For the past two years, our Alliance’s Clean and Renewable Energy and Sustainability Team (CREST) has been laser-focused on working with county governments as they have sought to revise their land use codes to reflect the increased demand for locally produced clean energy, especially solar. Many counties have passed temporary bans on new solar projects as they go through the revision process, and there has been a great deal of concern that these revisions would result in counties passing codes that are prohibitive to critically important energy infrastructure development in Western Colorado. As energy costs and demand continue to rise, populations continue to grow, and Western Colorado experiences some of the most severe climate change impacts, the need for counties to be forward-thinking and welcoming to new clean energy projects is greater than ever. That’s where we come in!

Those of you who follow our work closely will remember our involvement in the Mesa County Land Development Code revision process last year, where we worked alongside the Mesa County Commissioners, Planning Department, and members of the community to craft a code that is now being held up across Colorado and neighboring states as a prime example of good governance and rule-making. This code both respects the concerns of community members while also opening the door to Mesa County being a regional leader in responsible clean energy production, and it was all done in just over four months.

Today, CREST is working to replicate last year’s success in Montrose County, which has been in the midst of a solar moratorium and land development code revision process since mid-October of 2022. Montrose County Commissioners have taken FAR longer to complete their revisions for a variety of reasons, extending their moratorium not once but three separate times, with the latest extension running through June 16, 2025. This latest extension was due to a new Board of Commissioners taking office last November, and the old Board wanting the decision to be made under the newly elected leadership.

At this point in the process, CREST has attended every meeting since the first draft land development code was first released in October of 2024. Upon its release, our team had a great many concerns with the rules being proposed and worried that it would be among the most over-prescriptive, over-regulated codes anywhere in Western Colorado. Montrose was attempting to thread a needle,
not wanting to be as open to solar as Mesa County, but not wanting to be quite as restrictive as San Miguel County, and ended up leaning much more heavily on San Miguel’s example.

Thanks to our members’ direct involvement over the past few months where public comment was accepted, we have been able to persuade the commissioners to adopt several new policies that will make Montrose a discerning-but-welcoming partner in the clean energy transition. The new proposed code, while protecting prime farm ground and respecting neighbors of large-scale solar developments, will create an energy environment that is more locally produced, cheaper, and cleaner for all residents.

We anticipate a final vote on the solar codes to take place in May 2025, ahead of the moratorium deadline in June.