Mountain Town News
By Allen Best
College towns mull feed-in tariffs
BOULDER, Colo. – Already, 75 percent of the electricity distributed by the municipal utility department in Aspen, Colo., comes from renewable sources, mostly wind. The city hopes to push that to 83 percent with installation of a small hydroelectric plant on a local creek.
Could something called a feed-in tariff push Aspen toward its goal of 100 percent renewable energy?
“We are certainly going to look at it intensely to see if it has merit,” says Dave Hornbacher, the city’s deputy director of utilities and renewable energy. “It appears to have the potential to facilitate additional photovoltaic installations,” he added.
In the wonkish world of energy policy, feed-in tariffs occupy a particularly esoteric niche. But speakers at a workshop last week in Boulder, Colo., said they will be crucial in accelerating the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“We’re not thinking grandly enough, boldly enough,” said Randy Udall, an energy analyst and activist from the Aspen area. Feed-in tariffs, he said, are the only way to achieve the giant steps that are needed.
What is a feed-in tariff? From a story by Lara Kirkner in the April issue of the Green Sheet, “A feed-in tariff, or FIT, is a price tender model whereby ‘a standard price or set of prices are presented for solar power production, and often for other forms of renewable energy,’ according to Ted Flanigan of EcoMotion. “At this time, the model is only beneficial to those who can invest in solar projects that are large enough to produce more power than they use. Owners of these projects can sell the excess back to the power companies for a set rate. FITs are used to help the utilities meet their renewable portfolio standards.”
Several countries have adopted feed-in tariffs, as has the Canadian province of Ontario and at least one U.S. city: Gainesville, Fla. Price is a major stumbling block. Renewables generally cost more than fossil fuels (at least right now), but utilities and their customers may be willing to pay more for electricity from renewable sources if coal becomes more expensive. And that doesn’t take into account the greenhouse gas emissions or the health impacts.
In Aspen, city officials expect price hikes of 8.5 percent each year for the next two years, with an unspecified increase the year after, for coal-generated electricity they purchase from Municipal Energy Association of Nebraska.
At the same time, the price of electricity from renewables has been plummeting. Wind has, at times and places, achieved parity with coal-generated electricity, and the prices of solar panels have dropped substantially in the last year as factories – particularly in China – have ramped up to meet growing demand.
John Lyle, an electrical engineer from Durango, Colo., foresees a time when the price for energy from solar energy and coal will be about the same. But he believes feed-in tariffs will be needed to accelerate the pace of clean energy innovation and adoption.
“The thing that jumped out at me at this workshop is how the various states have set up renewable energy portfolio mandates: 30 percent in Colorado by 2020 (for investor-owned utilities) and 33 percent in California,” said Lyle. “But to achieve those goals, we have to really accelerate the pace of installation of renewable energy.”
In Germany, adoption of feed-in tariffs has stimulated the rapid installation of solar panels. The price Germans get paid for installation of solar panels is high. But then Germany imports 100 percent of its oil and natural gas.
“Germany will do 20 times more solar than California this year, despite the fact that California has solar resources that are 70 percent greater than those of Germany,” said Craig Lewis, executive director of the Feed-in Tariff Coalition, a California group.
Will they be like head shops?
MINTURN, Colo. – Governments in ski towns and elsewhere in Colorado continue to wrestle with what to do about medical marijuana dispensaries. State voters several years ago authorized medical marijuana, but the Obama administration opened the gate by announcing it wouldn’t enforce federal laws.
Response of local governments has varied. The university town of Boulder didn’t attempt to throw up many roadblocks and may realize $260,000 in sales tax revenues. In Denver, radio ads have told listeners that no matter the hour, a doctor can be found to evaluate the medical need for marijuana. And in Summit County, the sheriff last winter made the wry comment that he’d never seen so many 21-year-olds with ear aches.
Yes, there’s a bit of hypocrisy in all this.
But if a town’s voters supported medical marijuana several years ago, as was the case in Vail, how can a local municipality then close and bolt the door?
That was the essential question posed by the Colorado Independent after Vail town council members banned dispensaries.
Allowing pot shops “flies in the face of the tone we’ve tried to set in this community,” said Vail Mayor Dick Cleveland. He was backed by long-time council member Kevin Foley, a waiter by profession. “To me it’s just that when you’ve got guests coming here from all over the country and all over the world, I just don’t think we need to have it here in town,” he told the Vail Daily.
Breckenridge went the opposite direction. Voters there clearly supported legalization of marijuana, and town council members said they felt they needed to honor that. “But it couldn’t be just a free-for-all,” said Jennifer McAtamney.
Regulations in Breckenridge ban doctors from working at dispensaries and require inventory controls, surveillance cameras, and air-filtration systems.
In Minturn, Earle Bidez, a long-time council member, thinks there may be an over-reaction, according to a report in the Vail Daily.
“I haven’t been to any of these dispensaries, but we’re approaching it like it’s going to be a head shop with smoke wafting out of the windows and guys grooving to music with bongs hanging out the window and all that kind of stuff,” he said at a recent meeting. “I’m assuming we can structure this so it will be a clinical office-type space. I think we can put those regulations on it so it’s not going to be something silly.”
Jackson pares season pass price
JACKSON, Wyo. – Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has slashed the price of a season pass by 25 percent, bringing it to $1,255. That’s the lowest price since the 1980s for a full-privilege ski pass. But, at the same time, the resort increased the cost of skiing for children.
Jerry Blann, the chief executive at the resort, said the reduced price was an effort to get adults who have been buying the 10- and 20-day packages to go forward with season passes.
“I think we will see some of our 10- and 20-day people move up,” Blann told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. “We’re counting on that. We might even see some people with second homes here buy season passes.”
He also noted that Jackson Hole has improved its infrastructure, with a new tramway, and other changes and has plenty of capacity.
In slashing season prices, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has joined many other resorts in the West. The season-pass price slashing began in Idaho but was quickly picked up by major ski areas in Colorado.
But whereas those discounted passes were aimed at regional markets, especially the ski-happy Denver area, Vail Resorts upped the ante two years ago with a no-holds-barred Epic Pass. The pass this year costs $600 and is good at the corporation’s four ski areas in Colorado (Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone and Breckenridge) and one ski area in California, Heavenly, along with Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin.
The News & Guide reports that Jackson Hole’s new price puts it on par with several other high-end resorts in the West: Sun Valley and Aspen both offer passes that, if purchased early, cost $1,500, while Deer Valley comes in at $1,630.
For locals in Jackson, there’s always Grand Targhee at $600 and the in-town Snow King at $225. Options abound.
Vail hotel boasts of
locavore dining event
VAIL, Colo. – The word “locavore” continues to creep into the lexicon of mountain towns, as across the continent. Instead of eating food that, on average, gets hauled 1,500 miles, locavores try to eat locally.
Hotels, in turn, have also been catering to this whim – for there’s no evidence yet that it’s a broad movement. Vail’s Cascade Resort recently offered what it called a “green” dining event. The food was primarily organic, but 98 percent of the food was secured within 100 miles of Vail.
More towns hew to idea of
low-waste special events
VAIL, Colo. – The idea of zero-waste special events has been spreading among ski towns. In Telluride, firefighters for the second year used compostable plates and cutlery for their community July Fourth picnic. Local environmental activist Kris Holstrom reported that 83 percent of trash was diverted from the landfill.
In Vail, a farmers’market has become a big, big deal on Sundays. Recently, the town environmental sustainability coordinator, Kristen Bertuglia, enlisted cheerleaders from the local high school to encourage more recycling and composting at the weekly event.
Jackson pares season pass price
JACKSON, Wyo. – Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has slashed the price of a season pass by 25 percent, bringing it to $1,255. That’s the lowest price since the 1980s for a full-privilege ski pass. But, at the same time, the resort increased the cost of skiing for children.
Jerry Blann, the chief executive at the resort, said the reduced price was an effort to get adults who have been buying the 10- and 20-day packages to go forward with season passes.
“I think we will see some of our 10- and 20-day people move up,” Blann told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. “We’re counting on that. We might even see some people with second homes here buy season passes.”
He also noted that Jackson Hole has improved its infrastructure, with a new tramway, and other changes and has plenty of capacity.
In slashing season prices, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has joined many other resorts in the West. The season-pass price slashing began in Idaho but was quickly picked up by major ski areas in Colorado.
But whereas those discounted passes were aimed at regional markets, especially the ski-happy Denver area, Vail Resorts upped the ante two years ago with a no-holds-barred Epic Pass. The pass this year costs $600 and is good at the corporation’s four ski areas in Colorado (Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone and Breckenridge) and one ski area in California, Heavenly, along with Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin.
The News & Guide reports that Jackson Hole’s new price puts it on par with several other high-end resorts in the West: Sun Valley and Aspen both offer passes that, if purchased early, cost $1,500, while Deer Valley comes in at $1,630.
For locals in Jackson, there’s always Grand Targhee at $600 and the in-town Snow King at $225. Options abound.
Vail hotel hosts locavores
VAIL, Colo. – The word “locavore” continues to creep into the lexicon of mountain towns, as across the continent. Instead of eating food that, on average, gets hauled 1,500 miles, locavores try to eat locally.
Hotels, in turn, have also been catering to this whim – for there’s no evidence yet that it’s a broad movement. Vail’s Cascade Resort recently offered what it called a “green” dining event. The food was primarily organic, but 98 percent of the food was secured within 100 miles of Vail.
Low-waste special
VAIL, Colo. – The idea of zero-waste special events has been spreading among ski towns. In Telluride, firefighters for the second year used compostable plates and cutlery for their community July Fourth picnic. Local environmental activist Kris Holstrom reported that 83 percent of trash was diverted from the landfill.
In Vail, a farmer’s market has become a big, big deal on Sundays. Recently, the town environmental sustainability coordinator, Kristen Bertuglia, enlisted cheerleaders from the local high school to encourage more recycling and composting at the weekly event.
