Yesterday, Senator John Hickenlooper toured the Western Slope promoting the Inflation Reduction Act. His visit included a stop at Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) to talk with the co-op’s leadership team about the benefits this new act will bring to rural communities like Montrose.
“It is an honor that Senator Hickenlooper recognizes the important role cooperatives, like DMEA, play in our rural communities. DMEA is optimistic about the opportunities the Inflation Reduction Act will bring to communities like ours to develop even more local, renewable, and affordable energy. The act will open up new funding opportunities for renewable energy projects, helping us in our mission to continue stabilizing our member rates,” said Kent Blackwell, interim CEO and Chief Technology Officer for DMEA.
Senator Hickenlooper participated in a short meet and greet with DMEA’s leadership team, DMEA Board President Kyle Martinez, and Elevate Chairman Ken Watson before touring the co-op’s community solar garden. He then reviewed his Inflation Reduction Act and recognized the many efforts of DMEA over the years to pursue local renewable energy generation for its members.
The Senators’ visit to DMEA comes less than 24 hours after a major victory for local renewable energy in Delta County. On Tuesday, August 17, the Delta County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a limited-use permit for the 80MW Garnet Mesa Solar project. A collaborative project between DMEA, its wholesale energy provider Guzman Energy, and solar developer Citra Power, Garnet Mesa Solar is a solar agrivoltaic generating facility to be located approximately 5 miles east of Delta near the intersection of G Rd and 2100 Rd. When complete, it will boost DMEA’s local energy resources to 20% and produce up to 194,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually. With the final permitting hurdle cleared, the next phases of project engineering and purchasing can begin.
