Noah Eckert COSSA, Michelle Zimmerman, Cypress Creek Renewables and Trina Zagar-Brown, WREA.
Courtesy Photo
MEEKER | The Colorado Solar and Storage Association (COSSA) has named Cypress Creek Renewables and White River Electric Association’s, Piceance Creek Solar Farm the 2019 Colorado Utility Scale Project of the Year winner. Now in their second year, the awards honor the individuals, projects and products behind the Mountain West’s successful solar and energy storage industries.
Chosen by an independent panel of judges with diverse expertise in the electric power industry, Piceance Creek Solar and winners in six other categories will be celebrated during an awards ceremony on Sunday, April 14, to kick off the Solar Power and Energy Storage Mountain West conference in Aurora, Colorado.
“WREA is thrilled to share in this award with Cypress Creek Renewables; this was a great collaborative effort that increases access to cost effective local renewables for WREA’s membership,” said Trina Zagar-Brown, WREA’s general counsel and manager of member services. Zagar-Brown went on to share her appreciation for the support received during the project from the Rio Blanco County Planning Department and WREA’s wholesale power supplier, Tri-State G&T.
Piceance Creek Solar Farm is a 5.4 megawatt (MW) solar power system designed to provide over 10,000,000 kWh/year to WREA. The 40-acre site consists of 16,959 solar modular panels mounted on a single axis tracking system. This project produces enough solar energy to power more than 830 single family homes each year. WREA members will have opportunities to lease power from the Piceance Creek Solar Farm though the White River Solar program beginning in May. WREA’s General Manager Alan Michalewicz said, “We are proud of this award; most importantly we are pleased that this project met WREA’s goal of developing local renewables that make both economic as well as electrical sense for our membership”.
The COSSA Solar Power and Energy Storage Mountain West Conference included presentations from Senator Cory Gardner, Colorado Energy Office Executive Director Will Toor and Xcel Energy.
“The 2019 Solar Power and Energy Storage Awards underline the novel projects and programs across the Mountain West. This year’s winners exemplify the innovative spirit of Colorado’s clean energy movement and demonstrate why they are leaders within their industries.” said Mike Kruger, president and CEO of COSSA.
Special to the Herald Times
