The city of Denver is seeking companies to build a municipally owned solar power plant that would generate enough electricity for more than 1,000 homes.
The plant would be built at an industrial portion of the Stapleton development near Havana Street and Smith Road.
Companies will have until March to respond to the city’s request for proposals. The city and county of Denver would manage the plant.
Darryl Winer, Denver’s director of utilities, said the plant would be one of the first municipally owned solar plants in an urban area in the nation.
Winer said Xcel Energy would buy the electricity generated by the plant to pass on to consumers. In keeping with the voter-approved Amendment 37, Xcel would pay an increased price for electricity generated by the power plant. That revenue would provide more than enough money to pay for construction and maintenance of the plant, Winer said.
Amendment 37 requires large utilities to get 10 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2007.
Tom Henley, an Xcel spokesman, said the city would have to put in a competitive bid for a 20-year contract before the utility could begin purchasing the solar power from the city.
If the utility doesn’t accept the bid, the plant won’t get built, ensuring the city wastes no money on the project, said Andrew Wallach, an assistant to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.
Winer said the city plans to award a bid for construction of the solar plant by mid-June.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-820-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.
