The saga of clean energy in Montrose County continues…
Last week, the Montrose County Planning Commission met to review County Commissioners Sean Pond and Scott Mijares’ hastily drawn up Alternative 2 (Alt-2) land development code regarding future solar installations. Alt-2 was the brainchild of Pond and Mijares and was abruptly brought to public attention mere days before the August 6 meeting during which it was introduced. Pond’s and Mijares’ version stood in stark contrast to the previously accepted draft of the code in how over-prescriptive and harsh it was in regard to solar installations.
Should it have been approved, Alt-2 would have destroyed any prospect of solar power in the county. Chairman Dennis Murphy did not mince words about it, stating that he felt “insulted” that Commissioners Pond and Mijares would send them this draft of a code when the first draft — now known as Alternative 1 (Alt-1) — which had received unanimous support from the Planning Commission back in June and has been motioned for approval three times by Commissioner Sue Hansen, was a well-thought-out option that had two and a half years of public input.
Not a single member of the public in attendance last week stood in support of Alt-2, and both Tristate Generation and Transmission and San Miguel Power Association (SMPA) spoke asking for Alt-2 to be denied.
In the end, the Planning Commission voted in a 3-2 decision to deny Alt-2 and did not recommend that it move forward. Now the County Commissioners have a choice: They can vote for Alternative 1, which has been approved by the Planning Commission, hundreds of members of the public, the Colorado Solar and Storage Association (COSSA), and rural electric cooperatives like SMPA and Delta Montrose Electric Association, or they can override all of the experts and their constituents to approve their own plan to destroy a burgeoning industry and raise energy prices across their county. We expect this choice to come before the commissioners shortly, possibly as soon as September 17, and we would urge you to join us in calling for the prompt approval of Alt-1. Enough is enough.
