I want to serve as a Holy Cross Energy Board member because I want to put my skills, creativity, and expertise to work for our community to add to the legacy of service Holy Cross exemplifies. My three areas of focus as a board member will be:

1. Clean energy. Holy Cross has aggressive goals to reduce carbon emissions and a vision of carbon-free electricity by 2030 that they have made incredible strides towards achieving. I want to ensure Holy Cross Energy realizes its vision for a clean energy future while fostering the growth of cost-effective renewable energy in our local community, maximizing resilience and energy independence benefits of the clean energy transition.

2. Affordability. Affordability is a vital part of a clean energy future. In a community like ours, where affordability of everyday life can feel unattainable at times, it’s critical that basic needs, specifically, electricity, stay competitively priced.

3. Engagement. HCE is a member-owned cooperative, meaning the utility is not responsible to any investors, but to all of us, its owners. I want to foster stronger community connections to reach more co-op members, including but not limited to renters, younger members, and our Latino community to participate in programs and services Holy Cross offers to save members money, and engage co-op members in important discussions about how Holy Cross can continue to be a strong community partner into the future.

In the next five years, Holy Cross Energy (HCE) will face the challenge of balancing renewable energy, specifically, locally produced energy, with affordability of our electricity supply. The key opportunity for HCE will be to develop a community-led solution that enables local renewable generation and leads to the achievement of HCE’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030 while maintaining energy affordability for its members.

Local renewable energy offers several benefits, including increased resilience, energy independence, and lower electricity bills for system owners. It is widely integrated into homes, businesses, and government properties, with some areas requiring solar through building codes. However, there can be challenges from a utility perspective. Without storage systems, local renewable energy can cause oversupply during peak generation times, followed by undersupply at night when solar systems stop producing. This requires HCE to purchase expensive power from gas and coal plants to fill the gap, which can drive up rates. Moreover, small renewable energy systems are more costly for HCE compared to larger, utility-scale solar projects, which provide cheaper electricity rates than what customers receive through net-metering.

Within this challenge there is an opportunity for HCE to define a collaborative, community-led solution. By robustly engaging with members, HCE can understand the community’s values around local resilience, energy independence, and affordability, to develop an approach for locally sourced renewable power. This collaborative approach will allow HCE to meet its clean energy and affordability goals, ensuring the co-op remains a resilient and sustainable resource for its members.

My experience in energy systems, building codes, and working with diverse stakeholders will be a valuable asset to the Holy Cross Board. I am skilled in facilitating consensus among varied groups and believe that my ability to bring people together on challenging topics will be crucial as Holy Cross works toward its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030. I am committed to leveraging my expertise in policy development and collaborative leadership to support Holy Cross Energy’s mission and contribute to its ongoing success.

I bring a decade of experience in the field of energy and sustainability, with expertise in building energy policy, climate action, and community engagement. Currently, as Managing Director at Lotus Engineering & Sustainability, I lead climate mitigation and resilience projects in Colorado and the Mountain West. This includes facilitating state-level building and climate policy development, updating local building codes to improve energy efficiency, and leading efforts to implement net-zero building codes across the Holy Cross Energy region. 

As a Northern District candidate, I’ve worked directly with the Towns of Vail, Avon, and Eagle, as well as Eagle County on energy policy development and implementation. I have proven facilitation and consensus-building skills, which I will use to work collaboratively with Board members and staff to support Holy Cross’s mission.