All Posts Tagged With: "San Luis Valley"
Colorado’s Solar Energy Future: Local
or Corporate Power?
The San Luis Valley in Western Colorado has been in the national spotlight recently as one of the “coolest” hot spots for solar energy generation. What most don’t realize is that the people who make the SLV their home have been quietly stoking a different, more democratic, grassroots solar paradigm, going back more than a quarter of a century.
10Jan2012 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Solar TRACKS
>> Record Number of Installations for U.S. in Third Quarter
>> Alamosa Site for January Hearing on Solar Zones
>> COSEIA Pushes for Tighter Permitting Processes
>> Solar Garden at C. Springs Landfill Moves Forward
Company Moves Ahead with SLV Solar Farm Plans
Despite Xcel Energy’s intention not to purchase more utility-scale renewable generation, California-based SolarReserve submitted an application for a land-use permit to the Saguache County Board of Commissioners for the two facilities, which would sit on roughly 4,000 acres northeast of Center.
10Nov2011 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Xcel Files to Abandon Plans for San Luis Valley Line
In addition to a reduction in the power demand projection, Xcel’s Stutz also cited expiring federal tax incentives for renewable energy projects and the potential for litigation with Trinchera Ranch as other reasons for not moving forward with the 150-mile project.
1Nov2011 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Interior’s New Plan Aims to Build a Balanced Solar Energy Program on Public Lands
The supplemental appears to include a number of modifications that could improve the process for siting large-scale solar projects on public lands, including western Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Interior hopes it will lay the foundation for a durable, successful solar energy program.
28Oct2011 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
A Harvest of Solar Gardens for Colorado
“We now are assisting over a dozen Colorado projects, from Antonito, near the New Mexico border, up to Larimer county adjacent to Wyoming, says Solar Panel Hosting CEO Joy Hughes. “Most of the sites are on retired farmland, old mines
or landfills. In the cities, we are looking at covered parking and big roofs.”
Tessera Solar Withdraws Saguache County Application for Utility Scale Solar Plant
The company is closing the door on plans to build a 1,525-acre industrial solar power plant in the midst of the San Luis Valley’s centennial ranching community. The
San Luis Valley Renewable Communities Alliance and its members favor smaller scale, local solar generation
instead of the massive project.
Insight: The Solar Golden Mean
When it comes to solar energy there’s a lot of confusion about size. Still in its infancy, industry claims of “first” and “best” are reminiscent of two toddlers arguing over who’s dad is bigger. While I don’t expect to sort it all out in one short article, some perspective is in order.
22Jun2011 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Ownership (and Money) a Cure for NIMBY
NIMBY has been misunderstood by the clean energy community. It is not a knee jerk, it’s a market failure. When citizens see a new wind or solar energy project, it shouldn’t be from the sidelines. They should see it from the front seat …
12May2011 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
Solar Gold or …
Fool’s Rush:
WILL THE SAN LUIS VALLEY BE COLORADO’S MOJAVE DESERT?
It is our state’s sole target for massive utility scale solar development although efforts have not proceeded at the same pace as in California. Still, more than 150,000 acres of mostly intact public land are being offered up by the Bureau of Land Management for industrial scale (100-1,000 MW) solar development. Two controversial Big Solar projects (Tessera Solar and Solar Reserve) are underway on private lands in Saguache County. Is the San Luis Valley poised for its own solar conflagration?
Who Will Have the ‘Power’ Over Colorado’s
Power Transmission?
The proposal was approved by a 7 to 1 vote in the Senate Agricultural Committee last week, including a thumbs up from Committee Chair, Gail Schwartz who represents the San Luis Valley — the epicenter of Xcel and TriState’s hotly contested SoCo transmission line, recently approved by the PUC.
12Mar2011 | admin | 5 comments | Continued
The Fed Plan for Solar Energy on Public Lands
The Bureau of Land Management wants to lease 22 million acres public lands for renewable energy development, including 148,000 acres in Colorado’s San Luis Valley under a large-scale plan that identifies solar energy zones. The plan has its critics.
7Mar2011 | admin | 2 comments | Continued
State PUC Approves Controversial Power Line in Southern Colorado
The nearly 150-mile, $180 million transmission project is designed to carry solar and wind energy from the San Luis Valley over La Veta Pass to the Front Range. The line would cross the sprawling Trinchera Ranch property owned by investor Louis Bacon, who has been strongly opposing it.
12Feb2011 | admin | 3 comments | Continued
Big Solar’s Promise
Remote centralized solar power plants are often promoted for the economic benefits they will bring to poor rural counties, like those in the San Luis Valley, Colorado. In Saguache County, Texas-based Tessera Solar’s 145 MW power plant is being sold as a $1.5 million/yr. windfall that will produce sorely needed jobs and revenue for the counties schools and communities.
3Jan2011 | admin | 1 comment | Continued
Lawsuit Challenges Desert Utility Scale Projects
A Native American cultural protection group filed suit earlier this week in United States District Court, challenging the Bureau of Land Management permitting processes related to six large solar facilities planned for the Mohave, Sonoran and Colorado deserts of Southern California.
29Dec2010 | admin | 1 comment | Continued
Hearing on Tessera Solar Project in San Luis Valley Continued
A crowd of more than 150 people gathered and then dispersed from the Saguache County courthouse as the public hearing on Colorado’s first industrial solar proposal dragged on for more than six hours. Much of the discussion centered around the methods of analysis used by Tessera and County noise consultants.
7Dec2010 | admin | 1 comment | Continued
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