100% for Holy Cross during March

Colorado electrical cooperative has delivered 92% emissions-free energy this year through April to members in its Vail-Aspen-Parachute service area

During March, 100% of electricity delivered by Holy Cross Energy to its members in the Vail-Aspen-Rifle areas came renewable energy.

Holy Cross described the achievement as a significant milestone in work toward its goal of providing 100% renewable electricity to its members by 2030.

“Providing 100% renewable electricity – even for just one month – is an important achievement and reflects the hard work of our employees and the vision of our board of directors,” said Bryan Hannegan, the chief executive.

“While this is a proud moment, we still have important work ahead to achieve our 2030 goal throughout an entire year, in a responsible way that continues to safely provide the affordable and reliable electricity supply we all depend upon.”

The previous monthly highs were 97% in May 2025 and 94% in April 2026.

In 2025, Holy Cross achieved 85% of its electricity from renewable sources. That success was enabled by the additional of several renewable energy resources, two of them in eastern Colorado: the Bronco Plains II wind farm and Hunter Solar.

In addition, Holy Cross now has three solar-plus-storage facilities within its service territory in western Colorado, including the High Mesa Solar + Storage project near Parachute seen in the above photo. This is in addition to a variety of smaller solar but also hydro generation.

Achieving high levels of renewables in May is easier because of demand in the Vail and Aspen areas is less during the slower off-seasons. March is more difficult because electrical demand is normally higher.

This year the snow was marginal or worse, and temperatures were altogether unseasonably warm. This was particularly true during March. The result was less demand.

Also a factor was a new strategic partnership between Holy Cross and The Energy Authority, called TEA. TEA helped Holy Cross by leveraging advanced analytics to maximize renewable energy procurement while maintaining grid reliability and affordability. This reduced need for Holy Cross Energy to draw upon the power from Xcel Energy, although Xcel itself is increasing its renewable power supply.

Through April this year, 92% of electricity delivered to Holy cross members was from renewable sources.