Utility officials flipped the switch on Colorado’s newest, huge solar power plant on Dec. 23. The 50-megawatt, Hooper solar power plant covering 320 acres in the San Luis Valley started commercial operation, sending power to Colorado customers of Xcel Energy Inc., the utility announced. Xcel's partner on the project is SunPower Corp., based in San Jose, California. The plant can generate enough electricity to serve about 13,500 average Colorado homes, Xcel said. SunPower designed and built the plant, It will operate and maintain it onsite, monitoring power production from the company’s remote operations control center in Austin, Tex. More than 150 jobs were created at the project site during peak construction.