Click the link to read the article on The Crested Butte News website (Kendra Walker). Here’s an excerpt:
September 18, 2024
Local electric cooperative Gunnison County Electric Association (GCEA) has a new way of generating energy for the Gunnison Valley with the recent completion of its Taylor River Hydropower construction project. GCEA and the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association (UVWUA) commemorated the completion of the plant’s construction phase last week with a ribbon cutting ceremony, and plan to begin commercial power production around September 20. The $3.6 million project located at the Taylor Park Dam is a partnership between GCEA and the UVWUA. The new 500-kilowatt (kW) hydroelectric turbine and generator at the site will operate at or near full capacity 24 hours a day, year round, to produce an average of 3.8 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually. That amount of generation compares to some 2,500 kW (2.5 megawatt) fixed tilt-solar arrays and, according to GCEA strategy execution specialist Matt Feier, will provide clean electricity to approximately 500 local homes and businesses in Gunnison County…Construction on the project began in May 2023, but the hydroelectric vision has been in the works far longer…
GCEA provides the electric infrastructure and UVWUA manages the water flowing through the dam. The plant connects to the existing dam penstock and GCEA’s single-phase distribution line. Feier explained the process: “The new facility draws approximately 65 cubic feet per second of water out of the eastern penstock within the existing valve house. This water is piped to our Frances turbine within the newly constructed metal building at the base of the dam. The turbine spins, which in turn spins the generator and generates an electric current. This energy flows into GCEA’s existing distribution system and down to GCEA’s Alkali substation (located near Jack’s Cabin Cutoff) where it is distributed within GCEA’s service territory. After turning the turbine, the water flows back into the same spilling basin as the Taylor Dam’s main outflow,” he said. “This hydro generator will be a ‘run of the river’ facility and will not affect river flows within the Taylor River.” Feier said the Taylor River Hydro project is a welcome addition to GCEA’s current clean energy portfolio, and it will bump up GCEA’s local renewable energy generation. “This new hydroelectric facility will get us to approximately 3% local generation and we are working to gain the other 2%+ from local solar array developments,” he said.
