RIFLE — One of the communities at the epicenter of the Western Slope’s natural-gas boom is turning to the sun to start powering some city facilities.
Rifle is using an array of solar panels to produce electricity for a pump station that draws water from the Colorado River. And two groups of panels that will cover a total of 12 acres on the west side of town will run a new wastewater-treatment plant.
The two systems will generate a total of 2.3 megawatts. SunEdison of Beltsville, Md., which is building, financing and running the systems, said Rifle will have one of the largest municipal photovoltaic solar installations in the country.
The project is part of Rifle’s effort to diversify its economy and develop what city officials call an “Energy Innovation Center” on 130 acres of public land. Other proposals for the site include biofuels production and a demonstration project on geothermal energy.
Keith Lambert, mayor of the city of about 8,700, said Rifle’s economy has been driven by energy production, tourism and agriculture. The community lies along the Colorado River in western Garfield County, which leads the state in the number of oil- and gas-drilling permits issued.
Companies also are researching methods to tap the area’s vast reserves of oil shale. Federal officials are writing plans and rules for commercial oil-shale development, still considered several years off.
Rifle recognizes the benefits — jobs, tax revenue — the oil and gas industry has produced through the years, Lambert said, and believes there’s potential for becoming a center for other kinds of energy development too.
“We’re looking at marrying together extractive energy sources and renewable,” Lambert said.
Adding solar power to Rifle’s energy mix is one of the first steps. SunEdison will operate the solar-power systems under a 20-year agreement with Rifle.
The smaller system generates about 90 percent of the power needed for the pump station that diverts water from the river. The other two groups of panels, expected to be installed by year’s end, will provide about 60 percent of the electricity for a new wastewater-treatment plant under construction.
