Clean Energy

Residents living outside of city limits on the Western Slope are served by member-owned rural electric co-ops, with boards of directors elected by ratepayers. These directors have wide-ranging authority over the electricity sold to tens of thousands of consumers, yet few citizens are even aware that these elections exist. Western Colorado Alliance is working with a team of passionate residents across the region to get our neighbors engaged in co-op elections — and in working with elected co-op directors to build community dialogues about our future. In recent years, we have seen a host of new, utility-scale clean and renewable energy projects pop up on the Western Slope, and this is no accident; our work to elect board members with a vision towards a clean and renewable energy future has made this possible, but our work is not done yet.

Western Colorado Alliance will also continue its robust engagement at the state and federal levels on new policies to create homegrown prosperity through the development of the clean technology and renewables sectors. We are paying close attention to the new and record-breaking federal investments being made through legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and working to ensure communities across the Western Slope have access to those funds and an eye to important projects this funding can be used to support.