Community Wind Venture Comes to Colorado
Boulder County Clean Air Consortium* (BCCAC) members met
at Boulder Community Hospital
on February 9th to hear about Quixote Wind, a
new venture helping Colorado businesses invest in wind power. Quixote
Wind, Inc., headquartered in Boulder, will be seeking investments from
Colorado-based companies to build wind projects here in Colorado.
“Colorado has the 11th best wind resource in the country,” said Mona
Newton, Quixote Wind, Inc., Board President.
Newton, who also works on a contract basis for Boulder
Community Hospital, said Quixote Wind will build a wind farm capable of
generating between 20 and 50 megawatts of power. One megawatt can supply
power to about 1,000 people.
Boulder Community Hospital has been a leader in promoting a community wind
initiative for Colorado. BCCAC members met at the hospital’s Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified Foothills facility last
year to hear about the project in concept. In a statement announcing the
creation of Quixote Wind, Inc., Joe McDonald, the hospital's CFO said,
"Wind makes sense to us. It supports our desire to support a healthy
environment, healthy residents and a healthy economy."
The city of Boulder also is supporting new wind farms as
one approach to reducing emissions within the city that contribute to
global warming. Boulder has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas
emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. "A wind farm will help
us achieve our reduction goal," Boulder Mayor Mark Ruzzin said in a
statement. "New wind projects will also help create jobs in Colorado and
offer cost-effective electricity to our residents."
In a nod to the benefits of renewable energy, Boulder County Commissioners passed a resolution to place Amendment 37 on
the ballot, which voters approved decisively last November.
*The Boulder County Clean Air Consortium (BCCAC) is
supported by Boulder County Public Health. Its mission is to bring private
and public sector community leaders together to improve air quality in
Boulder County. The Committee is co-chaired by Boulder County Commissioner
Tom Mayer and Private Sector Representative Graham Hill of 21 Wheels,
Electric Vehicle Gallery.
For more information on BCCAC:
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Wind turbine picture courtesy of the National Wind
Technology Center. For more information :
www.nrel.gov/wind/
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