State funds local hydropower study

Consortium gets feasibility study grant

If all goes smoothly, hydroelectricity could be flowing from Taylor Park in just a couple of years. A consortium of local interests has been awarded a grant to conduct a feasibility study of hydropower generation at the Taylor Dam. 

In October, the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District (UGRWCD), the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Group, and the Gunnison County Electric Association (GCEA) agreed to partner in a $30,000 matching grant application to the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority to conduct a hydroelectricity feasibility study.
On December 10, UGRWCD manager Frank Kugel said they had received the grant.  “It came down that 11 (different applicants) were qualified that came in under the deadline,” Kugel said. He said the state authority authorized additional expenditures to award all 11 grants.  
Kugel reminded the UGRWCD board that the three entities would now be responsible for contributing $5,000 each toward the matching grant.  
UGRWCD board member Bill Nesbitt asked how long the feasibility study could take—“weeks, months, years?”
“I would imagine it would take a few months,” Kugel said, adding that if the results were positive GCEA could begin permitting the project in mid-2009.
The UGRWCD is statutorily declined from partnering in a hydropower generation project.  Therefore, the entities agreed that GCEA and the Uncompahgre Group would take over the power generation responsibilities, and the UGRWCD would lead in the feasibility study.  
However, Kugel said GCEA chief executive officer Mike Wells was looking for assistance in the process of planning and permitting the hydropower project, which engineers believe could easily generate one megawatt of electricity. “He said anything we could do to help would be greatly appreciated,” Kugel said.
Board member George Sibley agreed. “My personal experience with GCEA is they’re a little apprehensive at the idea of being power producers,” he said. “They’re going to need to be nudged, helped, advised, or kicked in the butt to get into doing this.”