A rooftop solar array generates more than a quarter of all electricity consumed at Food Bank of the Rockies Western Slope Etkin Family Distribution Center in Grand Junction.
In 2022, Atlasta Solar Center in Grand Junction installed 100 solar panels during the construction of the new 50,400-square-foot distribution center. Atlasta also added two electric vehicle charging stations at the Food Bank, thanks to a donation from Bruce Etkin, after whom the distribution center is named. Adding solar to the building aligned with the Food Bank’s overall goal of being good stewards of natural resources, said Food Bank of the Rockies Western Slope Director Sue Ellen Rodwick.
Food Bank of the Rockies sought a more affordable and cleaner source of power to help offset its energy consumption, especially since refrigeration, freezing, and dehydrating — all critical components of the Food Bank’s operations — are all high-energy users, said Rodwick. The new center’s cold storage capacity alone is four-times larger than at the previous building.
The Food Bank initiated talks with Atlasta a few years ago about adding a solar system to its former Western Slope Distribution Center in Palisade. But the building needed a new roof before solar panels could be added and the Food Bank was outgrowing the 28,600-square-feet facility. So, when Food Bank of the Rockies decided to build a new, larger distribution center in Grand Junction, it was the ideal time to add solar panels.
“We were really excited to support their mission and reduce costs where they could as a nonprofit,” Atlasta project manager and co-owner Chris Campbell said.
While the new solar-powered Etkin Family Distribution Center nearly doubled in size compared to its former facility, its energy bill increased by just 50%, Rodwick noted.
The Western Slope Distribution Center is the first Food Bank of the Rockies facility to incorporate solar energy, and efforts are ongoing to increase the amount of power the panels generate.
“We’d like to have 250 KWh on the building as opposed to just 100KWh,” said Steve Kullberg, Chief of Staff for Food Bank of the Rockies. The solar system was designed to accommodate more panels if at some point Grand Valley Power, the site’s utility provider, allows more generation, added Kullberg.
Grand Valley Power limits the size of rooftop solar systems if generation exceeds demand in an area to maintain a safe and reliable grid, according to Grand Valley Power spokeswoman Rita Sanders.
In 2024, Food Bank of the Rockies Western Slope Etkin Family Distribution Center generated 160.742 megawatt hours of electricity. An analysis of the building’s solar system performance found that the amount of clean energy produced was equivalent to the energy used in traveling 505,990 miles in an electric car; or the amount of electricity needed to power 47 homes.
Carbon offsets achieved with the building’s solar power includes the avoidance of 130 metric tons of carbon dioxide — the equivalent of 30 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driving for one year, or 84 electric vehicles driving for one year. The solar panels avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to recycling 46 tons of waste as opposed to dumping the garbage in a landfill.
Another way to look at it: the carbon dioxide emissions avoided by using solar power is the equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from:
- 4,602 gallons of gasoline consumed
- 144,146 pounds of coal burned
- 14 homes’ energy use for one year
- 300 barrels of oil consumed
- 8 million Smartphones charged
Producing and using clean energy is a logical step for an organization concerned about reducing waste.
“A core element of Food Bank of the Rockies is sustainability, starting with our Food Rescue Program, which recovers high-quality food from stores and manufacturers and puts it into the hands of people who need it,” Rodwick said. The Food Rescue Program accounts for more than half of the food Food Bank of the Rockies distributes annually.
Discarded food makes up the single largest category of material dumped in municipal landfills, where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In addition to rescuing food from area grocery stores and manufacturers, Food Bank of the Rockies Western Slope collects apples, peaches, and pears considered “seconds” or “thirds” from local producers and turns them into nutritious fruit snacks for local children via the distribution center’s Dehydration Program, the only program of its kind in Feeding America’s network of 200 food banks nationwide.
Fresh produce no longer suitable for human consumption is shared with farmers and ranchers for their livestock, said Rodwick. If those food scraps become too ripe for farm animals, it is composted via Grand Junction’s composing pilot project — a win-win for all involved.
In addition to rescuing food and incorporating solar power, the Food Bank practices sustainability by first reusing and then recycling all of its cardboard and the plastic wrap that goes around food pallets.
“Our waste overall is less than 2%” — a high standard when it comes to food banks, shared Rodwick.
