Associated Press

DENVER - The state’s largest electricity provider is asking utilities commissioners to approve a $1 billion wind project.

The Denver Post reports construction on the Rush Creek Wind Project could start late in 2017, with the wind farm potentially producing power before 2019.

Xcel Energy needs the Public Utilities Commission to approve several elements of the proposed project, like acquiring Rush Creek and having rate payers shoulder construction and maintenance costs.

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Spokesman Mark Stutz said the company is motivated by economics, and has already met a state mandate to use renewable sources to generate 30 percent of the electricity it sells.

Xcel Energy-Colorado president David Eves says the wind farm would cut carbon pollution by 1 million tons annually.

The wind farm would cover 90,000 acres across five eastern Colorado counties.

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