City focuses on renewable energy

In response to Bronwyn Anglin’s letter to the editor (Dec. 26, Aspen Daily News) that states, “The proposed hydro project would have provided for a small percentage of the city of Aspen’s own electricity usage (at best), and absolutely zero percentage of the city of Aspen’s electricity usage.”

While the city has no plans to move forward with the Castle Creek Energy Center, it is always beneficial to have the public dialogue be accurate. The Castle Creek Energy Center as planned would have been part of the total energy generation portfolio for the Aspen electric utility — comprising approximately 8 percent of Aspen electric customers’ total annual consumption. Every single city of Aspen electric customer would benefit from the addition of this renewable source to the grid.

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The idea that the Castle Creek Energy Center is only for city buildings is absolutely false. Aspen City Council is currently working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to fulfill the city’s renewable energy goal and is continuing to strive to reach its goal of creating a 100 percent renewable energy profile by 2015.

We invite you to be a part of these discussions in the coming months.

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Dave Hornbacher

Director, city of Aspen Utilities and Environmental Initiatives