Rural energy conference April 8-9, Denver

DENVER—Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) will co-sponsor the Colorado Wind & Distributed Energy: Renewables for Rural Prosperity Conference, April 8-9 in Denver. RMFU will partner with the Governor’s Office of Energy Management and Conservation (OEMC) as well as other organizations representing rural citizens in Colorado.

“Generation of energy in rural areas—both for use locally and to export to urban areas—has become viable with today’s technology,” said RMFU president John Stencel. “It is RMFU’s goal to educate rural Coloradoans about the possibility of energy generation to augment rural incomes and to stimulate economic activity at the local level.”

“Producers need to learn about this technology, its potential and its challenges, so that they work together proactively, rather than simply waiting until they are offered a contract to host an energy generation facility on their property,” Stencel said.

The Colorado Wind & Distributed Energy: Renewables for Rural Prosperity Conference is the first conference in Colorado to focus on how farmers, ranchers, rural electric cooperatives, and others interested in rural economic development can capture Colorado’s abundant wind energy resources and use locally-distributed energy (energy generated on a small scale and locally distributed) to improve the economy of local communities.

“We are excited to have Rocky Mountain Farmers Union as a co-sponsor of this conference and look forward to continued success in creating solutions to energy management issues in rural Colorado,” said OEMC Director Rick Grice.

The objective of the conference is to provide Colorado’s rural agricultural community with information on the latest technology and to demonstrate the mechanics of locally-generated and wind energy. The conference will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Denver. It is open to any member of the public. For more information and to register for the conference, visit the OEMC website at www.state.co.us/oemc or call 800-632-6662.