By Shannon Lukens.

 

A ribbon cutting in Craig Friday helped celebrate the installation of solar panels that will contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable future for the residents of Craig and Steamboat Springs, Hayden, Yampa, and Routt and Moffat counties.

It’s a new four megawatt solar garden to generate energy to the region for the next 20 years. The solar panels are on 20 acres on Yampa Valley Electric Association property in collaboration with the City of Craig and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. The solar array project is in partnership with Ameresco to supply electricity to the region and YVEA members.

 

Officials from all of the communities and agencies were at the ribbon cutting. Craig City Manager Peter Brixius helped get the Yampa Valley Regional Solar project going and it was finalized Friday.

“This is a great project that demonstrates the collaboration between the communities and the counties of the Yampa Valley. It started in 2019, believe it or not, and here we are just a little over four years later. We’ve got a complete, beautiful field here, 20 acres of bi-facial, single-tracker panels, and we think that the power generation of course are going to benefit the regional partners that initiated the project, which is Moffat County, Routt County, Craig, Steamboat Springs, Hayden and Yampa. They will receive continual benefits from this field for the next 20 years, possibly a few years beyond that. Yampa Valley Electric, our local collaborative has also made this field possible. They have of course purchased the property here which was a big help to the project. And they’ve doubled the size of the field so that they could really diversify their renewable energy profile. So instead of two megawatts, we’re at four megawatts today at this location so we’re happy about that. And I can’t leave out our Department of Local Affairs. They are the funders for the regional partners. They were here today for the dedication ceremony. We’re happy to have such good and dedicated partners within a state agency like the Department of Local Affairs.”

 

The Department of Local Affairs presented a check to the City of Craig for $2,265,000.

It will contribute to the growth and prosperity of the region and provide solar energy to the residents of Craig. It will also reduce the CO2 emissions over the next 20 years.