Capital Development Committee approves Sage Ridge land lease for agrivoltaic demonstration and community solar

The Capital Development Committee voted unanimously on Feb. 5 to approve a Department of Personnel Administration land‑lease that will allow development of a multi‑partner agrivoltaics demonstration and community solar garden on unused parts of the Sage Ridge property.

Under the proposal presented to the committee, developers would use about 100 acres of the roughly 400‑acre state parcel to construct up to 4 megawatts AC of solar generation and to support a small grazing herd for research. Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) will receive a lease payment of $45 per acre per year during development and $500 per acre per year during the operational phase, and Sage Ridge’s facility is expected to receive a portion of the generated renewable energy to reduce its utility costs.

"This is a multi‑stakeholder project," said Caitlin Casassa, director of sustainability for the state, who introduced the project on behalf of the Office of Sustainability. Casassa said the project grew out of earlier statutory direction tied to Senate Bill 22,211 and the transfer of the Ridgeview Youth Services Center property to the state for reuse.

Colorado State University will use the site as a control and research location to study how solar arrays affect forage production, plant diversity and soil health, and to evaluate herd health in consultation with CSU animal scientists, Professor Alan Knapp said. HUA Enterprises, the ranching partner, described prior experience grazing livestock under solar arrays and said proper breed selection and site preparation can avoid damage to equipment.

Developers said the project will reserve roughly half of the community solar garden’s subscriptions for income‑qualified households, subject to final program rules and utility tariff arrangements. Sunshare Community Solar, the developer, and the project team said they will work through Xcel Energy interconnection and permitting and plan to submit required decommissioning plans as part of the local permitting process.

Committee members pressed the panel on practical matters including how high panels must be installed to safely accommodate cattle, who will cover water and transportation costs for livestock, and what happens to site infrastructure at the end of the project. Josh Bennett of HUA Enterprises said prior sites with 5–5.5 foot mounting tubes sustained grazing without module damage, though raising modules to 10 feet can add cost. Casassa said the team expects to pursue grant funding and cost‑share so the state does not bear significant water or transport expenses. The land‑lease and local permits require a decommissioning plan to restore land at lease end, Casassa and Sunshare said, though they left open the possibility of a lease extension.

A committee member moved to approve DPA’s request "to redevelop unused state‑owned real property at Sage Ridge through a land lease agreement for use as a solar energy production site." The clerk called the roll; votes recorded were Henriksen (yes), Lindsay (yes), Pelton (aye), Winter (yes), Story (yes) and the chair (yes). The motion passed unanimously.

Next steps for the project include finalizing the lease language, completing utility interconnection steps with Xcel Energy, working through grant applications and rule‑making where required, and returning to any local permits and state approvals that remain outstanding.