Holy Cross Energy (HCE) and Guzman Energy have signed an agreement with NGC Partners to develop the 150 MW Arriba Wind Farm in Lincoln County, Colo.
HCE will purchase 100 MW of the project’s output – enough to supply approximately 30% of HCE’s annual energy requirements. Guzman will use the remaining 50 MW to serve other communities in its customer base. Guzman has the option to commission another 50 MW and expand its share of the project to 100 MW.
HCE is a nonprofit rural electric cooperative that serves more than 43,000 members and their communities in western Colorado. HCE’s Seventy70Thirty initiative calls for achieving 70% annual energy from clean and renewable sources, with a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions from 2014 levels, no later than 2030. HCE and Guzman Energy entered into a partnership last December to accelerate HCE’s progress toward meeting these goals without increasing power costs for members. In addition to other new renewable resources, this wind farm will put HCE on a path to meet these goals earlier than expected.
“The agreement we have signed today with Guzman Energy and NGC Partners is an important step in fulfilling our Seventy70Thirty commitment to clean energy while maintaining reliable and affordable energy supply for our members and the communities they live in,” says Steve Beuning, HCE’s vice president of power supply and programs. “These new and additional renewable energy resources extend our leadership of the responsible transition to a clean energy future, well in advance of our stated 2030 goals.”
“This new project is the culmination of a lot of hard work to implement a creative partnership and solution that will help western Colorado communities transition toward a cleaner, more affordable energy future,” adds Kathleen Staks, Guzman Energy’s director of external affairs. “We are proud to help HCE meet their ambitious energy goals and are excited to add more clean energy to our portfolio to benefit all of our customers.”
The new wind farm is scheduled to begin operations by mid-2021.
