Following Holy Cross Energy’s announcement that customers were provided with 100% renewable energy for the entire month of March, a historic first, the company is looking toward its 2030 goal of providing total renewable energy throughout the entire year.

Jenna Weatherred, Holy Cross Energy vice president of member and community relations, told The Aspen Times that having a full month without reliance on the energy grid or fossil fuels was significant progress toward meeting their goal. She added that Holy Cross Energy didn’t expect to see this little reliance on the grid this early.

“It’s exciting for us moving forward to have hit this one month because it lets us know that we can actually do this, and do this in a way that is sustainable long-term and hopefully before our goal of 2030,” Weatherred said.

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Holy Cross Energy already knew they could reach 85% renewable energy year-round, Weatherred confirmed. But a recent press release revealed they already used 92% renewable energy from January through April.

Holy Cross Energy uses mainly wind and solar power, as well as some hydroelectric power, and relies on batteries to store energy when there is low wind and sun. According to Weatherred, one of the current major limiting factors for meeting the 2030 goal is feasible energy storage to cover gaps in production.

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“It’s going to take batteries and member participation and some behavioral changes, probably for all of us, to maintain that over the course of a year,” Weatherred said. “At 3 a.m. on a Thursday, when the wind’s not blowing, we need to either pull from storage or from other sources.” 

Currently, according to Weatherred, when Holy Cross Energy needs to fill the gap in production and storage, they pull from either the Comanche 3, a coal plant in Pueblo they own 8% of, or from the grid. In March, the coal plant was not in operation, which Weatherred attributed to part of their success in going fully renewable. 

“To get to that last 10 to 15% … will come with new technology, with prices coming down on storage and, maybe if prices are able to come down again on additional solar or wind, we would be interested in that as well,” Weatherred said.

Weatherred also noted that, while Holy Cross Energy expects a switch to fully renewable energy to reduce jobs in the fossil fuels industry, she expects that the increase in renewable infrastructure will also be creating more employment opportunities.