June marks a significant milestone among rural electric cooperatives within the Tri-State system, notably for our neighbor Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in Taos, New Mexico. Six years ago, Kit Carson blazed a new path for electric co-ops in our region…
Electricity customers across Southwest Colorado have the opportunity this month to provide feedback about the future of our electricity supply. The Colorado Public Utility Commission is reviewing plans for long-term electric generation resources put forth by Tri-State Generation and Transmission,…
A friend recently lamented the apparent disappearance of Colorado’s trademark cobalt blue skies, those piercingly clear summer days in the mountains when you can see almost forever. Instead, our peaks and valleys are obscured by smoke in a ritual repeated…
Events of the past year drove home the reality of our changing climate. Colorado experienced the three largest wildfires in recorded history, two of which burned across high mountain forests in October, a month normally reserved for the onset of…
The accelerating transition from coal-fired electricity to renewables is great news for the climate, but poses tough economic challenges to dependent communities like Farmington and Shiprock, New Mexico. After decades of a local economy linked to the jobs around mining…
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…
One of the noticeable, and remarkable, changes in recent years has been the dramatic improvement in visibility and air pollution in the Four Corners. Longer-term residents routinely comment on the increased clarity and the sharper vistas of distant ranges like…
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…
New Mexico and the Four Corners is experiencing a transition that, far from being unique, is mirrored in coal regions across the nation. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the market reality is that coal is being left behind by…
In just a few weeks, Public Service Co. of New Mexico will initiate the process to officially retire the San Juan Generating Station, the 1,600-megawatt, coal-fired behemoth outside Farmington that once burned coal day and night to generate electricity. It’s…
The Four Corners finds itself in an unprecedented economic landscape and elected officials are choosing to expend valuable time, resources and money pointing fingers and aggressively combatting the entities working to make sure our communities don’t get left behind. The…
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….
New Mexico just passed one of the most progressive energy transition bills in the country! The Energy Transition Act (ETA), which just passed the house and now heads to the Governor’s desk, paves the way for a just transition to…
Woot woot! A new Governor in New Mexico along with a host of bold, progressive, new State House representatives, looking to the future and creating opportunities. We’re hopeful we can make big strides in clean energy, a just transition for…
After almost 6 years spent outside of Farmington and San Juan County, it is great to be back in the community I grew up in and will always call home. It is refreshing to experience the kindness I remember being…
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…
This fall, over 175,000 people commented against a proposed delay of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) methane rule, a rule that is particularly important for those of us under the Four Corners Methane Hotspot and suffer the royalty losses,…
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 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,…
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….
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…
By Mike Eisenfeld, Energy & Climate Programs Director Last week, I attended the full, four-hour Farmington, NM City Council meeting. The Farmington Electric Utility System (FEUS) and their consultant, NewGen, presented to the Council. The City hired NewGen for 200,000…
Friends, At the close of the constitutional convention in 1787, Ben Franklin strode out the doors of Independence Hall to be greeted by a question from an onlooker in the crowd. “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a…
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…
The Four Corners Power Plant (FCPP) and Navajo Mine complex is a massive source of pollution. It can’t be permitted to operate until 2041. Learn More. Amid last year’s crumbling coal economy, and despite promises to address climate change, the Obama Administration approved a…
Last week Peabody Coal joined Arch, Alpha, Patriot, and other US companies in bankruptcy. This progression of bankruptcies is raising a myriad of concerns about the financial viability of coal, the future costs of clean up, the dangers of self-bonding,…
Photo Credit: EcoFlight This is a huge moment. Today we joined together with Diné CARE and other regional and national conservation groups to seek justice for the communities and species threatened by the the Four Corners Power Plant and Navajo…
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…
