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People power may soon help meet state's energy needs

By Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 7, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Jim Lenz, whose 8,500-acre farm straddles the Colorado- Nebraska border, is planning to install a wind turbine to help power his operation.

Photo by Matt McClain / The Rocky/2007

Jim Lenz, whose 8,500-acre farm straddles the Colorado- Nebraska border, is planning to install a wind turbine to help power his operation.

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Farmer Jim Lenz has often thought of harnessing the strong gusts that blow over his 8,500- acre family farm in northeast Colorado, straddling the border with Nebraska.

His farm has the money, labor and the will to build a wind-power project. But he didn't know what to do with the excess electricity - whether he would be able to sell the power back to the grid.

Lenz's dilemma was resolved Thursday when the Colorado legislature passed a bill allowing homeowners and businesses to be paid a fair rate for excess electricity produced by their own solar, wind or geothermal systems.

House Bill 1160 has been sent to Gov. Bill Ritter, who likely will sign it in the coming days.

"This is good news," Lenz said Thursday. "A wind-power project could save us $10,000 in electricity costs each year."

Bill sponsors Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, and Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton, said the bill, called the Homegrown Renewable Power Act, will spur renewable-energy investments - especially in solar - by homeowners and businesses.

"This rewards Coloradans who are taking a step in the right direction to make our state a cleaner, healthier place to live by ensuring that solar energy is more affordable and accessible," Shaffer said.

The bill also will make it easier and more cost-effective for a utility to meet its peak power demand. Instead of paying the higher cost of energy bought from power plants at peak times, a utility will be able to buy excess energy from homes or businesses.

Conservationists hailed the bill as an important step in fighting global warming while decreasing the nation's energy independence.

"In the next decade, we could have a half-million solar roofs helping to power Colorado," said Pam Kiely, legislative director for Environment Colorado.

Lenz is trying to figure out what size wind turbine would best fit the needs of his family farm. He'd like to start a project soon but doesn't know whether he can secure a turbine this year.

He attended a wind-energy meeting in Wray on Monday, expecting to see 30 people, but 120 showed up.

"There were people I knew from Akron, Holyoke and Sterling, but many others I didn't know who came from a distance," Lenz said.

chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2976

HB 1160 at a glance

* Also called the Homegrown Renewable Energy Act, the legislation would allow Colorado homeowners and businesses to be paid a fair rate for excess electricity produced by their own solar, wind, geothermal or other renewable forms of energy.

Comments

  • March 7, 2008

    9:07 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    pak writes:

    For every MW of renewables, there has to be 1 MW of conventional power to back it up (usually a gas peaking plant) because renwables work only 33% of the time. Texas recently had an energy emergency because their wind quit blowing. Because of the high demand for gas, we are importing more LNG from the same countries that want to destroy us. Gas imports from Canada are also decreasing. Think lots of $$$ for wind and the backup of gas. Colorado will need 4900MW of new power by 2025! The solution is low cost, reliable, base load power from coal and nuclear.

  • March 11, 2008

    12:11 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    justright writes:

    Pak your on the right track except for renewables actually producing 33% of the time. It is more like 15%. The answer for our nations past, current and future electrial power needs is coal and Nuclear. We should be saving all oil for transporation only. Natural gas is the most flexiable and should be used where most effective.

    The farmer dude is seeing a $10,000.00 year bill going up and says to himselve, how can I get rid of this cost? I know I will get a wind farm utility company to lease my land for a fee of $10,000.00 year plus and turn this cost into a revenue stream.

    Actually I support the farmer dude. Anybody who can get someone else to pay their utility bill using wind mills will be laughing all the way to the bank. The only thing I object to is me paying more for wind then I do for coal. Who is "BIG WIND"? I am certain it is not the farmer.