Pueblo’s unknown road to 100 percent renewable
Pueblo City Council envisions going 100 percent renewable by 2035, but the proposal lacks framework.
In February, Pueblo City Council took a bold step toward renewable energy. The seven-member council adopted a resolution that envisions the city using 100 percent renewable energy by 2035.
There are no hard deadlines, no ramifications or even any solid plans to get there. The resolution is more of a vision. But as the resolution passed in a 6–1 vote, it had many thinking about how achievable 100 percent renewable for a city with a population just over 108,000 really is and what that means for the already expensive energy rates residents are paying to keep their lights on.
Pueblo City Councilman Larry Atencio, who sponsored the resolution, believes solely relying on renewable energy is entirely attainable because the city is well positioned in the energy sector.
“Pueblo is on the forefront of renewable energy industry,” Atencio said during the council meeting, referencing wind turbine producer Vestas and the Renewable Energy Systems solar farm near the Xcel power plant.
Because the city has a foot in the door with the renewable energy industry Atencio believes committing to 100 percent clean energy in 19 years is possible. Contributing to that belief is the state’s requirement for Black Hills to start moving toward being powered by renewable energy.
In 2004, the Colorado Legislature approved HB10–1001 which required investor owned utilities in Colorado — Xcel and Black Hills Energy — to generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2020.
During the council meeting, just one concerned citizen brought up the issue of increased costs for ratepayers — which has already been the reality with the current state mandate.
“In order to get to this mandate, a 2 percent Renewable Energy Standard Adjustment (RESA) charge was approved by the Public Utilities Commission to be added to all Black Hills Energy customers monthly bills,” said Jill Linck, who works with Black Hills Energy’s solar program.
On the flipside, Black Hills buys solar energy from customers who create their own energy through solar panels.
“BHE buys back the renewable energy credits and claims them toward our goal of 30 percent of our generation from renewables by 2020,” Linck said.
Atencio’s 100 percent renewable vision piggy backs on the state mandate, making no other recommendations or plans.
In 2010, the city’s sustainability initiative includes an outline of some renewable energy projects that could be implemented, but never set any specific goals. By contrast, Pueblo County’s 2012 plan made it a goal to promote energy efficiency be at five percent in commercial and residential properties by 2020.
For homeowners, going solar is relatively painless, but requires a leap of faith.
Neil McCulloch, owner of recently opened Steel City Solar, holds that financing, installing and generating energy through a solar system is the economical choice because financing means one consistent payment month to month and the possibility of earning money through selling energy credits to Black Hills.
“I can get a $300 bill down to around $150,” McCulloch said, the catch is that the system is financed over a period of years. “People think that’s sort of a good deal now, but those utility companies have been going up around 4 percent each year.”
“You buy your system, so you completely get rid of your electric bill. You’re going to have to pay for your meter through Black Hills or San Isabel Electric, which is usually about $15 depending on when you live, but other than that, that’s the only bill you’ll get from them.”
A home that uses little energy can handle a system that would cost around $6,000 total — and the more energy a home or building uses, the more they save, McCulloch said. The systems McCulloch installs have a 25-year warranty, and the half-life on a system is around 75 years.
McCulloch said the biggest hesitation people seem to have with solar is that it seems impossible that there is no down-payment on a solar system and payments stay consistent.
Both McCulloch and Linck said customers switching to solar panels benefits Black Hills. But the high Black Hills electric rates is one of the reasons Steel City Solar is doing so well, even in its infancy, McCulloch said.
“Every time Black Hills is in the news, I’m getting calls,” said McCulloch — who has had his business open less than a year.
But McCulloch is quick to defend Black Hills, despite their rates bringing him business.
“They do have a lot of incentives,” he said. Buying solar is just one of them.
An individual home going solar is much easier to envision than a whole community, however.
Aspen, with a population of just under 7,000 permanent residents, is the only Colorado town with 100 percent of energy generated by renewable resources. Being a ski town, Aspen government officials said they would see the effects of climate change much sooner than other places, and in 2007 put together the Canary Action Plan.
By 2014, Aspen was using nearly 80 percent renewable energy, according to a report by the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club’s definition of renewable didn’t include natural gas, nuclear, or any carbon-based energy source.
“Part of the end result was a 2015 contract with Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska to buy wind power from Nebraska and South Dakota. That allowed wind to take the place of the remaining coal on the grid and hit the 100 percent mark,” the report said.
Aspen’s mix is now approximately 50 percent wind, 45 percent hydropower, and the remaining 5 percent from solar.
Pueblo’s resolution included no insight into how the renewable energy might be created.
“The greatest challenge was the last 25 percent,” said Aspen’s Director of Utilities and Environmental Initiatives David Hornbacker.
Evolving technology made reaching the 100 percent goal easier, Horbacker added, especially as Aspen’s population greatly fluctuates through the winter tourism season.
Going all renewable has kept Aspen’s rates some of the lowest in the state.
“The lesson there is that renewable energy doesn’t have to be expensive,” Hornbacker said. “We hope that we can inspire other communities.”
Other cities that want to go totally renewable include San Francisco, San Jose, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Rochester, Minnesota.
