Northern Colorado’s latest swing at a cleaner grid became official on Thursday, June 4, when officials and developers gathered in Ault, just north of Greeley, to break ground on the Weld Energy Center. The utility-scale battery is designed to soak up excess renewable power, then send it back to the grid during periods of peak demand, a move local leaders say will help head off outages and keep costs steadier for nearby communities.
Project basics and ownership
The 100-megawatt facility, capable of discharging about 400 megawatt-hours over four hours, will be owned and operated by Weld Energy Storage, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources. It will feed power into Platte River Power Authority’s system under a long-term storage agreement. According to Platte River Power Authority, the battery is sited next to the Black Hollow solar project and is expected to enter service in late 2026.
What officials said at the ceremony
At the ceremony, Platte River CEO Jason Frisbie called the build “a very, very significant project for Platte River” and said the output will flow through a new substation to communities including Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, and Estes Park. Those remarks and coverage of the groundbreaking were carried by CBS Colorado. Local leaders framed the Weld Energy Center as a key reliability tool as Platte River adds more wind and solar to its mix.
Investment, jobs, and local revenue
NextEra’s project page lists an estimated 141 million dollar investment for the Weld site, roughly 6.8 million dollars in county tax revenue, and about 300 construction jobs tied to the build. The developer says the project occupies about 25 acres next to the Severance substation and will generate long-term revenue for schools, emergency services, and other public infrastructure, per NextEra Energy Resources.
Permits, road work and timeline
Construction Review Online reports that a state construction permit was issued in mid-April and a Larimer County 1041 approval was secured, clearing the way for work that began in May and the June 4 groundbreaking ceremony. CBS Colorado also reported that NextEra said the project invested more than 1.1 million dollars to pave a county road connected to the site.
Where this fits in Platte River's plan
Platte River says the Weld Energy Center is one piece of a broader strategy to reach a 100 percent noncarbon energy mix while maintaining reliability and financial sustainability. That plan also leans on smaller distribution batteries and a virtual power plant, according to Platte River Power Authority. Local reporting after an April board meeting noted that the storage project will help support the planned retirement of the Rawhide coal unit by the end of 2029, while Platte River pursues additional capacity and temporary aeroderivative turbines during the transition, details that were covered by the Fort Collins Coloradoan.
For residents, the near-term promise is fewer emergency outages and a smoother ride as more wind and solar come online. For officials, the Weld Energy Center is a test case in how utility-scale batteries can add flexibility to a regional grid. Platte River and NextEra project pages carry technical summaries and permitting documents for neighbors and officials tracking construction into late 2026.
