This blog series covers the monthly La Plata Electric Association (LPEA)* Board of Directors meetings. We’re tracking the board for transparency and accountability, as well as to stay current on...
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Around 800 ballots were not delivered on time. If you didn't receive yours (or if you threw it away), call LPEA immediately. LPEA: (970) 247-5786 Did you vote yet?! If you...
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Photo: Ted Wood Storey Group In December and January, intense negotiations were ongoing over a Public Service Company of New Mexico-backed bill relating to the closure of the San Juan Generating Station, the coal-fired power plant near Farmington. This piece…
This blog series covers the monthly La Plata Electric Association (LPEA)* Board of Directors meetings. We’re tracking the board for transparency and accountability, as well as to stay current on...
Read More
It’s a challenging time for La Plata Electric Association. The electric utility world is undergoing a classic technology disruption, where rapid advances threaten to upend decades-old business models. LPEA is locked into a contract for the next 30 years with…
Regulations around energy production can be complicated, but it’s also really important to our region’s ability to pursue local renewable energy through our rural cooperatives. This week, we joined forces with our partners at Local First to file a motion to…
A major tenet of our work over the past decade has been that coal-fired power plants in the Four Corners region have exerted an enormous toll on human public health and natural systems (air, water, land). It is now apparent…
This blog series covers the monthly La Plata Electric Association (LPEA)* Board of Directors meetings. We’re tracking the board for transparency and accountability, as well as to stay current on...
Read More
This blog series covers the monthly La Plata Electric Association (LPEA)* Board of Directors meetings. We’re tracking the board for transparency and accountability, as well as to stay current on...
Read More
Was 2017 a challenging year? Hell yes. And that's why our work is so critical. We’re here because public and environmental health doesn’t always get prioritized over corporate interests. We’re...
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Photo: Anna Peterson Last week, we took three big steps toward a local, renewable energy future. We unveiled the extent of grassroots support in Durango, gained the City of Durango as an enthusiastic ally, and finally felt a breeze…
Photo: Alex Pullen Renewable energy buzzed at the center of several La Plata Electric Association* (LPEA) meetings last week. Monday, the LPEA Board of Directors discussed renewables in a work session. Tuesday night, LPEA staff held a packed public workshop…
Photo By: Lt. Zachary West As we stand transfixed by the enormously powerful hurricanes churning across the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, one can’t help but think about our place in the climate-change continuum. Here in the San Juan Basin,…
By Guest Blogger: Donna Stewart Part III in a four part series on Renewable Energy. See Part I, The Rising Tide of Renewable Energy and Part II, Solar Power: Who Came Up With That?? Ah, the Seventies! Paislies! Poofy smocks! Blondie,…
The August 2017 La Plata Electric Association (LPEA)* board meeting started off with some heat. It’s a little complicated, so let us lay it out for you: LPEA is a rural electric cooperative that buys 95% of its power…
By Guest Blogger: Donna Stewart Part II in a four part series on Renewable Energy. See Part I, The Rising Tide of Renewable Energy You could say solar power was “discovered” when humans first started strategically setting crops to optimize…
As the father of a 3-year-old boy, I’ve become an expert on the topic of momentum. You see, my little guy has yet to cross paths with a hill he doesn’t want to race down. Grassy, rocky, dirt, paved –…
As the world transforms in response to technological innovation and evolving political preferences, chaos claws at order, building the future with every rip and tear. It’s a painful thing, this process. Inevitable, yes, but still painful. In April, San Juan…
This holiday season I’d like to propose a corollary to Durango’s well-loved buy local movement: give local. December is a month awash in fundraising requests, and let’s face it: being on the receiving end can get tiresome. But let’s face…
In his Tuesday column, “The Republicans’ Incompetence Caucus,” conservative New York Times writer David Brooks excoriated the more radical elements of the Republican Party. Sordid intra-party politics playing out in broad daylight, now that’s a writer’s ticket. And yet, I’ll…
A do-over. That’s what we and our partners asked the Department of Interior (DOI) for when they released their Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Four Corners Power Plant and Navajo Mine Energy Project last year. Did we get…
We live in exciting times. Just how exciting? Check this out. What was a fairly sedate affair historically – the La Plata Electric Association annual board of director’s election – has transformed into a proxy vote for the community’s vision…
Over the past few weeks, one thing has become clear here in New Mexico: coal is a bad investment. Today, Public Service of New Mexico is charging ahead with a plan to continue burning coal at the nearby San Juan…
Am I a hypocrite? Of all the responses I get to this column, by far the most common attack pertains to my supposed hypocrisy. They usually go a lot like this: “Well hello to all you liberal brain dead fools!!!!…
Good news! (Kind of). Once again, election season is upon us. No, no – not the 2014 midterms. I’m talking about the annual La Plata Electric Association Board of Directors election. For the uninitiated, LPEA is our electric cooperative. Unlike…
