for solar, battery storage project

Holy Cross Energy and Colorado Mountain College have partnered with Ameresco, Inc. to build a solar generation and storage facility near the college’s Spring Valley campus near Glenwood Springs.
Special to the Daily

Ameresco, Inc., a leading clean technology integrator specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, has signed on with Holy Cross Energy to build a previously announced solar and battery energy storage project on land leased from Colorado Mountain College at its Spring Valley Campus near Glenwood Springs.

Ameresco’s project with Holy Cross Energy is under a Power Purchase Agreement, which allows Ameresco to design, build, operate and maintain the facilities, according to a joint press release issued last week.

Holy Cross Energy will receive the benefit of clean, renewable energy to help the utility meet its goal of sourcing 100% of the electricity used to serve customer load with renewable resources by 2030 as a part of its 100×30 plan.



Last fall, Holy Cross also announced that it has completed the purchase of three existing community solar arrays in the region from Clean Energy Collective (CEC) that are already connected to HCE’s electric distribution system.

According to the agreement for the CMC facility, Ameresco is to install 4.5 megawatts of solar photovoltaic generation and 15 megawatt-hours of battery energy storage.



The technology will be owned by Ameresco on land it will lease from Colorado Mountain College. Ameresco will then sell the output generated to Holy Cross.

The installation is expected to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 6,853 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which equates to the emissions benefit of removing 1,481 passenger vehicles from the road, or not burning 7.5 million pounds of coal, according to the release.

“One of the extraordinary things about working in this industry is finding and utilizing solutions that work for all of our customers,” Louis Maltezos, the executive vice president of Ameresco, said in the release. “By eliminating concerns around potential financial barriers and leveraging our deep technical expertise, we can focus on fostering innovative solutions that fit our clients’ needs and benefit the communities they service.”

“Projects like this one will allow (Holy Cross) to attain our 100X30 clean energy goals while keeping power supply costs low,” added Bryan Hannegan, Holy Cross President and CEO. “We are honored to be partnering with local organizations such as CMC to develop reliable and resilient energy resources that will benefit all (Holy Cross) members even as we assist CMC in meeting its specific sustainability goals.”

Heather Exby, CMC vice president and Spring Valley campus dean, said, “By leasing a portion of our land for the solar array, we will help our community to attain energy independence by use of this renewable, and locally abundant, source.

“Colorado Mountain College as a whole will also move closer to our goal to be carbon neutral by 2050, as we will be receiving renewable energy credits from Holy Cross Energy that will offset electrical usage at our Spring Valley, Aspen and Edwards campuses.”

Construction is set to be completed in the first quarter of 2022. For more information, go to holycross.com, ameresco.com. And, to learn more about the energy efficiency solutions offered by Ameresco, visit ameresco.com/energy-efficiency/.

The project is just one of several efforts to bring more solar power generation capacity to the region.

Last week, Garfield County commissioners reviewed plans by Denver-based Pivot Energy for a 3-megawatt solar facility on a 114-acre parcel situated between Interstate 70 and U.S. Highway 6 near Parachute. The project would supply power for Xcel Energy’s SolarRewards Community program.

In addition, Carbondale-based Clean Energy Economy for the Region is leading an effort to increase commercial-scale solar energy generation in Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin counties by mapping out parcels on both public and private land that would be suitable for solar development.


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