Optony partners with Colorado Energy Group (CEG) to launch and deliver solar masterplan for City of Boulder, Colorado

The City of Boulder has long been a leader in sustainable development and resource protection through its Climate Commitment and extraordinary Open Space and Mountain Parks. In July, Optony and Boulder-based partner CEG began work on a citywide local energy masterplan that includes a focus on solar plus storage for the City’s own facilities. Within a few weeks, the Optony/CEG strategy grabbed media attention in a front-page article in Boulder’s principal daily news service.

Optony has begun investigating the new concept of Community Renewable Energy Credits, C-RECs, as a standard metric for clean energy in the context of this project. Rather than reducing the construction cost of new local renewables, the C-REC channels incentives only to measurable ongoing clean energy production of the systems within the local jurisdiction. Incenting continuing energy production guarantees that systems not only get built, but continue to be operated and maintained at top performance.

When delivered, the City of Boulder strategy will contain a balanced and pragmatic set of concrete technical, financial, and policy actions to guide the city toward its ambitious goal of extensive growth in local solar. The ultimate goal by 2050 is a resilient carbon-free power system with a target rated power of 175 MW of total local renewable generation.