Energy.gov

Tri-State Generation and Transmissions Association (Tri-State) and San Isabel Electric Association (San Isabel) of Colorado have been recognized by the Energy Department and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NREA) as the 2014 WINDExchange Wind Cooperatives of the Year. 

This award honors electric cooperatives that demonstrate outstanding leadership in advancing U.S. wind power, and together, Tri-State and San Isabel are expanding the use of low-cost wind energy, and supporting job creation and economic development within their service territories.  The dual recipients of this year’s award were selected by a panel of industry, government, and national laboratory judges, and were evaluated on their corporate leadership, project innovation, and benefits to customers.

Tri-State has been integrating wind energy into the electricity it supplies since 1998, and serves more than 1.5 million customers across 200,000 square miles in four states.

San Isabel, one of Tri-State’s members, is conveniently located near some of Colorado’s’ strongest winds, enabling it to be one of the largest community-owned, distributed generation wind facility in the region.  Together, Tri-State and San Isabel are collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute in the implementation of a pilot program to store excess wind as hot water for household use.

Wind power helps in job creation with over 50,000 jobs across the country, provides cost- competitive energy, and eliminates more than 115 electric metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions which is equal to removing 20 million cars from the road.

The Wind Program is committed to developing and deploying a portfolio of innovative technologies for clean, domestic power generation to support an ever-growing industry.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) success stories highlight the positive impact of its work with businesses, industry partners, universities, research labs, and other entities.