The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Purchasing Renewable Energy Credits to offset town electricity costs
[ By Kendra Walker ]As the Oh Be Joyful solar project nears its groundbreaking this summer, the town of Mt. Crested Butte is investing in the project in its effort to support regional renewable energy initiatives in the valley.
In April, the Mt. Crested Butte town council approved a subscriber agreement with Gunnison County Electric Association (GCEA) for the Oh Be Joyful solar array. The 1.1 megawatt solar array project, which has been in the works for years, is located on land owned by the town of Crested Butte by the Baxter’s Gulch trailhead. The solar array will be owned and operated by GCEA with solar provider Outshine Energy as the general contractor.
Mt. Crested Butte’s agreement will help offset the town’s municipal electricity consumption with locally produced solar energy created from the Oh Be Joyful solar array. The town agreed to allocate $4,000 per year in addition to its base electricity costs over the next 30 years to purchase Renewable Energy Credits (RECS). A REC is a credit that represents the environmental attribute of renewable energy generation, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh) or megawatt-hours (MWh). One REC is equal to one MWh of renewable electricity produced, and each kWh produced offsets one kWh of electricity consumed from the grid through an individual electric meter.
According to GCEA chief executive officer Mike McBride, GCEA is selling RECs to offset added costs of developing and operating the Oh Be Joyful facility. These RECs purchased by Mt. Crested Butte will cover 100% of the town’s municipal operations kWh usage, including all electricity used at the town hall, the two town maintenance buildings and the transit center.
According to McBride, the Oh Be Joyful facility is expected to generate 2,327,549 kWh per year on average, and Mt. CB would account for 5% of the array’s total production. The town of Crested Butte has committed approximately $33,000 a year for the next 10 years.
The project is slated for groundbreaking this summer. “We’re in good shape to have it built and done this year,” said McBride.
