Fowler,
Colorado Smart Growth
Advocates are collaborating with the Town of Fowler to help the town
achieve its lofty goal to become a sustainable community, powered by
renewable energy and committed to development of local resources.
Combining the abundance of wind, solar and biomass resources to provide
clean sustainable energy, the project will include the community
involvement and contain outreach and educational aspects so that other
communities can replicate our success. Wayne
Snider, Town Administrator.
Colorado
Muncipal League April 2008 "Powering a Community" by Jeanne
Fenter, Vickie Massam and Wayne Snider.
United States Census
Bureau, the town
of Fowler... total area of 1.3 km˛ (0.5 mi˛), all land.
Demographics: As of the censusGR2 of 2000,
there were 1,206 people, 521 households, and 330 families ... population density was
950.3/km˛ (2,468.5/mi˛).
City of Auburn uses anaerobic digestion to save
millions, similar technology is being explored by Fowler. Streaming video
if window does not open below.
Energy
Outreach Leveraging unallocated funding from the Supplemental
Environmental Project, SGA contacted Energy Outreach (EO).
Through EOs local agency partner, Catholic Charities, a Pueblo family
was selected to receive a new natural
gas high-efficiency water heater, as well as new venting and a flex
connector which was not up to code. Aquila, Xcel and EO provided the balance of the
funding needed. This project will make a positive long term difference in the comfort and
energy bill of a Pueblo family.
Watchfor SGAs full
report on: final dollar amounts expended, anticipated savings to the family - both in energy and
dolllars.
Pueblo Community Health Center Smart
Growth Advocates are working in concert with the Community Health
Center to raise funds for clean-up of asbestos in the health center's
proposed new building site. The $180,000 has
been applied for from the Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment for asbestos remediation.
"A World of Energy" Solar
Electric Education Module
(E-Mod) Smart
Growth Advocates received a $5,000
grant award in January 2007
from the CDPHE to acquire
an E-Mod to educate students on renewable energy. The E-Mod is a
portable experimental tool developed by Earthsense
that uses solar
electricity to actively engage students in learning about important
energy-related concepts and topics. The E-Mod now has its
own page.
Photo credit Vickie Massam E Module at CSU P Environmental Club
Colorado State University-Pueblo SOLAR PV PROJECTSmart Growth Advocates, in
collaboration with TC Associates, EcoSol/EcoStruct,
and Colorado State
University-Pueblo (CSU-P)Department of
Engineering joined forces to receive the
December 2006 award of a $80,000
Supplemental Environmental Program (SEP) grant* administered by the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to
install working solar photovoltaic electric demonstration modules and
interface adjacent to
the Colorado State University-Pueblo Engineering Building. Total
project cost $89,000.
*The SEP was
part of a settlement agreement in an
enforcement action.
View
Photos of the project
in progress. The modules have been delivered,
installed, dedication made by
CSU-P President,
Joe Garcia, Phase II is underway.
DIESEL SCHOOL BUS RETROFIT The
retrofit of the current fleet of school busses with pollution control
devices will be accomplished via CDPHE/SEP funds. Pueblo school
children and all Pueblo residents will benefit from reduced toxic
emissions. We have the possibility to include city busses.
As signatory to the groundbreaking settlement
agreement with Xcel Energy, Smart Growth Advocates is participating in
the process to define projects for the (Settlement Agreement Fact Sheet)
$250,000
contribution from Xcel. Projects are currently under
consideration for the Settlement Agreement funding. The
Settlement Agreement project will be another example of positive action
and collaboration within a sustainable
framework.
"Creating our Own Future: Innovations and Successes as Blueprints for
Pueblo"A sustainability forum in Pueblo
which asked, "How did the cities of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, and Racine,
Wisconsin, seek to transform their economies and communities into
vital, vibrant places where people want to live,work and do business?
What were their objectives, pitfalls, obstacles and successes?"
Forum snapshot; poster
Xcel Settlement
Agreement A coalition
of conservation groups and Pueblo civic organizations secured a major
commitment from Xcel Energy to significantly reduce pollution levels
from the proposed expanded Comanche Power Plant and to rely more
heavily on cost-effective cleaner energy alternatives in meeting
Colorado’s future electrical generation needs. The agreement, filed
today with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, stems from
concerns the coalition has raised regarding a new coal-fired unit Xcel
has proposed to build in Pueblo, Colorado, to be added to the two
existing coal units at the Comanche Power Plant.
Fowler,
Colorado 
