Friday, January 4, 2008

“GOVERNOR’S ENERGY OFFICE RELEASES REPORT ON

DENVER– The Governor’s Energy Office (GEO), in compliance with Senate Bill 2007-091, worked with a task force to map Colorado’s renewable energy resources. Members from utilities and the renewable energy community were appointed by the Governor and legislative leadership to produce “Connecting Colorado’s Renewable Resources to the Markets.” The purpose of the report is to identify renewable energy resources in the electricity sector that will advance Colorado to a New Energy Economy.

The task force reports that Colorado’s abundant renewable resources provide great opportunities to improve the state’s energy, economic, and environmental conditions. Also, Colorado will continue to benefit by adding more renewable energy and expanding its limited transmission infrastructure to serve its population and what may evolve as a regional electric power marketplace.

The report specifically identifies 96 gigawatts (GW) of wind capacity in the Eastern Plains, and a combined solar capacity of 26 GW in southern Colorado. Colorado’s electric load peaks at 11 GW. One GW from a renewable resource can generally serve about 330,000 homes. There are many challenges to connect Colorado’s renewable resources to the markets. The report also details how Colorado’s transmission is constrained and why new high voltage transmission lines are needed to connect the state’s rich renewable resources to electric customers.

“This comprehensive mapping of our renewable energy resources serves as a roadmap to advance our state to a New Energy Economy. By identifying our areas of greatest resource, we can leverage these solar, wind, and other renewables to provide more clean power, jobs, and revenue for our state,” said Tom Plant, director of GEO.

“Connecting Colorado’s Renewable Resources to the Markets” has been distributed to legislators, utilities, the Clean Energy Development Authority and other interested parties. For more information as well as a complete downloadable copy of this report, visit the GEO website, www.colorado.gov/energy.