Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC) has energized two new solar arrays, bringing an additional 3 MW of solar power to its New Mexican customer base.
A 1.5 MW solar array located on Northern New Mexico College’s El Rito campus became operational on Dec. 20, 2019, and a 1.5 MW array located in Questa became operational on Jan. 2, 2020.
These two arrays help KCEC come even closer to meeting its goal of powering the communities it serves with 100% daytime solar energy by 2022. KCEC set this goal when it began its partnership with Guzman Energy, a wholesale power provider. This partnership will not only enable KCEC to meet its daytime solar goal but will ultimately decrease its wholesale power costs by approximately 40%.
Guzman Energy led the construction of the two arrays.
“We are proud of our quick progress in bringing cleaner, more affordable power that provides significant benefit to our community,” says Luis Reyes Jr., CEO of KCEC. “These two solar arrays, along with another currently under construction with Guzman Energy in Taos, have supported local jobs and investment and are having tangible economic benefits to our community.”
With these two new arrays becoming operational, KCEC now has 16 live solar arrays, bringing a total of 16.8 MW of solar power to local homes and businesses. Four more arrays are in development. Once completed, KCEC will have a total of 53 MW of renewable energy, including 38 MW of solar and 15 MW of storage capacity.
Photo: Luis Reyes Jr., CEO of KCEC
