The Fort Collins Area Chamber, in our role as a business advocate, has been tracking the Platte River Power Authority’s (PRPA, the electricity wholesale resource for the City of Fort Collins) nearly year process to create a 2024 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).
The 2024 IRP is part of an ongoing resource planning process that Platte River conducts to identify the energy resources needed to meet the electricity demand of Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont, and Loveland over the next five to 20 years. In 2020, Platte River filed the first IRP since the board adopted a Resource Diversification Policy that directs Platte River’s CEO to proactively work toward achieving a 100% noncarbon energy mix by 2030, provided the three foundational pillars can be maintained.
Your Chamber has spent the last year sharing a business perspective with the PRPA Board of Directors, the planning staff, and the outside consultants supporting this process. We were focused on understanding the impact that the resource diversification policy and IRP would have on reliability, cost, and the environment. We were also a voice for the value of economic success on equity.
We shared the letter below with the PRPA Board of Directors and had Chamber members and staff testify at the July 25 Board meeting. We are incredibly pleased to announce that the board of directors approved the utility’s 2024 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) last week, including the recommended “optimal new carbon” portfolio that adds 760 megawatts of new renewable energy projects between now and 2030.
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July 23, 2024
Platte River Power Authority 2000 E Horsetooth Road Fort Collins, CO 80525
To: Board Chair Kevin Gertig, Vice Chair Mayor Jeni Arndt, Director Reuben Bergsten, Director Mayor Gary Hall, Director David Hornbacher, Director Tyler Marr, Director Mayor Jacki Marsh, Director Mayor Joan Peck;
Chairman Gertig and Members of the Board:
The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce proudly endorses the Platte River Power Authority Optimal New Carbon portfolio being recommended by PRPA staff within the 2024 Integrated Resource Plan. The Chamber is highly impressed with the care and professionalism Jason Frisbie and the PRPA team has exhibited in crafting a blueprint for achieving an extraordinary objective – carbon neutrality – and the support the PRPA Board of Directors has provided throughout the process.
To the business community, this is a noble cause for which we can all strive. However, the goal of 100% reliability cannot be sacrificed in that endeavor, nor can the economic well-being of PRPA and its constituents. The Chamber strongly believes the recommended strategy is innovative and achieves these objectives.
The Fort Collins Area Chamber is endorsing the Optimal New Carbon portfolio because it provides a key balance between economic success and equity. This portfolio not only allows PRPA to meet environmental goals, but also provides stability for all PRPA served citizens to participate.
Can the plan offer more? Certainly. Should we expect to outperform the best-case scenario? Absolutely. Success is not achieved at the starting line, but the fact we’re here is a testament to the hard work, vision, and commitment to excellence outstanding leadership has fostered. The PRPA team will excel if empowered with the Board’s undivided trust.
As implementation strategies take shape, the Chamber extends its commitment to seeking optimal solutions based upon open, honest dialogue regarding the challenges, consequences, and trade-offs that must be considered prior to execution. No great achievements have come free and the vision you have created is nothing short of a marvel.
To further enable that vision, the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce asks the PRPA Board to adopt the 2024 Integrated Resource Plan as recommended by staff using the Optimal New Carbon portfolio.
Sincerely,
Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce
Ann Hutchison, CAE President & CEO
cc: Jason Frisbie