As we respond to the COVID-19 situation, I feel proud to live in La Plata County.
Our neighbors have stepped up to care for each other, providing soup, supplies and emotional comfort. Great community!
Meanwhile, we should take wise steps to care for our world and invest in our future.
When LPEA ballots arrive in April, I urge you to vote for Rachel Landis, Guinn Unger and Doug Fults. These candidates understand that embracing the world’s transition to clean energy technology is the logical solution to our current high prices.
South La Plata County is lucky to have abundant solar resources; let’s use them!
In April, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission will rule on LPEA’s request for an adjudicated exit price from our contract with Tri-State, our coal-heavy electricity provider. That costly contract allows unlimited rate increases and lasts until 2050!
Open market prices are so cheap that – if our exit price is affordable – we can pay that debt, enter a fixed rate market contract and still watch our rates drop.
If we then build our own solar facilities, we’d reach the cheapest rates when equipment pays for itself in 8-10 years. That would bolster our local economy and make us energy independent, more reliable against cyber attacks and natural disaster.
Doug Fults, Guinn Unger, and Rachel Landis will support a data-driven decision to pursue LPEA’s goal: reduce carbon emissions by 50% from 2018 levels by 2030, while keeping rates below 70% of regional cooperative peers.
Karen PontiusDurango
