It has been five years since Garfield Clean Energy (GCE) launched its successful Solarize Garfield campaign in the county that netted more than 100 new rooftop photovoltaic (solar-power) installations on homes and businesses; roughly one-fourth of them also included battery storage. Since then, the push toward cleaner energy generation in our region (mainly solar) has intensified significantly, spurred by the state of Colorado’s mandate that utilities must supply at least 80% of their power from renewables by 2030.

Carbondale-based Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER) is a nonprofit that manages and oversees a wide array of programs, including GCE. For almost two decades it has been a leader in promoting, managing and facilitating advances in renewables and is an indispensable source of information on them.

“Solar has shifted from being a new technology to more ‘business as usual.’” CLEER Communication Manager Peter Baumann said. “For many developers and organizations, it is standard operating procedure to consider a rooftop solar installation coupled with battery energy storage systems (BESS).”

Associate Director Morgan Hill commented, “The grid keeps getting cleaner and cleaner,” noting the strides made by the major power utilities toward incorporating more renewable energy — this despite the reduction or loss of federal funding for many of the programs.

Although rooftop solar remains important — especially for maintaining public interest in solar power — much of the actual progress to date has been made with large commercial solar projects.

“I think a lot of the interest now is in coupling solar with batteries, so that solar isn’t dumping power out to the grid at a time when it can’t be used … but rather when it can be used during peak energy times,” Hill said.

Following is a brief overview of strides that have been made. More in-depth discussions of generating technologies will come this summer or early fall.

Holy Cross Electric (HCE)
HCE is reaching beyond the state target with its “100X30” program to obtain all of its power from renewables by 2030. As of mid-2026 the figure stood at 92%, with the bulk supplied since 2023 by a large wind farm in eastern Colorado, along with a growing number of commercial and rooftop solar arrays. A small percentage also comes from hydropower.

Achieving that final 8%, though, is the biggest challenge. HCE President and CEO Bryan Hannegan used the analogy of “going from Camp IV to the summit of Mount Everest.” Increasing the amount of solar generation — including installing annually some 200 to 400 new rooftop systems (half now including battery storage) that add about 2 to 4 megawatts (MW) to HCE’s capacity — is still part of the mix, but crucial to achieving the 100% goal is the growing push toward BESS.

“With so much of our power supply coming from wind and solar resources, we need to make sure that the supply of those resources balances the demand for energy from our members and their communities,” Hannegan said. “This is where battery storage comes in. It allows us to store renewable energy when we have too much of it and release that energy back onto the grid later when there is more demand for it.”

He continued, “Another way to balance the supply of wind and solar with the demand for electricity is to seek out what I call ‘flexibility’ — the ability to shift demand for electricity to different times of the day when renewables are in abundance.” As examples, he listed charging electric vehicles when the sun is shining or using heating systems during the sun’s midday maximum rather than in the early afternoon. He noted the company’s various pricing incentives and member programs to encourage such flexibility.”

Recent notable projects, all solar with BESS, include a 4.5-MW installation at CMC’s Spring Valley campus, with 15 megawatt-hour (MWh) storage (completed 2023); the 10-MW High Mesa array near Parachute, with 20 MWh storage (2025); and the Mamm Creek project near Rifle, also with 10 MW and 20 MWh storage (2026). A current project involves replacing the batteries at the CMC campus with ones that will respond better to commands to release stored power to help balance the grid.

Wheeler Gulch solar array
One of the recently completed and more unique projects in the region is the large Wheeler Gulch solar installation near Parachute. Built, owned and operated by Massachusetts-based Standard Solar, Wheeler Gulch is distinctive in that it supplies its power output directly to only one user: the nearby Middle Fork gas-compressor station owned by the Caerus Piceance energy company.

The array came online in late 2025, and its 12.18-MW output supplies a portion of the compressor’s total electricity needs, the remainder obtained from the grid.
“Wheeler Gulch is a meaningful project for Standard Solar, because it demonstrates how solar can deliver practical value across a wide range of industries, including energy-intensive operations,” Standard Solar Vice President Megan Byrn wrote via email.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-State)
Farther afield on the Western Slope, the Denver-based not-for-profit cooperative Tri-State has embarked on a number of renewables projects. These will help it reach the state-mandated goal as they retire the large coal-fired Craig thermal plant in northwestern Moffat County by the end of 2028.

Notable solar projects that came online recently include the 145-MW Axial Basin array in Moffat County and the 110-MW Dolores Canyon unit in southwestern Dolores County. Other planned renewable projects include solar and wind installations in eastern Colorado and adjoining states and several stand-alone BESS units throughout the state.

“Alongside our GCE partners, CLEER put in years of hard work to help build support for renewable energy and local climate goals in Western Colorado,” Hill summarized. “Solar becoming business as usual today is the result of many people working together: from solar companies to Garfield County residents who helped advance solar deployment and demonstrated the long-term reliability and value of photovoltaic energy systems.”