Pitkin County Commissioning AABC Clean Energy Microgrid

What happens to the lights in the Aspen Airport Business Center when the power goes out for three days straight?

That’s the question keeping local planners up at night, or at least it did before Tuesday’s announcement. Pitkin County, Holy Cross Energy, and the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) confirmed they’ve successfully commissioned the AABC Integrated Clean Energy Microgrid. It’s not just a battery bank sitting in a warehouse. It’s a system designed to keep essential public services running when the main grid fails.

Picture this: a wildfire cuts the high-voltage lines. The rest of the valley goes dark. But inside the AABC, the lights stay on. The computers keep humming. The emergency operations center stays online.

This is the promise of the project, and it’s one that’s been years in the making.

The collaboration didn’t start in a vacuum. It began in the aftermath of the Lake Christine Fire in 2018. That blaze forced officials to look at the upper Roaring Fork Valley’s fragile power infrastructure and ask if they were actually ready for the next big disaster. The result was a deep dive into resilience, culminating in an RMI report titled Working Together Towards a More Resilient Future. The report argued that distributed clean energy could replace fossil fuel reliance during emergencies. Tuesday’s commissioning is the physical proof of that theory.

“We’re creating a model for how communities can prepare for future challenges while reducing emissions and increasing energy independence,” Holy Cross Energy President and CEO Bryan Hannegan said.

It’s a clean pitch. And it’s true. The microgrid integrates the 5-megawatt Pitkin County Solar array with a large-scale Battery Energy Storage System. Advanced controls allow the AABC — which includes the RFTA operations center — to operate as an “energy island.” It disconnects from the main grid and sustains itself.

The local electric cooperative provided the technical expertise to make sure the renewable generation, storage, and critical facilities could talk to each other without tripping breakers. They designed a solution that enhances grid reliability while supporting local energy resilience.

Jeffrey Woodruff, Pitkin County Commissioner Board Chair, noted that continuity planning and disaster recovery are central to their resiliency team’s efforts. They’re trying to stay ahead of natural disasters. This project is their answer.

Here’s the thing though: this isn’t just about keeping the airport lights on. It’s about what happens to the rest of the valley when the grid is stressed. By isolating critical infrastructure, the AABC microgrid reduces the load on the broader system during peak demand or outages. It’s a buffer. A shock absorber.

The project represents the culmination of years of planning, feasibility studies, and state-supported innovation. It’s being called one of Colorado’s most advanced examples of a clean-energy microgrid designed for public-sector resilience.

Not exactly a small feat.

The collaboration brings together three distinct entities with different priorities. Pitkin County wants resilience. The utility wants to deliver innovative solutions to its members. RFTA needs reliable power for its operations center. They found common ground in the wake of a fire that taught them the hard way how quickly things can go wrong.

The system is now live. It’s operational. It’s ready to catch the next grid failure.

As the sun sets over the Roaring Fork Valley, the solar array at the AABC finishes its daily charge. The batteries fill up. The controls run diagnostics. And somewhere in the control room, a single light stays on, waiting for the moment the rest of the world goes dark.