From The Telluride Watch (Martinique Davis):
According to [Kurt Johnson, owner of local hydropower development firm Telluride Energy], the national hydroelectricity industry is on the brink of a new phase of innovation thanks to a more hospitable legislative environment, both on the national as well as the state and local government level. “There is a huge amount of renewed interest in hydropower, and that hasn’t been the case in a long time,” he says, explaining that a recent study commissioned by the National Hydropower Association estimates that about 60,000 megawatts of new hydropower capacity could be developed in the U.S. (To put that in perspective, consider that existing hydropower plants generate about 100 MW, or about 9 percent of the country’s total energy output.) The Colorado Governor’s Energy Office estimates, furthermore, that Colorado has several hundred attractive sites with a combined potential generating capacity of more than 1,400 MW (with one megawatt of small hydro potentially supplying power equivalent to the electricity needs of 500 to 750 homes).