100% Renewable Electricity by 2030

CforSE is a member of the Fort Collins Partners in Clean Energy (FCPiCA) and the Northern CO Partners for Clean Energy. Last year our coalitions got Fort Collins, Longmont, and Estes Park to set a goal of sourcing 100% of our electricity from renewable resources by 2030.

Where will all those solar panels go?

Our electric provider, Platte River Power Authority (PRPA) has talked about a plan for three square miles of solar by 2030. That’s the size of Horsetooth Reservoir, or, about the size of the available rooftops and parking lots in Fort Collins. After we use the land at the power plant, and maybe at the landfill, where will the solar go?

CforSE is currently researching how Fort Collins or PRPA could rent school roofs for solar. Preliminary numbers suggest that a school could get up to $2,000 per month in rent and the utility could still break even on power sales!

We need Fort Collins Utilities to explore this idea and reach out to Poudre School District and PRPA with a proposal. The problem is that Fort Collins Utilities isn’t really excited about trying new things and the school district hasn’t explored the potential of leasing their roof space.

That’s where CforSE comes in! You can help by emailing Mayor Wade Troxell, wtroxell@fcgov.com, and asking him to:

Please direct Fort Collins Utilities to explore the potential of leasing school roofs for the installation of utility owned solar panels.

Feel free to add your own thoughts and ask for a reply. Please cc me too, cforse.fred@gmail.com

Thank you!

What about the current rooftop solar program?

In a few years (maybe less) Fort Collins’ rooftop solar program will reach its limit of 50MW. That leaves about 550 MW of good solar space in Fort Collins. Another concern with the current program is that non-solar owners are subsidizing the profit of solar owners. That is not very socially equitable or financially sustainable. We need new tools to reach our full solar potential.