Aspen Public Radio – Holy Cross And CMC Working Together On New Solar Project

Ameresco is set to begin construction early next month on a new solar project on the south side of Colorado Mountain College’s Spring Valley campus.

The project will produce 9 million kilowatt-hours annually, which is enough to power roughly 900 homes a year.

The generated electricity will enter Holy Cross Energy’s electrical grid, which serves homes from Parachute to Avon and most of the Roaring Fork Valley.

“It moves the needle slightly,” said Sam Whelan, Holy Cross’ manager of power supply. “But one of the things that’s unique about the project is that they partner with CMC and help the college meet their renewable goals as well.”

As part of the construction deal, CMC will receive renewable-energy credits from Holy Cross.

Sean Nesbitt, CMC’s director of facilities, says these credits will offset any electricity used at the Spring Valley, Aspen and Edwards campuses.

“The renewable-energy credits, it’s kind of an official way of accounting for the amount of electricity used by the college,” Nesbitt said. “And we then are able to tie this to our goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.”

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