Ameresco, Holy Cross Energy Team Up for Solar Project on Colorado Campus

  • By Matt Jones
  • 04/12/21

Clean technology integrator Ameresco, Inc. has announced a partnership with Holy Cross Energy to build a solar and battery energy storage project on land leased from the Spring Valley Campus of Colorado Mountain College, located in Glenwood Springs, Colo.

The partnership comes under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Ameresco will design, build, and operate the solar facility and sell the output to HCE, helping HCE meet its long-term goal of using renewable resources to source 100% of the power it provides to customers by the year 2030. The terms of the agreement are such that Ameresco will install 4.5MW of solar PV and 15MWH of battery energy storage, according to a news release.

The solar project will stand on the campus of Colorado Mountain College. The facility is expected to save 6,853 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or the emissions equivalent of 1,481 passenger vehicles or burning more than 7.5 million pounds of coal. Construction is scheduled for completion within the first three months of 2022.

“One of the extraordinary things about working in this industry is finding and utilizing solutions that work for all of our customers,” said Ameresco’s Executive Vice President, Louis Maltezos. “By eliminating concerns around potential financial barriers and leveraging our deep technical expertise, we can focus on fostering innovative solutions that fit our clients’ needs and benefit the communities they service.”

“Projects like this one will allow HCE to attain our 100x30 clean energy goals while keeping power supply costs low,” agreed HCE President and CEO Bryan Hannegan. “We are honored to be partnering with local organizations such as CMC to develop reliable and resilient energy resources that will benefit all HCE members—even as we assist CMC in meeting its specific sustainability goals.”

“We are so excited to be part of this great venture in solar energy,” said Dr. Heather Exby, Colorado Mountain College Vice President and Spring Valley Campus Dean. “By leasing a portion of our land for the solar array, we will help our community to attain energy independence by use of this renewable, and locally abundant, source. Colorado Mountain College as a whole will also move closer to our goal to be carbon neutral by 2050, as we will be receiving renewable energy credits from Holy Cross Energy that will offset electrical usage at our Spring Valley, Aspen and Edwards campuses.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Designing School Spaces for A++ Performance

    In recent years, the educational world has gained greater appreciation for the ways a space’s aesthetics, just like its acoustics, can positively impact educational outcomes. Consequently, engineering, designing, and constructing a school environment demands acoustics to be equally an art and a science, requiring architects and designers to see with their ears, while acousticians must hear with their eyes.

  • S4L Launches 2025 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey

    Spaces4Learning recently launched its 2025 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey, which gathers information on K–12 and higher education construction projects nationwide from the previous year. The data we get from you, our readers, forms an industry report offering an overview of current trends in school facilities.

  • Florida Elementary School to Undergo $47M Reconstruction

    The School District of Osceola County in Kissimmee, Fla., recently announced a partnership with construction firm Skanska to reconstruct Reedy Creek Elementary School, according to a news release. The $47-million project will involve the new construction of a 96,000-square-foot academic center, renovating the remaining facilities, a full-site redevelopment, and demolishing portions of the existing school.

  • Texas District Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

    The Splendora Independent School District (SISD) in Splendora, Texas, recently broke ground on a replacement facility for Greenleaf Elementary School, according to a news release. The district partnered with planning, engineering and program management firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN) for the project.

Digital Edition