{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Flanigan's Eco-Logic","title":"Bryan Hannegan -- U.S. Utility Runs on 100% Renewable Power","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2022,"description":"Bryan Hannegan is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Holy Cross Energy (HCE), an electric cooperative in the mountains of Colorado. He appeared on the podcast in 2021 talking about how to create the utility of the future. Now he reports on results and the remarkable accomplishment  that HCE operated with 100% renewable power in the month of March 2026.\nThe conversation begins by digging into the 100% clean energy accomplishment, that Bryan describes as an intermediate step toward the goal for delivering clean energy every hour of every day by 2030. That's HCE's goal and it is an ambitious goal. What happened in March is that HCE was able to procure an equal amount of renewable energy to meet the amount demanded by HCE's 60,000 delivery points. The supply included projects under contracts as well as power from wholesale partners. Fully 60% of that power was time matched... generated in the hour that it was consumed. \nBryan described HCE's accomplishment in March like hiking a mountain and reaching a flat spot on the trail up to the summit... there's still a steep vertical face up to the summit. A number of factors made the March milestone possible: HCE is a winter-peaking utility, serving two of Colorado's premier ski resorts and their surrounding communities. Spring is a time of rest... when demand hits an ebb of about 100 MW versus HCE's 300 MW winter peak. March was very sunny and strong winds were constant. Fully 60% of the power delivered was from projects directly contracted by HCE... they serve HCE directly, the transmission in HCE's name. \"Those are about as clean a shot as one can get,\" noted Bryan. The other 40% are bundled market purchases in which HCE buys energy and their renewable energy certificates.\nThe conversation shifts to utility resource planning and to the concept of stacking renewable resources, and the need to do so given the inherent variability of renewables like wind and solar. Diversity is key, noted Bryan. HCE is pleased to...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/7kUbICrzk0aEuZffrVBGprBuBqZJlmqp9h-fda_2pHg/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzM1MTQ0LzE3MTE1/NjgzMTctYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}