Tri-State buys Moffat, Dolores county solar projects - Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Tri-State buys Moffat, Dolores county solar projects | News | gjsentinel.com

Brent Gardner-Smith/Aspen Journalism

FILE - The coal-fired Tri-State Generation and Transmission plant in Craig is scheduled to close in 2028.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association has taken advantage of provisions of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to buy two Western Slope solar power projects.

Tri-State has purchased the 145-megawatt Axial Basin Solar project in Moffat County, in the service territory of Tri-State member White River Electric Association, and the 110-megawatt Dolores Canyon Solar project in Dolores County, in member Empire Electric Association’s service territory.

Tri-State says the purchases make it among the first generation and transmission cooperatives in the nation to own large, utility-scale solar projects. It is acquiring them from renewable energy developer JUWI Inc. Tri-State said in a news release the financial terms of the purchase aren’t being released.

Tri-State said that under the Inflation Reduction Act, not-for-profit electric cooperatives can receive direct payment of federal renewable energy tax credits, which empowers them to invest directly in the ownership of renewable resources. Previously, cooperatives couldn’t directly benefit from the federal renewable energy tax incentives available to for-profit investor-owned utilities and independent power producers.

“I’ve worked for years to allow rural electric coops like Tri-State to access federal clean energy tax credits,” U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said in the release. “The passage of the historic Inflation Reduction Act made that possible for the first time, finally allowing them to own renewable energy projects. This progress will help Tri-State deliver enormous benefits to the rural communities it serves and support Colorado’s continued leadership in our nation’s transition to a clean energy economy.”

The two projects are scheduled to begin delivering power for Tri-State members in late 2025, helping Tri-State members reach the milestone of 50% clean energy use next year, Tri-State says.

Tri-State first announced the two projects in 2020, saying it had contracted to buy the power from them. The Daily Sentinel reported at the time that the Axial project was to be both built and owned by JUWI. It will generate enough power to meet the needs of about 40,000 homes.

Tri-State is pursuing the Axial project in part to help offset the loss of coal-related jobs and tax revenues with the upcoming closure of the Craig Station power plant in Moffat County, and the pending shutdown of two local coal mines that supply them. The plant, which has multiple owners and is operated by Tri-State, is currently scheduled to close at the start of 2028.

The Axial project, on land near the Colowyo mine, one of the two facing closure, will provide property tax revenues and some permanent jobs in northwest Colorado. It also is creating hundreds of temporary construction jobs.

Tri-State also is using power purchase agreements to add three solar projects to its resource profile that all are scheduled for completion by the end of this year. These include two in southern Colorado and one in New Mexico. At the end of 2025, Tri-State will serve its members with 680 megawatts of solar involving eight facilities. That’s enough power to meet the needs of nearly 200,000 homes, it says.