The Colorado Harvesting Energy Network is an association of diverse interests seeking opportunities to maximize community benefits from the development of Colorado's New Energy Economy. Our partners include financial, agriculture, governmental, and landowner interests dedicated to community-based project development. While exciting renewable energy resources are being developed throughout Colorado, we seek to ensure that landowners and rural interests who host these projects will benefit from them. We also seek to link urban consumers seeking home grown power with rural producers of distributed power generation.

What CHEN Is Working On
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Building the Colorado Harvesting Energy Network
CHEN is incorporating as an independent trade organization that will represent landowners, businesses and individuals in a statewide network dedicated to advancing local ownership of renewable energy projects. As a free-standing organization, CHEN will be able to advocate for policies that promote distributed generation and to promote community-based projects that contribute to rural economic development. We plan to develop tools to assess projects and guide their development, and will work with state agencies to provide technical assistance to rural entrepreneurs and project champions seeking to produce home grown power.


San Luis Valley Solar
A group of irrigators in the San Luis Valley installed solar systems to drive their pivot irrigation systems, believing they were contributing the Colorado's New Energy Economy. But they are being paid less for the power than the cost of producing it. CHEN is working with the Governor's Energy Office and the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union to secure equitable compensation for these irrigators. The solution to this issue will involve Xcel Energy, the Public Utilities Commission and possibly the Legislature.

Community Wind Technical Assistance
CHEN sponsored two workshops on community wind development for landowners in eastern Colorado in cooperation with the Governor's Energy Office. From information presented there, CHEN recently published a handbook to guide landowners through the basic steps of project development. GEO is currently working with CHEN to establish a Colorado Wind Working Group.

Monitoring Transmission Extensions
CHEN is participating in transmission planning meetings as a stakeholder representing rural interests. In partnership with Cornerstone TransCo, we are seeking equitable methods for compensating landowners hosting new transmission lines.

Renewable Energy Standard Implementation
The Public Utilities Commission is revising rules implementing the standard which requires a portion of energy to come from renewable sources CHEN is seeking rules that will better define "local ownership" and provide market access to community-based energy development.


Staff support for CHEN is provided by Colorado Working Landscapes and the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.