CORE Energy Warrior Awards 2020

Chris Bilby, Research and Program Engineer

For his leadership in innovation, we’re honored to present this utility professional with a 2020 Energy Warrior Award in the Professional category. As the Research and Program Engineer at Holy Cross Energy (HCE), this Energy Warrior occupies a unique position at the nonprofit electric co-op and in the valley; he bridges the worlds between operation of HCE’s power grid and the way its 55,000+ members interact with it. The Basalt Vista project, the first net-zero affordable neighborhood in rural Colorado (a partnership led by Habitat for Humanity), is one example of how he is driving change. His holistic vision ensured that this residential project offered leading edge technologies to homeowners — features like all-electric heating, solar PV, electric vehicle charging and battery storage — that transformed residences into individual power plants of their own that could feed back into the HCE grid. This triple win (affordable, carbon-free and flexible to clean energy’s variability) are indicative of his approach on HCE’s Power Supply Team, a benefit to the entire valley. These include: authoring the utility’s vehicle electrification plan and Peak Time Payback program; collaborating with RFTA on electrifying transit buses; and growing the Level 2 and Level 3 EV charging network in the Valley. As CORE’s Program Director Marty Treadway says of the winner, “He is personally more passionate about energy and carbon than anyone I’ve ever met, and he works at a utility, where they’re doing the work: providing us power.”

CORE is delighted to introduce Chris Bilby, 2020 Energy Warrior Award winner in the Professional/Innovation category.