La Plata Electric Association’s board of directors voted in February to dramatically revamp our local source of electricity. In a unanimous decision, the board agreed to a partial buyout of its existing electricity supply contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission….
LPEA Election Results We’re thrilled that the LPEA elections resulted in a majority board supportive of local renewable energy. The results were: District 1 (Archuleta County): incumbent Kirsten Skeehan (1,281 votes) defeated Veronica Medina (434 votes). District 2 (south and…
Spring is upon us and in Southwest Colorado that means forthcoming elections for the La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) Board of Directors. Each year, the member-owners of LPEA (anyone with an electric meter account) choose the directors to manage the electric cooperative….
Last week, La Plata Electric Association inched closer to gaining the basic information it has long desired to evaluate whether it makes sense to stay with Tri-State Generation and Transmission as its wholesale electricity supplier or jump ship to potentially…
The transformation in Colorado’s energy landscape over the past year is nothing short of breathtaking. A good part of that transformation owes to the leadership of La Plata Electric Association. Who might have imagined a year ago that LPEA would…
Spring is in the air, and with it comes potentially big changes for our electric power supply. Leadership changes abound at both our local rural electric cooperative, La Plata Electric Association, and its wholesale electric supplier, Tri-State Generating and Transmission….
Photo: Wildearth Guardians, Flickr The comedian Lily Tomlin used to have a favorite shtick where she played Ernestine, the snorting, smirking phone operator. She would end her bit with the line, “We don’t care, we don’t have to, we’re the…
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…
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…
A few weeks ago, we sent forth our champion with bated breath and hopeful expectations to plead our case before Tri-State, to please allow us to generate more electricity locally here at home in La Plata Electric Association’s service area….
“It’s all about the economics,” the expert said. “Technologies have improved to make other forms of energy less expensive than coal.” One might figure sure, that’s some tree-hugging environmentalist arguing for solar and wind energy. But in fact, that’s the…
By Guest Blogger: Donna Stewart Part I in a four part series on Renewable Energy. See Part II,Solar Power: Who Came Up With That?? and Part III, Check’n New Solar System(s) “A dam about to break.” That’s how Chris Riley, President…
It’s election time! No, not that one. There’s one here locally from which the presidential race could learn some lessons. Imagine if the national election were more like that of our local La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) Board of Directors: 2 months…
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…
