Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC) has been awarded $231 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program. This investment will support the construction of a renewable energy facility featuring green hydrogen and solar generation, coupled with advanced battery energy storage systems, aimed at improving energy resilience across KCEC's service area.
Key Project Details and Anticipated Impact:
- Energy Capacity: The facility will generate 104 MW of energy using 100% renewable resources, including green hydrogen, with storage capabilities designed for long-duration use.
- Community Benefits: The project is expected to provide power to approximately 25,000 homes, generate $298 million in economic benefits for rural communities, and create up to 350 construction jobs.
- Environmental Impact: The initiative aims to reduce carbon emissions by nearly 98,000 tons annually, equivalent to removing over 20,700 gasoline-powered vehicles from the road.
- Economic Contributions: The project is projected to generate over $44 million in tax revenue within the next five years, directly benefiting local communities, including Native American tribes within KCEC’s service area.
The project will include solar-powered green hydrogen production, leveraging repurposed wastewater from a former mining site in Questa, NM, and advanced energy storage technology capable of lasting up to 16 hours. Once completed, the facility will transform KCEC’s energy infrastructure, improving system reliability and resilience.
KCEC’s energy transition strategy, launched nearly a decade ago, has already achieved major milestones. In 2016, the KCEC Board of Trustees set a goal of reaching 100% daytime solar power by 2022 while stabilizing energy costs. Both goals were achieved through a partnership with wholesale power provider Guzman Energy.
Currently, KCEC operates 42 MW of distributed solar and 16.25 MW of battery energy storage systems across its territory. The new project will further expand KCEC’s renewable energy portfolio, aligning with New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act (ETA) and positioning KCEC as a national leader in clean energy.
Upon completion, the Questa Green Hydrogen Project will serve as one of the first end-to-end clean-powered green hydrogen production facilities in the U.S., offering a scalable model for other cooperatives and organizations pursuing clean energy initiatives.
