Colorado's Eastern Plains -- from Yuma County cornfields to Prowers County feedlots and the wheat and sorghum fields in Kiowa County -- are set to undergo their biggest transformation in more than a century as clean electricity is added to the crops they produce.

There is already a flurry of activity as wind and solar developers -- more than a dozen have turned up in Yuma and Kiowa counties -- are locking up acreage for prospective projects in leases with ranchers and farmers.

"We've had windmills around here for a long time. These are just bigger," said Jan Kochis, 73, whose family runs a farm and cattle operation in Elbert County, and already has wind turbines on her land, generating royalties. [...]

The spur for all this activity is Xcel Energy's recently approved $1.7 billion Power Pathway transmission project -- which will belt eastern Colorado with 560 miles of high-tension transmission lines -- an electric highway to Front Range cities and suburbs for new wind and solar installations.