The City of Fountain, Coloardo, Feb. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The City of Fountain, just south of Colorado Springs, has taken a huge step toward meeting their sustainability goals by partnering with Veregy to offset 100% of the city’s own electrical usage. This incredible milestone will be achieved by building a 1.67 MW solar installation on city-owned land. The field will consist of over 4000 individual solar panels with a rated life of 30 years.
This forward-thinking project is possible because the city is one of a handful of municipalities in Colorado that own their own utilities, allowing them to be aggressive in meeting their energy conservation goals. In fact, the city is the first in the Front Range of Colorado to offset all of their electricity usage for both city buildings and streetlights. Oscar Rangel, the account executive at Veregy who helped put together the project, had this to say, “I was struck by just how willing the leadership in Fountain was to think long-term and use their unique position to do something bold for their community.”
To help finance this project, Veregy and the city worked together to secure a Renewable and Clean Energy Initiative grant from the State of Colorado Department of Local Affairs for $1,350,000. When asked about the project Mayor, Sharon Thompson said, “One of the most important parts of our job as elected officials is to make sure Fountain residents are consistently receiving the highest quality services we can provide at the most reasonable and efficient cost. The grant being used to fund this project was awarded to our city to improve the resiliency of our community’s electric supply while contributing to long-term rate stability. That’s a win for everyone, and the City of Fountain is proud to be a leader in Southern Colorado when it comes to electric reliability and sustainability.”
In switching to solar to power their buildings and streetlights, the city will effectively be removing 2,400 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year from entering the environment. According to the EPA, this is equivalent to not burning over 2 million pounds of coal, enough to fill 11 train cars. Additionally, this project will further diversify the city’s electric power portfolio, providing even more options to ensure consistent, reliable and sustainable power for their customers. As part of the project, Veregy is also installing water modifications that, in combination with other energy upgrades, will save the city over $180,000 a year with an additional $36,500 in operations and maintenance savings.
It’s these sorts of innovative energy projects and public-private partnerships that will take Colorado, and the nation, into a greener, more resilient future.
About Veregy:
Veregy is a national Energy Service Company headquartered in Phoenix, AZ. The company has 500+ employees and 30+ years of experienced engineering and project management teams that have upgraded 1000’s of buildings. Veregy provides comprehensive development, design, and engineering services relating to infrastructure upgrades and energy-efficient sustainability solutions for the K-12, healthcare, and municipal markets. Veregy also provides healthy building solutions for the ubiquitous need for pandemic response assistance. To learn more about Veregy, visit our website at www.veregy.com or contact us at 602.452.8746.
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CONTACT:
Vincent Esparza
VP of Marketing and Communications
Veregy
602.452.8746
