Tri-State sold on solar in Moffat County - Sky-Hi News

Tri-State sold on solar in Moffat County | SkyHiNews.com

Tri-State sold on solar in Moffat County

Craig Press

Tri-State announced Tuesday, June 4, that it has closed on two solar projects located in western Colorado. The projects represent the first two renewable energy facilities for the generation and transmission cooperative under the direct-pay provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.

The projects are Axial Basin Solar in Moffat County and Dolores Canyon Solar in Dolores County.

Axial Basin Solar is a 145-megawatt project in member White River Electric Association’s service territory. The project is on land near the Colowyo Mine, which will end production within the decade.

Dolores Canyon Solar is a 110‐MW project in Empire Electric Association’s service territory.

Both solar projects are scheduled to begin delivering power for Tri-State’s member systems in late 2025, when Tri-State anticipates members will reach the significant milestone of 50% renewable energy use.

According to a news release from Tri-State, the cooperative is among the first generation and transmission cooperatives to own large, utility-scale solar facilities under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Tri-State purchased the installations along with JUWI Inc., part of the international renewable energy company JUWI Group. Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

With the passage of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, not-for-profit electric cooperatives can receive direct payment of federal renewable energy tax credits, enabling cooperatives to invest directly in the ownership of renewable resources. Before the passage of the IRA, Tri-State and electric cooperatives in general could not directly benefit from the federal renewable energy tax incentives available to for-profit investor-owned utilities and independent power producers.

“Our members now have ownership in solar at a competitive cost,” said Duane Highley, chief executive officer for Tri-State.

JUWI Inc.’s chief financial officer Steve Ihnot expressed his company’s excitement to be working with Tri-State on “two of the first 100+MW solar projects in western Colorado.”

“We look forward to executing the projects with the shared values of safety, quality, coordination with the local communities and value to the customers,” Ihnot said.

In addition to Tri-State’s two recent purchases, the cooperative plans to add another three solar project PPAs to its resource portfolio by the end of 2024. These include two solar projects in southern Colorado (Spanish Peaks and Spanish Peaks II) and one in New Mexico (Escalante Solar). At the end of 2025, Tri-State anticipates serving its members with 680 MW of solar across eight facilities, with solar power serving the equivalent needs of nearly 200,000 homes.

Sen. Michael Bennet praised the development, sharing that he has “worked for years to allow rural electric coops like Tri-State to access federal clean energy tax credits.”

“The passage of the historic Inflation Reduction Act made that possible for the first time (and) 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.”

This story is from Craig Daily.
See more

Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

The Sky-Hi News strives to deliver powerful stories that spark emotion and focus on the place we live.

Over the past year, contributions from readers like you helped to fund some of our most important reporting, including coverage of the East Troublesome Fire.

If you value local journalism, consider making a contribution to our newsroom in support of the work we do.