Pivot Energy plans Boulder County solar farm

BOULDER COUNTY — Denver-based Pivot Energy Inc. plans to build a new five-megawatt, 24-acre solar energy facility in Boulder County between Boulder and Longmont. 

The project is being built as part of a Pivot contract with Xcel Energy Inc.’s (NYSE: XEL), according to a letter the company provided to city planning officials.

“The facility will participate in Xcel Energy’s Solar Rewards Community Program as a

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community solar garden and will donate 100% of the energy generated to low-income Coloradans,” the letter said. “The solar array will generate enough energy to power the equivalent of 2,000 average homes annually. Pivot Energy will own and operate the solar energy facility for its operational life, which is expected to be 25 to 35 years.” 

The project will be located at 5980 N. 79th St., just east of Diagonal Highway and south of Colorado Highway 52. The parcel is vacant except for a single-family residence and a large agricultural outbuilding, and surrounded by open space and public lands, county planning documents show.

The Boulder County Planning Commission will conduct a special use review for the project on Wednesday.

Boulder County planning staffers have recommended approval of the special use application with certain conditions, such as limiting structure heights to eight feet, limiting disturbances in areas designated “significant agricultural land” and owl habitats, and ensuring pre-construction approval of erosion control measures.

The project will include about 15,000 photovoltaic solar modules mounted to single-axis tracking racks. “The racks ‘follow’ the angle of the sun during the day, maximizing the amount of energy produced by the solar modules,” according to a Pivot memo.

Once built, the solar farm doesn’t require any onsite staffing.  

Pivot and its New Jersey-based partner Nautilus Solar Energy LLC this year completed a 13-megawatt project that includes seven installations located in Weld, Logan and Crowley counties. The energy generated is used by 1,700 households and 12 commercial subscribers, the company said in February. The town of Breckenridge is among those benefiting.