Community Input Sought by Distributed Energy Resources Committee

Chairman Tom Roiniotis

Platte River Power Authority and its owner communities have formed a distributed energy resources strategy committee and are seeking public input in order to aid in developing a roadmap for successful integration and to achieve non-carbon energy goals.

Distributed energy resources (DER) are physical or virtual devices and systems that can be deployed on the electric distribution system or customer premises to provide value to customers through electric system optimization or individual customer benefits. DERs consist of distributed solar and batteries, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency.

Platte River’s board-adopted Resource Diversification Policy calls for a 100% noncarbon energy mix by the year 2030 while highlighting the importance of DER technologies and developing a coordinated approach to integrating the DERs. Representatives from Estes Park Power & Communications, Fort Collins Utilities, Longmont Power & Communications, Loveland Water and Power, and Platte River make up the strategy committee receiving guidance and facilitation from the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA).

Furthermore, SEPA is an organization that aids electric utilities with strategies and programs that decarbonize, implement, and deploy distributed resources. The citizens that comprise Platte River’s owner communities will be able to engage with the planning process through public hearing sessions and other forms of feedback mechanisms.

“Feedback from the Platte River owner communities and stakeholders is a key part of our strategy development,” said Tim McCollough, committee co-chair and deputy director of light & power for the City of Fort Collins. “We are committed to an open dialog as we navigate forward on our path to achieve our community and organizational goals,” Tim said.

The committee recently launched a DER website to supply information regarding the committee’s activities and actions as well as to provide key details for the public while the strategy is being developed. Additionally, the committee is currently seeking public participation in a survey to collect opinions on a multitude of DER topics from including electric vehicle charging and rooftop solar to energy storage and much more.

Those interested in accessing and filling out the survey can do so on the survey website at http://prpa.org/der by Friday, October 16.

“As a committee, we take seriously our role to develop a plan that not only drives successful integration of DER technologies but also engages community members to be part of the solution,” said Dave Hornbacher, committee co-chair and executive director of electric services for the City of Longmont. “Engagement begins with education and we’re pleased with the interest we’ve received from the public so far about what we’re doing and how they can help,” Dave said.


For more information regarding Platte River Power Authority, visit: prpa.org

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