La Plata County residents’ electric bills will be higher next year, and several board members say a mix-up in the voting process is at fault.

La Plata Electric Association board member Bob Lynch scheduled a November vacation expecting the panel to take the final vote the next month on the 2016 rate structure, as it had done in previous years. Instead, the final vote was held in November, and rate increases were approved, 6 to 5. Lynch said last week his vote would have saved residents from a higher electricity bill in the coming year.

In years past, in November LPEA’s board would take a preliminary vote on possible rate restructuring. If a resolution passed, a public notice would be sent out in advance of a final vote in December.

But this year, unbeknownst to some board members, the final vote to increase residential electric rates was held in November. Lynch, the missing member, said he would have voted against the price hike.

It would have deadlocked the LPEA board 6-6, and forced members to reach a compromise on rate structure. That could have prevented a usage rate jump of an estimated $5.25 a month, and a base rate increase from $20.50 to $21.50.

In actuality, this year’s process is what the board’s statute requires, said Dan Harms, manager of rates, technology and energy policy. Legal counsel caught that the board was doing it incorrectly, and recommended the board change.

“We had been doing it that way as long as I’ve been here,” said Harms, who’s been with LPEA for more than 15 years. “I don’t know exactly why that popped up.”

Although Harms said the board was properly notified of the change in the process, many members had different accounts. Britt Bassett, a District 3 representative, said in past years, a resolution presented in November of rate prices had the word “preliminary” included.

“The resolution this year didn’t have the word preliminary in there,” Bassett said. “It wasn’t pointed out to us that it had been changed, and we didn’t look close enough. So we’re at fault as well.”

In an attempt to reverse the November decision, member Mark Garcia last Wednesday proposed an amendment that would have kept the base charge at $20.50. With a full board, the motion failed on a 6 to 6 vote.

Board members Bassett, Jeff Berman, Garcia, Lynch, Jack Turner and Michael Rendon voted for the amendment; members Karen Barger, Tom Compton, Bob Formwalt, Kohler McInnis, Davin Montoya and Joe Wheeling were opposed.

“Making a decision and asking questions later is a bad way of operating,” Turner said Wednesday. “We were under the impression we’d have another chance to vote. So we tried to pass these amendments to at least try to offset some of the increases.

“But had Bob Lynch been here in November, none of this would have passed.”

The LPEA’s recent spat reflects a divisiveness among board members in recent years. Most say the split boils down to two philosophies: “progressive” members want to move away from Tri-State Energy and its reliance on coal toward a more local, renewable power grid. The other side is considered to be composed of more traditional members who think that process is not economically feasible.

The lines have become so entrenched, that on certain matters, such as electing a president and vice president, the board has resorted to flipping a coin.

“Our board is divided,” Compton said. “Where I disagree is we need to be cautious how rapidly we make that transition (away from coal). We don’t want to make any big mistakes moving away from a centralized power supply, and end up having power disruptions because our supply isn’t as secure as it needs to be.”

While some members push local energy sources, there’s no escaping the fact LPEA is under contract with Tri-State past the year 2050, and one of the conditions of the agreement limits locally sourced energy to 5 percent of the total power grid.

“It is a bit of a monopoly,” Harms said. “Though they wouldn’t like to hear that.”

The new rates take effect Jan. 1., and both LPEA staff and board members said they intend to revise the way they go about voting on new rates in the upcoming year to avoid any confusion.

Still, the dollar raise in base charges is further evidence of an increasing trend since the fee was instituted in 2006 at a rate of $10.80 a month. While the LPEA says those funds cover the cost of the infrastructure to deliver electricity to residents’ homes, some board members say the LPEA is moving in the wrong direction as a contributor to the escalating cost of living in La Plata County.

“What we’re creating, from a socioeconomic perspective, is not good,” Turner told the board Wednesday. “More than half our kids in public school are in the poverty level, and there’s a huge gap between the rich and poor. We’re supporting that gap.”

jromeo@durangoherald.com