SFS Projects and Best Practices

The LAW Fund Helps Fair Winds Blow Across Colorado

By Heidi Van Genderen

Note #1: The LAW Fund is now Western Resource Advocates

Note #2: Parts of this article are courtesy of Colorado Hospitals for a Healthy Environment

Nearly 10,000 people across Colorado have signed up to buy wind service from Xcel Energy. For a small surcharge, customers receive the "green power" of electricity produced by wind energy.

After some delays, PSCo has two-thirds of its northern Colorado wind farm generating electricity. Fifteen turbines are in operation, generating about 10 megawatts of power, or enough to serve 6,000 residential customers. Customers who sign up are not billed for the power until it is actually being generated.

Energy experts say buying one 100-kilowatthour block of wind energy per month for a year provides the same benefits to air quality as not driving a car 2,400 miles. The average residential household uses over 500 kWh of electricity per month.

Nationally, wind power provides only a small percentage of electricity demand. Colorado is number eight in the ranking of wind generators. However, PSCo´s Windsource program is the largest program based on the number of customers who voluntarily sign up, rather than participating in a government-mandated program required in some states.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Colorado´s second largest power provider, is finalizing two contracts with wind power providers in Wyoming.

This customer-driven effort for clean and green power in Colorado is credited, in part, to an education and awareness campaign conducted by The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies (the LAW Fund), a non-profit organization.

For more information on whether you are eligible to become a customer of wind-powered electricity to help clear the air, call John Halley at the LAW Fund at 303-444-1188, Ext. 217.