Reported by Staff

FORT COLLINS —  The saga of the Maxwell Ranch wind project in Larimer County has a new chapter about to be written. Let’s hope it has a happier ending than previous installments.

Colorado State University recently inked an agreement with San Diego-based Cannon Power Group — a global developer of utility-scale wind and solar energy projects — to design and develop a wind farm on the university’s Maxwell Ranch property near the Colorado/Wyoming border.

Participants were effusive in their praise of the agreement.

 ”We are pleased that Cannon has stepped forward to work with the university community, the neighbors of the Maxwell Ranch and Larimer County officials,” said Bill Farland, vice president for Research at Colorado State. “CSU and CSURF will work with Cannon to make some critical decisions over the next nine months regarding project timing and funding.”

The Colorado State University Research Foundation, or CSURF, a private, non-profit advocacy organization that manages the university’s real estate holdings, intellectual property and technology transfer activities, has leased 8,000 acres of the 11,000-acre Maxwell Ranch property to Cannon Power Group, which will be responsible for seeking necessary permits for the wind development.

Th company which first initiated development of the $500 million electricity-generating wind farm, Wind Holding LLC,  became financially  “overextended,” faced construction liens from its vendors and eventually had to give up on the project. Enter the Cannon Power Group.

“This is part of Colorado State’s commitment to greening our campus as well as providing students with cutting-edge clean energy research opportunities,” Farland said. “We also want to do our part to meet the needs of Gov. Ritter’s Climate Action Plan to reduce the state’s overall energy usage.”

“Cannon Power Group is committed to working with the university and other stakeholders in Larimer County to design a wind project that will benefit the region, help meet the state’s renewable energy goals and support significant research,” said Gary Hardke, president and managing director of Cannon Power Group. “Over the coming months, we will look closely at transmission alternatives, power purchase agreements and financing options. We look forward to engaging in discussions with Larimer County government, which ultimately will need to approve this project. We are excited to participate in this unique opportunity.”

The Cannon Power Group partnership marks the transition from Wind Holding LLC, the company that worked with CSURF to initiate development of a wind project at Maxwell Ranch. The economic downturn hurt our previous developer, but we have parted amicably with them and we wish them the best,” Farland said. “We look forward to this new partnership with Cannon Power Group.”

Cannon Power Group is most recently known for its Windy Point/Windy Flats project located in rural Klickitat County, Washington. At 500-plus megawatts — enough clean electricity to power more than 250,000 households per year — it is one of the largest wind projects in the United States and represents a total investment of more than $1 billion.