$1.4 million grant request for Rico town-wide electric service reliability battery backup system submitted by SMPA

SMPA applied June 12, 2024 for Colorado Microgrids for Community Resiliency grant for Rico project
. . .
$1,414,500 grant requested
. . .
estimated total cost $1,885,400
. . .
1,320 kiloWatthours (kWh) of electric energy storage capacity

top photo
Battery compartment at a Telluride (Colorado) school. Its electric energy storage capacity is 550 kWh - Rico's will be more than double and will supply the entire town.
. . courtesy of Terry Schuyler - Soleil Services

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Updated July 25 at 2:45 PM
to correct error in headline
which stated the SMPA grant request
was approved
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An email message from San Miguel Power Association special projects consultant Terry Schuyler described the proposed Rico microgrid construction project:

. . .

July 18, 2024

SMPA submitted an MCR Construction grant on June 12 for four separate projects totaling nearly $3.5 M. The application for Rico was for a project entitled Storage System for Town of Rico Microgrid for Community Resilience. The system included a 1.32 MWh battery storage system with microgrid controls. SMPA requested $1,414,500 for the procurement and construction of the system estimated to cost $1,885,400. Should we receive the award we would explore the financial feasibility of the project based on the final award amount and if the Board approves proceeding, generate a public RFP to contract with an EPC firm to move forward.

SMPA 2024 Colorado grant application proposal described Rico's need

The microgrid storage system project being proposed resulted from the work performed in a DOLA State MCR Planning grant that SMPA was awarded in June 2023 (MCRG P23007 – Rico Microgrid For Community Resilience). The original microgrid design included a community solar system integrated to a central battery storage with microgrid controls. The combined system would provide the Town of Rico with four plus hours of power delivery resilience and locally produced renewable energy.

The Town of Rico receives its electrical power from a single 3-phase radial distribution feeder. There is no other distribution loop to provide the town power. The town is situated in a narrow alpine valley surrounded by steep mountains. The distribution line traverses through rugged mountain terrain over Lizard Head Pass and down CO Hwy 145, crossing the Dolores River in several locations. Because of this the line must remain overhead rather than underground. Whereas SMPA conducts routine vegetation management, avalanches, slides and heavy winds can cause trees and snow to damage the line. This causes frequent and sometimes extended outages to the residents and businesses of Rico. The last significant outage occurred on Jan 18th, 2023, and lasted for more than 3.5 hours. The town hosts numerous anchor institutions including a Fire Station, gas station/convenience store, municipal buildings, restaurants, cell phone business, retail businesses, and historic buildings that serve the nearly 350 residents. The conditions that cause the power outages are often accompanied by road closures and loss of communications (Century Link and local cell service) which further isolate the town in times of need.

The planning grant explored several town-owned and mining reclamation brown field parcels (owned by Atlantic Richfield ARCO) for the location of the community solar system. As the quarterly reports outline, no suitable location for the solar array could be identified. However, the feasibility study has revealed a mature storage/control system design that once installed would provide the targeted level of power deliver reliability to greatly improve the electrical resilience of this vulnerable community.

Because the battery system becomes the anchor microgrid component, one or more future solar arrays can be added to this circuit over time, with no requirement that they be installed concurrently with the storage system. All existing and future local net metered solar systems will AC couple to the grid formed by the battery system and provide load offset and potential charging of the storage system in an extended outage, while increasing the local supply of renewable energy generation.

SMPA will continue to work with the Town and ARCO to vet alternatives for a larger array, but feels it is important at this time to proceed with the implementation of the storage/controls system to enable the desired resilience in the most expeditions manner.

A Colorado grant received in 2023 supported SMPA's Rico microgrid planning

excerpt below from
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Annual Report: Microgrids for Community Resilience HB22-1013 Grant Program
December 1, 2023

. . .

In Colorado’s 2022 legislative session, House Bill 22-1013 created the Microgrids for Community Resilience Grant Program (MCR) in Colorado Revised Statute (C.R.S.) 40-9.8-101. The Microgrids for Community Resilience (MCR) grant program is designed to build community resilience regarding electric grid disruptions through the development of microgrids. The Microgrids for Community Resilience grants are to cooperative electric associations and municipally owned utilities to establish microgrid resources for rural communities. . . .

San Miguel Power Association (Dolores County): Rico Microgrid for Community Resilience

• Final Award: $30,000
• SMPA is undertaking a feasibility and proforma study to explore a solar/storage microgrid dedicated to supporting the Town of Rico. Rico, as a remote town with a single-phase radial distribution feeder, frequently experiences power outages.
• Kilowatt Hours (kWh) Expected of Generation: TBD

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