Solar permitting — Montrose County, Colorado
3 known opposition groups.
Western slope county with some flat land suitable for solar; Tri-State G&T territory creates grid complexity;. Permitting: Special Use Permit; 150-ft setback. Track record: Horsefly Solar (~8 MW, 2023). Political environment: Republi…
Key driver: Western slope county with some flat land suitable for solar; Tri-State G&T territory creates grid complexity; moderate county regulation; growing but conservative community
Permitting process
Local permitting pathway
Special Use Permit (county planning)
Setbacks & buffers
150 ft from non-participating residences
Spacing requirements
None specified
Size restrictions
<50 MW county SUP; >50 MW CEO review
Penalties & bonding
No penalties or adjustments. Standard CUP/SUP process.
State-level permits & approvals
County zoning; HB 23-1232 CEO review >50 MW; decommissioning bond required
Full records for this county are part of a SitePath subscription.
State policy & grid context
State RPS & clean energy policy
100% clean by 2050, 80% by 2030 for IOUs | SB19-236 Colorado Clean Energy Plan | C.R.S. §40-2-124 & §40-2-125.5
State incentive programs
Federal ITC; Colorado Clean Energy Fund; Xcel RE procurement programs
Grid & interconnection
Tri-State G&T / WECC
Full records for this county are part of a SitePath subscription.
Community opposition P1 3 tracked
Organized opposition signals on record for this county — petitions, community groups, and oppositional coverage — each linked to its primary source.
- A sharp turn against solar in Montrose County? Storage
- Montrose is the only county in Colorado with a ban on large-scale solar still in place Solar
- A bright light in Montrose County: Solar moratorium (hopefully) coming to an end Solar
SitePath maintains the most complete community-opposition dataset available, refreshed continuously from primary sources.
Subscriber intel Subscribers
Researched for this county and available with a subscription:
- 🔒Project track record
- 🔒Developer intelligence
- 🔒Community & board sentiment
- 🔒Governing board
Energy-related meetings & dockets P1
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
State PSC dockets P1
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
Sentiment rollup P2
No sentiment rollup yet (requires meeting transcripts to be processed).
Local news P3
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
Filter by grade, state, moratorium status, and compliance stringency. Compare counties side by side.