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Holy Cross Energy and CMC partner for solar, battery storage project

Holy Cross Energy and Colorado Mountain College have partnered with Ameresco, Inc. to build a solar generation and storage facility near the college’s Spring Valley campus near Glenwood Springs.
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Ameresco, Inc., a leading clean technology integrator specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, has announced a partnership with Holy Cross Energy for a solar and battery energy storage project, which utilizes land leased from Colorado Mountain College at its Spring Valley Campus near Glenwood Springs.

Ameresco’s project with Holy Cross Energy is under a Power Purchase Agreement, which allows Ameresco to design, build, operate and maintain the facilities while simultaneously offering Holy Cross Energy the benefit of clean, renewable energy to help the utility meet its goal of sourcing 100% of the electricity used to serve customer load with renewable resources by 2030 as a part of its 100×30 plan. According to the agreement, Ameresco will install 4.5 megawatts of solar photovoltaic generation and 15 megawatt-hours of battery energy storage.

The technology will be owned by Ameresco on land it will lease from Colorado Mountain College. Ameresco will then sell the output generated to Holy Cross. The installation is expected to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 6,853 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which equates to the emissions benefit of removing 1,481 passenger vehicles from the road, or not burning 7.5 million pounds of coal.



“One of the extraordinary things about working in this industry is finding and utilizing solutions that work for all of our customers,” said Louis Maltezos, the executive vice president of Ameresco. “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 (Holy Cross) to attain our 100X30 clean energy goals while keeping power supply costs low,” said Bryan Hannegan, Holy Cross President and CEO. “We are honored to be partnering with local organizations such as CMC to develop reliable and resilient energy resources that will benefit all (Holy Cross) members even as we assist CMC in meeting its specific sustainability goals.”

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Dr. Heather Exby, CMC vice president and Spring Valley campus dean, said, “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.”

Construction is set to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.

For more information, go to holycross.com, ameresco.com, or

To learn more about the energy efficiency solutions offered by Ameresco, visit ameresco.com/energy-efficiency/.


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