Adams County and SunShare team to enable first county to be powered by private solar energy

By: InnovatioNews Monday August 18, 2014 0 comments Tags: Adams County, Denver, Marc Bencivenni, Nick Kittle, SunShare, Xcel Energy

 

DENVER - Denver-based SunShare today announced it will provide clean, reliable energy from Community Solar Gardens to Adams County - the first county in the nation to power its buildings with privately developed community solar energy.

"We are really excited to partner with Adams County," said Marc Bencivenni, SunShare VP. "Their leadership in sustainability and innovation is clear and should be an inspiration for surrounding communities."

"Adams County has made an important first step in moving to cleaner energy," said Nick Kittle, Adams County's performance, innovation and sustainability manager.

"We believe this project is a winning opportunity for our organization, our community and our citizens and we are excited to be the first county in the nation to be a partner in a community solar garden."

In 2010, the Colorado legislature led the nation by passing the country's first Community Solar Gardens Act. The Act has inspired 16 more states to develop legislation creating their own Community Solar Gardens programs.

The Act allows utility customers who either can't or don't want to put solar panels on their homes to buy solar energy from a solar array located elsewhere in their community.

Electricity generated by SunShare's Solar Gardens is fed into the main power grid. SunShare customers can buy a specific amount of energy from the solar garden and receive a credit on their Xcel Energy bill for the amount.

SunShare currently has more than 11 megawatts of community solar gardens built or under development along Colorado's Front Range, including projects underway with Colorado Springs Utilities and Xcel Energy with the capacity to serve more than 2,200 homes.