News
January 2009
PUEBLO - Colorado State University-Pueblo (CSU), BP Solar and Black
Hills Energy yesterday joined Gov. Bill Ritter and other dignitaries to
dedicate a new solar power system that will provide more than 10
percent of CSU-Pueblo’s future power needs.
http://coloradoenergynews.com/2009/01/governor-dedicates-solar-power-system-at-csu-pueblo/
http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsNAPR1363.htm
http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=4705&contentId=7050325
http://www.blackhillscorp.com/news09/011409.htm
Colorado
Governor Bill Ritter;
CSU – Pueblo President Joseph Garcia;
BP Solar, Vice President of Strategy, Debbie Strachan;
Black Hills Energy, Vice President of Colorado Electric Operations, Gary Stone;
Smart Growth Advocates, Vickie Massam
>>
December 2008
December
5 Black Hills Urged to Embrace New Energy
Economy; PUC asked to require more efficiency, renewables
A coalition of four
environmental and community groups say that Black Hills Energy is
making an insufficient commitment to improving energy efficiency and
providing clean, renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar
power, before choosing to build new fossil fuel power plants to meet
the needs of its customers in southern Colorado.
The coalition,
consisting of Western Resource Advocates, the Sierra Club, Smart Growth
Advocates and Better Pueblo, submitted formal testimony this week to
the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC), charging that Black
Hills has failed to appropriately consider readily available clean
energy opportunities. >>>
November 2008
October
2008
The unveiling of the SkyTrough(TM) on
October 10, 2008, in Arvada, Colorado. More than 300 guests attended
the event including the Honorable Bill Ritter, Governor of Colorado,
who presided over the unveiling
ceremony. SGA President,Vickie Massam with SkyFuel
CEO, Arnold Leitner. http://cbs4denver.com/video/?id=47837@kcnc.dayport.com
September 2008
SGA
intervene in Black Hills' resource plan presented to the Public
Utilities Commission...SGA's
particular interest in the referenced case revolve around Black Hills'
limited commitment to including renewable energy in its resource
mix. It is SGA's belief that the opening utility markets to
renewable resources will improve the benefits that innovations in
renewable technologies can bring to utility customers. These
benefits include reduced costs associated with generating energy from
renewable sources, as well as direct and indirect, social, economic and
environmental benefits brought by reducing the amount of fossil fuel
which must be extracted and burned.
Twin Palms publication,
Phuket, Thailand - "Accidental Activism - Life as a
renewable energy advocate in Pueblo, Colorado is its own reward" Vickie Massam
Proud endorsers of Amendment
58 initiative - "Enough
is Enough" www.asmartercolorado.org
August
2008
August
19 -
City
Tour for Solar Exhibits at Pueblo’s Sangre de Cristo
Art
Center and Pueblo Community College August 19 - 20 Beltsville,
Md. – A solar tour, designed to educate municipal leaders,
community members, public schools, universities and utilities on how to
make solar energy a meaningful power resource for their cities, will
exhibit at Pueblo’s Sangre de Cristo Art Center on August 19
and
Pueblo Community College on August 20. The tour will return
to
the Denver area for the Democratic National Convention week at various
locations and events.
Spanning 100 days, the national tour will bring interactive educational
exhibits to 50 cities in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona,
Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Minnesota and Colorado. The
exhibits,
powered by solar energy, will be transported by colorful
biodiesel-fueled trucks.
http://www.CityTourforSolar.com
The Pueblo public exhibit has been made possible by Smart Growth
Advocates and the following Community Champions:
Black Hills Energy, Board of Pueblo County Commissioners, Colorado
State University-Pueblo, Pueblo Community College, Pueblo Technology
Alliance, Sangre de Cristo Art Center, Sierra Club Sangre de Cristo
Group, Solar Roast Coffee, Southeastern Colorado Renewable Energy
Society, Sustainable Pueblo, and Xcel Energy
“Bringing hands-on real world expertise through
SunEdison’s
educational City Tour for Solar is a wonderful opportunity for Pueblo,"
said Vickie Massam, Smart Growth Advocates President. “Pueblo
has
the solar resources to benefit from the new economy, attracting high
paying jobs which can’t be outsourced.”
>>>
August 7
Officials show off
Cleaner-running school buses New devices will reduce emissions, fuel
consumption.
With their hoods open to show off new devices to reduce diesel
emissions and energy usage, school buses from Pueblo City Schools and
District 70 were the center of attention at Gateway Park Wednesday.
Representatives from both Pueblo school districts as well as Metro
Transit, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and
the Environmental Protection Agency gathered near the Historic Arkansas
Riverwalk of Pueblo to celebrate the retrofitting of buses.
Jim Martin, executive director for the Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment, applauded Pueblo for making the innovative
project a reality, setting the bar for other communities....
Brenda Broyles, a representative of Metro Transit, said she looks for
10 to 12 of their buses to be retrofitted, as part of a project began
by settlements with Xcel Energy and local and statewide groups, as well
as a settlement with the CDPHE.
Carol Rushin, acting regional administrator for Region 8 of the EPA,
estimated 9,000 students in Pueblo ride the bus each day for a total of
270 hours per year on school buses. Nationwide, 40,000 school buses
have been fitted with these devices with the help of the EPA.
"We're celebrating because a clean bus fleet will be serving the
community of Pueblo," Rushin said. "Together you've made going back to
school a little healthier for 9,000 students."
.
>>>
Bus Retrofit Project Means Cleaner Healthier Air for Pueblo School Children and other Bus
Riders
PUEBLO — Thousands of Pueblo County
schoolchildren and other bus riders in the area will breathe cleaner,
healthier
air during their commutes beginning this year, according to the
Colorado
Department of Public Health and Environment.
The department partnered with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Sierra Club, Better Pueblo, Pueblo City Schools,
Pueblo School District
No. 70 and others to retrofit approximately 125 buses with devices that
substantially reduce diesel emissions and exposure to toxic pollutants
that can
accumulate in bus cabin. >>>
The
Pueblo Bus Retrofit Project - in detail
July 2008
Renewable Energy Access
Solar
Buzz
July
28 "CSU-Pueblo,
BP Solar, and Aquila Team Up to Install One of
the Largest Solar Electric Power Systems for a US Educational
Facility"
Colorado
State University-Pueblo soon will be the home of a solar
electric system in excess of one megawatt, one of the largest such
systems for
an education facility in the United States.
Under this innovative arrangement with Black Hills Energy
(formerly Aquila)
and BP Solar, the system is estimated to contribute more than 10
percent of the
University’s electricity needs.
Installation of the ground-based solar array will begin in
July with
full operation scheduled for late this fall.
...The
system will be constructed on the east
side of campus between the physical plant complex and the softball
fields on a
strip of land that could not easily serve any other purpose.
“We
view this as an extension of the commitment the
University and the CSU System have made to renewable and sustainable
energy,”
said CSU-Pueblo President Joseph Garcia. “Because this solar
array will be
visible from new facilities being constructed to support our new
athletic
programs and the planned development on our eastern campus border, it
will serve
as a strong statement about the University’s commitment to
supporting
sustainable energy resources.”
"
...Smart
Growth Advocates, a local non-profit, connected
the partners last year.
“Assembling
the combined talents of a team of this caliber
ensured results which exceeded expectations.
Our goal was to highlight the effectiveness of
public-private
partnerships to deliver concrete sustainable solutions, and we are
elated with
the result,” said Vickie Massam, SGA President.
">>>
July 1 - Local
NonProfits Help Pueblo Senior Stay Safe and Comfortable "–A
Pueblo senior citizen is the thankful owner of a new, high-efficiency
water heater, thanks to the joint efforts of several local nonprofits
and utility companies. When
Pueblo-based Smart Growth Advocates had a few hundreds dollars left
over from a Colorado Department of Health and Environment grant, they
contacted Energy OutreachColorado
to see where it could best be put to use.
>>>
June 2008:
June 10 - 11 Virtual Energy Forum.
June 6 - 8 CREC Conference at the Pueblo Marriott
Convention Center.
April 2008
- A Seattle-based company... unveiled a global wind map
..on the Internet. Officials with the company,
3TIER, says the map is part of a "Remapping the World" initiative that
"will change the way we look at the world's renewable energy resources
through sophisticated
mapping
technology." Kenneth Westrick, 3TIER CEO. (excerpt from
25 x 25 newsletter)
Colorado
Muncipal League April 2008 "Powering
a Community" by Jeanne Fenter, Vickie Massam and
Wayne Snider

Spring
2008 CSU-P "Looking
Forward, Going Green"
Colorado State University-Pueblo President, Dr. Joe Garcia trumpets
CSU-P's sustainable initiatives