Steamboat Springs City Council members received an update this week on a vision to construct a solar power instillation near the Steamboat Springs Airport, as part of a wider push to offset 100% of the county’s energy usage with renewable sources.

The proposed solar instillation for the municipal airport is part of a plan that would include the construction of an array in Hayden which would generate a combined 4.8 megawatts of power, Routt County Commissioner Sonja Macys explained to council members Tuesday.

During a joint meeting with council and county commissioners, Macys said the project would work to offset energy uses needed for planned wastewater upgrades in Milner and Phippsburg — and the construction of a business center in Hayden, along with Steamboat’s fire station and city hall project.

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The renewable energy offset would help to meet the goals laid out in the Routt County Climate Action Plan adopted by the city in 2021. Electricity use represents 37% of the emissions of the county’s climate action plan.

The solar array project is linked to intentions from the Yampa Valley Electric Association to change its power supplier in 2028 from Excel Energy to Guzman Energy, which would allow for more local power generation in the county, Macys explained Tuesday.

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The change in power sources will help to relieve recent metering limits set by YVEA that reduced the number of kilowatts supplied by an individual solar facility from 100 kilowatts to 25 kilowatts.

“Had we had been at a 100-upper limit for what we are able to do, Routt County would have been able to 100% offset those wastewater facilities and the city would have made a pretty massive dent in some of its projects as well,” Macys said.

The county has hired the consulting firm NV5 to guide the development of the proposed solar project.

Addressing the council members and county commissioners Tuesday, NV5 Vice President Tom Williard said the plans would help to improve local energy grid resilience and promote renewable energy development.

“We are basing all of this work off Routt County’s goals for offsetting 100% of electrical use with renewable energy,” Williard said. “That is why the size is set at 4.8 megawatts because that is the size of system that you need to offset that energy.”

The approximate cost for the array project is expected to be between $10-11 million, without including associated land acquisition purchases — but that cost could be lowered through available federal tax credits and grants, according to Macys.

The county commissioner said the opportunity to provide a larger solar array system that could serve projects across multiple local government jurisdictions could take advantage of important tax credits provided from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.

Local governments do not pay property taxes, but the Inflation Reduction Act allows municipalities to use federal funding to obtain up to the equivalent of a 40% federal investment tax credit.

Additionally, because the county is designated as a “coal transition community,” the solar project could obtain grant funding to the tune of $7.5 million to help fund the remaining cost for the project.

City Council President Gail Garey asked about potential issues arising from the instillation of the solar project adjacent to the city’s airport.

Williard said the instillation would require “glare studies” in certain areas around the city airport “to make sure it is not an issue.”

He also said preliminary studies for the instillation favor a tracking solar system over a fixed-tilt system — which would be more expensive, but would ultimately be more effective.

“The tracking systems have the advantage of being able to dump off the snow by tacking further over from one side to the other,” Williard said. “They are a little bit more expensive, but they produce more energy.”

Council members made no decision on moving forward with the project beyond signaling that additional studies should proceed.