Sep. 13--MOSCA -- The first solar power plant in the state has started producing power.

SunEdison's photovoltaic solar plant, which sits 17 miles north of Alamosa, began generating power at the end of last month with an output of 3.6 megawatts, or 44 percent of its capacity. When construction on the plant is complete in December, the plant will produce 8.2 megawatts, enough energy to power nearly 1,500 homes. SunEdison is building, financing and maintaining the plant. The energy produced there is sold to Xcel Energy. Officials from the two companies broke ground on the facility in April. "The Alamosa solar facility is expected to play an important role in Colorado's renewable energy mix," said Karen Hyde, vice president of resource planning and acquisition for Xcel.

She said energy from the facility will help meet the state's renewable energy law, which requires investor-owned utilities to get 20 percent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2020. SunEdison founder Jigar Shah said when construction is complete, the company will have two employees maintain the 82-acre facility. Up to 70 tradesmen have been employed at the site during construction. At least two other companies -- SkyFuel and Ausra -- have said they would like to locate solar plants in the San Luis Valley, which was rated as having the best solar conditions in the state, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

While those plans call for facilities that would produce more power and use a different technology than SunEdison's, they may require more transmission lines to move the electricity from the region. SunEdison, a Maryland-based company, has completed more than 110 installations around the country, many of them in California. None, however, has a larger capacity than the San Luis Valley facility.