Paul Bony, Energy & Transportation Director | November 23, 2021
On Thursday, November 18 Routt County, the City of Steamboat Springs, Yampa Valley Electric Association and Yampa Valley Sustainability Council hosted a workshop on solar energy for government, commercial and institutional facilities.
The workshop started with opening remarks from Routt County Commissioner Tim Redmond and City of Steamboat Springs District 1 Councilor Gail Garey. Commissioner Redmond and 
Councilor Garey stressed the importance of the Routt County Climate Action Plan and the role of solar PV in reducing climate impacts in the Yampa Valley.
Presentations were provided by Ashley Brasovan, Energy Account Executive, and Tara Carney, Project Director with McKinstry, the engineering and construction firm chosen to develop twelve solar projects in Routt and Moffat Counties through a Colorado Department of Local Affairs grant coordinated by the City of Steamboat Springs. This regional partnership provided economies of scale for all of the participants; enabled a diversity of project sizes and types; and will provide the participating government agencies $310,000 in annual utility bill savings.
McKinstry discussed the Colorado roadmap to 100% renewable energy by 2040; the steps to consider in developing a solar installation; and the different construction and financial considerations for commercial solar installations.
Benj Hoffner, Engineering Manager at Yampa Valley Electric Association, provided an overview of YVEA’s distributed generation interconnection policies, procedures, and associated rate structure.
Benj Hoffner’s presentation slides can be viewed here, McKinstry’s slides can be viewed here.
For more information, contact Paul Bony, YVSC’S Energy and Transportation Director at paul@yvsc.org.
