Commissioners approve $1.67B energy development in north Weld County

Wind and solar project in the Chalk Bluffs region passes by 1-vote margin

The Weld County commissioners approved a $1.67 billion wind and solar project in the Chalk Bluffs region of the county Wednesday after hearing a myriad of concerns from the public.

The board voted 3-2 in favor of the development, with Commissioners Kevin Ross, Lynette Peppler and Perry Buck supporting it and Commissioners Jason Maxey and Scott James opposing it.

Located in northern Weld County between U.S. 85 and Colorado 390, the Chalk Bluffs Energy Project is expected to produce 79 wind turbines and utilize more than 2,200 acres for solar panels. It would generate 805 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 600,000 homes.

Many of the commissioners commended those who spoke about the development at Wednesday’s hearing and said it was a particularly difficult decision for them to make.

“I am opposed to this project because I think it is leading our county in the wrong direction,” resident Bridget Rose said during Wednesday’s commissioners’ meeting. “This isn’t progress.”

Chalk Bluffs LLC and Enyo Energy are developing the wind and solar farm. Project officials say construction will have an economic impact of $182 million, generating sales tax revenue and providing 1,090 construction jobs. Over the course of 30 years, that impact is expected to be $673 million with 55 full-time positions.

Coan, Payton and Payne land-use attorney Bob Choate, who worked with the applicant team, said the project fits in Weld County. He described the county as the “energy breadbasket of Colorado,” not to mention the entire western U.S.

“When I think about Weld County, I think about two things … agriculture and energy. And for the last many decades, the oil and gas industry has dominated the energy industry in Weld County,” Choate said. “That’s changing.”

The commissioners listened to hours of public testimony with several speakers saying the project would infringe upon the land’s unique terrain and wildlife.

“If you have been out to the site, you would be impressed with the scenic beauty of the Chalk Bluffs,” Brian Brown said. “It could be a movie set for a Western. It’s the crown jewel of Weld County, if not the state.”

The project received unanimous support from the Weld County Planning Commission in August.

Because the development application was a 1041 and thus deemed of statewide concern, it underwent a more rigorous and scrutinized process. James said he shared many of the public’s concerns about the project, including its impacts to wildlife habitat.

But that wasn’t exactly what made him vote no. Instead, James noted how an oil and gas application on the same property was denied a little under a year ago by the state and argued there was a “double standard.”

“Our friends in Denver, Boulder want to see this massive amount of renewable energy, but in candor they’re not going to live next to the … thing,” James said in an interview following Wednesday’s decision. “It’s going to be the people in Weld County that suffer the impacts.”