Aspen wants all renewable power
ASPEN, COLORADO - Customers of Aspen Electric, the municipal utility that supplies about two-thirds of the city, will see a rate increase of about 20 percent.
City officials describe it as a way to leverage the cityÂ’s electrical supply to 100 percent renewable sources.
Currently, Aspen Electric operates on about 75 percent renewable sources.
However, the increased costs will not be fully shared. The new rates will be incremental, so that consumers who use more kilowatt hours monthly will pay more.
A consultant, Todd Cristiano, told the Aspen City Council that itÂ’s possible some customers will see a decrease in their rates.
Aspen already buys a great deal of wind-generated electricity from outside sources, and in the 1990s invested in retrofit of a nearby dam, at Ruedi Reservoir, to give it hydroelectric capacity.
It is also refurbishing hydroelectric plants on two local creeks to deliver electricity. Other sources of heat and energy, including ground-source heat pumps and geothermal energy, are also being explored.
Related News
New York and New England Need More Clean Energy. Is Hydropower From Canada the Best Way to Get it?
MAINE - As the sole residents of unorganized territory T5 R7 deep within Maine's North Woods, Duane Hanson and his wife, Sally Kwan, have watched the land around them—known for its natural beauty, diverse wildlife and recreational fishing—transformed by decades of development.
But what troubles them most is what could happen in the next few months. State and corporate officials are pushing for construction of a 53-mile-long power line corridor cutting right through the woods and abutting the wild lands surrounding Hanson's property.
If its proponents succeed, Hanson fears the corridor may represent the beginning of the end of his ability to…
