Platte River’s path to a clean, reliable energy future
Platte River Power Authority is the community-owned wholesale electricity provider for Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont and Loveland.
Platte River’s initial resources included hydropower, coal and natural gas. In 1998, Platte River was Colorado’s first utility to develop wind generation. Then, in 2018, Platte River’s Board of Directors passed a Resource Diversification Policy, setting a new course for how Platte River provides energy.
The policy directs Platte River’s CEO to proactively work toward a 100% noncarbon energy portfolio by 2030, while maintaining three foundational pillars: reliability, environmental responsibility and financial sustainability.
“We embrace the challenge and opportunity to make this transition sustainably, so it benefits all customers. We were created to help the owner communities deliver a vital public health and safety service as reliably and affordably as possible. It is at the core of who we are,” says Jason Frisbie, CEO of Platte River.
Since 2018, Platte River has added wind, solar and battery storage resources and gained valuable experience in how they impact the system. More are coming between now and 2028. Platte River also entered an energy market to better use regional power resources, including renewables.
“We have focused on adding renewable resources to our system and our neighbor utilities’ systems,” says Raj Singam Setti, Platte River’s COO of innovation and resource strategy integration. “And we are building the tools to balance the system as we increase renewable resources.”
The global COVID-19 pandemic put many things on hold for two years, including construction of renewable projects. Since then, Platte River has worked hard to overcome delays and cost increases from supply chain issues, higher prices for labor, capital and equipment, and state and federal clean energy policies that intensified competition for renewable energy projects. And Platte River has repeatedly renegotiated renewable energy contracts to keep projects on track.
As utilities add renewable resources to their systems, they must also add dispatchable resources to stabilize the system and keep the lights on when weather-dependent resources stop producing. Without dispatchable resources, the system will be vulnerable to extreme weather like Winter Storm Uri, the February 2021 cold front that brought blackouts to Texas and stressed utility systems across the Midwest.
Platte River’s primary challenge is deploying renewable resources as fast as possible against rising costs, supply chain snarls, technology delays and other industry-wide headwinds while still providing power people can depend on and afford.
“It is clear utilities across the country face obstacles to reliably and affordably transform their energy portfolios,” shares Jeni Arndt, mayor of Fort Collins and Platte River board member. “Yet, Platte River’s commitment to a clean energy future is relentless and focused on safely providing power to every family and business that depends on this necessity.”
To learn more, visit prpa.org/future.
In 2018, Platte River’s Board of Directors passed a Resource Diversification Policy, setting a new course for how Platte River provides energy.