The Network evolved from multiple years of ongoing collaboration as well as a series of workshops, presentations and discussions that began in 2016.

January 2016: “Clean Energy Conversation”

With the help of the Aspen Community Foundation, representatives of clean energy programs in Pitkin/Aspen, Garfield and Eagle Counties met to discuss the concept of a shared clean energy vision for the region and how programs can be more aligned. Joining Vision and Action, which facilitated the meeting, prepared this final report.

March 2017: “Clean Innovative Energy Sources to Power Our Region: Creating Pathways for Reaching Energy Targets and Economic Resilience”

This workshop, convened by CLEER, CORE, GCE, CMC and multiple other sponsors in Glenwood Springs resulted in a commitment from partners to work for regional development of clean energy resources for economic development, and led to a follow-up workshop focusing on solar development.

July 2017: “Maximizing Solar to Power our Region”

Following up on the March event, this workshop focused specifically on maximizing regional development of solar to meet targets and to maximize economic development benefits, and resulted in partners submitting a successful application to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Solar Energy Innovation Network to receive technical support and assistance from NREL.

December 2018: “Regional Clean Energy Corridor Roundtable”

As part of our region’s participation in NREL’s Solar Energy Innovation Network, partners tapped assistance from Rocky Mountain Institute and NREL to organize this gathering as a first step in developing a Renewable Energy Roadmap. At the roundtable, partners expressed interest in forming a Regional Clean Energy Corridor Network and committed to a follow-up workshop with NREL to create a first-draft renewable energy road map.

February 2019:  “NREL Renewable Energy Road Map Workshop”

Facilitated by NREL staff, this event was well-attended by representatives from all three counties and numerous organizations and businesses. It laid important groundwork by generating a list of projects that led to the DOLA grant and overall next steps on a network, as well as a list of objectives and key results. You can download this summary of results.