Let Earth Day be your reason to save energy and money

For those of us who get to call western Colorado home, Earth Day is our annual reminder to celebrate and care for this special patch of earth.

People give back to the planet in many ways – cleaning up rivers, protecting wildlife, reducing waste. One of the most impactful ways to lower our impact on the earth is to reduce our energy consumption and emissions.

That’s where Garfield Clean Energy comes in. GCE’s role is to help the residents, businesses and local governments of this county save energy in ways that save money and benefit our local economy.

And there are so many opportunities to do just that.

There has never been a better time to weatherize your home or upgrade to a heat pump heating/cooling system or heat pump water heater. CORE has recently started offering rebates in Garfield County, so you can save up to 50% on the cost of such projects – and you can stack that with other incentives to reduce your cost even further. If you’re an Xcel Energy customer, take advantage of special tripled rebates for some measures in 2025. If Holy Cross Energy is your electric utility, you can tap into some of the most generous rebates around.

Opportunities abound in transportation, too, as the economic advantages of switching to an electric vehicle are considerable. An EV costs about a third as much to operate as a comparable gas vehicle, and in 2025 there are still amazing state incentives that make many EV models highly affordable to purchase. That goes for used EVs too, and if you’re income qualified you can even get an extra sum for trading in your old gas car.

Meanwhile, rooftop solar continues to be a profitable proposition for many homeowners. A rule of thumb in our area is that if you’ve got a suitable roof and you pay more than about $50 a month for electricity, you’ll save money by installing solar. Thanks to tax credits, your system will pay for itself in 11 years, and by year 20 you will have saved over $10,000.

If rooftop solar doesn’t work for you, get on the list for a community solar project – you’ll pay less for electricity each month, and have the satisfaction of knowing you’re helping drive the clean energy transition.

So let Earth Day be your prompt to save energy and cut emissions. When you do, every day will be Earth Day – and a payday, thanks to the money you’ll be saving!