Colorado Co-Op Holy Cross Energy Achieves 100% Renewable Power This Spring

Electric cooperative Holy Cross Energy was able to provide 100% of its members’ energy needs with renewable power for the first time.

The Colorado-based company achieved its “100×30” goal of providing 100% renewable electricity in March. Holy Cross Energy (HCE) attributes March’s success to a combination of mild temperatures and lower customer demand, mixed with higher wind and solar electricity production. In 2025, the co-op’s generation mix averaged 85% clean energy the entire year.

Recent renewable HCE production includes Bronco Plains II wind farm (a project shared with Guzman Energy), the Hunter Solar array (shared with CORE Electric Cooperative), three solar-plus-storage facilities directly connected to the HCE distribution system, and a variety of distributed hydro and solar facilities, according to a release.

Electric cooperatives power 56% of the U.S. landmass, impacting the lives of 42 million people by providing electricity to homes, small businesses and farms, according to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. These customer-owned, not-for-profit utilities operate under a community-focused model to focus solely on providing affordable electricity for their members rather than generating profits for outside investors.

“Providing 100% renewable electricity – even for just one month – is an important achievement and reflects the hard work of our employees and the vision of our Board of Directors,” Holy Cross Energy President and CEO Bryan Hannegan said in a statement. “While this is a proud moment, we still have important work ahead to achieve our 2030 goal throughout an entire year, in a responsible way.”

Holy Cross Energy also credits its partner, The Energy Authority (TEA), which reportedly played a key role in the company’s spring success. TEA functions as an extension of HCE’s staff, utilizing advanced analytics to scale renewable energy adoption while maintaining grid reliability and operational budgets.

By leveraging its wholesale power supply agreement with interstate utility Xcel Energy, HCE states it is meeting residual energy supply and capacity needs while increasing its renewable power supply. Year-to-date through the end of April, HCE claims it has delivered an average of 92% clean energy to its members, with some hours surpassing 100% on sunny or windy days when production outpaces local power needs. HCE is able to then export excess clean power to neighboring grids.

Holy Cross Energy adds that approximately 60% of its clean energy comes from projects built specifically for and contracted to them. This portion of energy is time-matched through renewable energy certificates, which require that clean energy generation and consumption be paired in real time. The remaining 40% supplied by wholesale partners is not time-matched.

Currently, HCE serves more than 45,000 members in western Colorado and states that its membership is open to everyone in its service territory.