As LPEA’s director appointed to serve on Tri-State’s board, a frequent question I receive is, “Why did you vote to keep the Tri-State 5 percent self-generation provision and not increase it?”
My vote supported lower rates and ensured further discussion. My vote wasn’t against renewables or LPEA generating power locally. Both LPEA and Tri-State support renewables.
Tri-State added 477 megawatts of renewables over the past 10 years. Tri-State was among the first G&Ts to support member self-generation. In 2000, Tri-State was projected to be short on generation and members wanted to self-generate with renewables. Tri-State’s board implemented a contract provision for member self-generation up to 5 percent at an incentivized rate, which was a lower cost than building additional generation. My vote protected LPEA members from higher electric bills.
Today, Tri-State has sufficient generation. Any increase in the 5 percent provision would also increase Tri-State’s per-unit fixed cost and raise rates for LPEA. Since the majority of LPEA’s local renewable projects are owned by for-profit companies, an increase would benefit developers at the expense of LPEA members.
Can we still expand local renewables? Yes! The Tri-State board developed a policy to purchase power directly from local projects. This policy has no limit and is not incentivized by Tri-State.
With solar and wind prices falling and increasingly reliable energy storage, these opportunities are attractive. Throughout the review of the 5 percent, I strongly voiced the LPEA board’s concerns to other Tri-State members and inserted a provision that this important discussion be continued.
Kohler McInnis
Durango
