Black Hills Energy's Clean Energy Plan, "2030 Ready," serves as a roadmap to meet the energy needs of our customers while effectively fulfilling Colorado's mandate of 80% greenhouse gas emissions reduction (GHG) by 2030. To meet the requirement, we will add approximately 400 megawatts of new, clean energy to our Southern Colorado electric system, resulting in a portfolio that will consist of 70% renewable energy generation by 2030.
Our customers, business leaders and local city officials have embraced the idea of an energy grid powered by clean energy, and we're working hard to turn this goal into a reality. We recently concluded a competitive bidding process overseen by an independent evaluator for the acquisition of 400 megawatts of renewable energy generation which included wind, solar and battery storage.
Our request for proposals attracted interest from renewable energy developers, not only locally in Southern Colorado, but across the nation. In total, we received 113 bids with resources that varied in size, technology and location. The majority of bids received were for projects located across our service territory, creating opportunities for local economic benefit for our customers and communities. The winning bid(s) and pricing will be determined early 2024 when we file a 120-Day report to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
We are committed to Colorado's clean energy vision for the state's electric sector, and we're proud to have one of the cleanest generation fleets in the state today. With the closure of our last coal plant for Colorado 10 years ago, Black Hills Energy became an early leader in emissions reductions. Our 2030 Ready Plan is built on renewable energy generation developments that will be phased in over the upcoming years. This will ensure the State of Colorado's greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals are not only met but exceeded, while also supporting the continued safety, reliability and resiliency our customers have come to know and want.
The progress we've made - and continue to make - in adding renewable energy resources to our system, has been enabled by our state-of-the-art gas-fired Pueblo Airport Generating Station (PAGS), which ensures the lights will be on even when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining. PAGS is the most efficient means of maintaining reliable baseload and back-up generation service to our customers 24x7 and is critical to this effort.
At Black Hills Energy, we put our customers at the forefront of everything we do which is why it's important to take a balanced approach to achieving the state's mandated emissions reduction goals through our Clean Energy Plan, an approach that also prioritizes safety, reliability and cost-effectiveness for our customers.
To further reduce emissions and provide our customers with clean energy options they want and value, we are continuing to develop community solar gardens located throughout the footprint of our Southern Colorado service territory. Solar gardens are part of our renewable energy resource plan and allow our customers to use renewable energy without having to bear the burden or expense of investing in rooftop solar. Some of our community solar gardens even have reserved capacity exclusively for our income-qualified customers, removing barriers and allowing for greater inclusion as Colorado moves toward more renewables.
We're also reducing emissions by helping customers use less energy through our energy efficiency programs. Since 2009, these programs have helped our customers save more than 191 million kilowatt hours of electricity and remove more than 122,000 tons of carbon emissions from the air. In the last 10 years, since 2011, our team has returned over $16 million in rebates to customers when they've installed energy-efficiency measures.
We encourage you to learn more about our Clean Energy Plan by visiting our website at http://www.blackhillsenergy.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment