Holy Cross Energy supplied 96% of the electricity used by its 45,000 mountain customers through clean, renewable sources in May, though the Glenwood Springs-based co-op’s leadership says further progress is threatened by U.S. policy changes and global economics.
The co-op, which serves customers in Eagle, Pitkin, Garfield, Mesa and Gunnison counties, also hit 92% renewables in June, and expects to deliver about 85% clean energy throughout 2025, officials said. Holy Cross’ peak energy demands are the opposite of many utilities, topping out in winter, when the co-op still must supplement its growing clean energy sources with backup from Xcel Energy’s mixed portfolio.
In 2018, renewable energy supplied about 39% of the Holy Cross electricity distribution.
“We feel proud of what we’ve accomplished so far. We’re doing really well on our long term plans,” Holy Cross vice president of finance Sam Whelan said. “We also have been very successful in terms of keeping our costs low.” The utility remains in the lowest third of electricity rates across Colorado, Whelan said.
The co-op has plans to build out its renewable portfolio in coming years, with the goal of 100% clean energy by 2030, but that progress could now be a bigger challenge, he added. The budget and policy framework passed by Congress this summer eliminated most development tax credits and electricity production credits that made renewable sources so cheap compared to fossil fuel power. And rapidly-changing tariffs and anti-dumping restrictions make the solar parts supply chain more expensive and too volatile for developers, Whelan said. Third-party developers and financiers often propose generating projects they can then sell or lease to utilities.
Reuters reported recently that solar and wind installations could be 17% and 20% lower than previously forecast over the next decade, at the same time electrical demand is growing from AI data centers and electrification of the economy. The wire service cited sources saying Congressional moves “put at risk $263 billion of wind, solar, and storage facilities and $110 billion of announced manufacturing investment supporting them.”
Holy Cross just closed a request for proposals for a smaller clean energy generation and storage project to further round out its portfolio. Recent projects going online for Holy Cross include ownership of 150MW of a 200MW wind farm near Flagler, and 10MW solar farms with battery storage at Parachute and Rifle. While the next round of renewables may still come in cheaper for the long run than fossil fuel power, the gap has changed, Whelan said.
Projected renewable costs are “certainly higher than what we looked at five years ago, when we issued our last round of requests for proposals,” he said.
Holy Cross is ahead of state-mandated targets for transforming Colorado’s power generation, which historically contributed a large share of climate change-causing greenhouse gases from carbon dioxide. Colorado’s statewide goal for the power sector is an 80% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2030, from a 2005 base.
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The co-op has won attention from other utilities for innovative education and marketing aimed at smoothing out reliability and usage in its newly-transformed clean energy system. That can include real-time text notices to customers urging them to use more or less power depending on generation and demand levels. On a windy day at Holy Cross’s wind sources, for example, the co-op can offer discounts on electricity if consumers plug in their cars during peak-generation periods and store the energy for later.
“We feel like we’re blessed with some good timing around pricing,” on past projects, Whelan said. “And we hope our experiences and what we’ve learned can help apply to others. And at the same time, we do have a lot of unique circumstances that have helped pave the way for us here.”