I am writing in response to the editorial “Renewables 2.0: Our region has been at the forefront of power production, let’s not stop now,” (Herald, July 31) to correct, and provide some additional, information about the history of electricity production in Durango and the region.
La Plata Electric Association was incorporated in 1939 and began distributing electricity as a not-for-profit cooperative in the Bayfield and Ignacio areas before World War II. At the end of the war, LPEA expanded to provide electricity across much of rural La Plata and Archuleta counties, but did not provide power to Durango and the Animas Valley until the mid-1970s.
Durango’s first power company, Durango Power & Light, began providing limited D/C power to Durango from a small steam power plant near Seventh Street and the railroad tracks in 1887. In 1893, the company began producing A/C electrical power from coal at their new large brick plant that is now the Powerhouse Science Center. The power plant operated from 1893 until the early 1970s, powered by coal until the 1940s and then by natural gas.
In 1913, Western Colorado Power Co., a subsidiary of Utah Power & Light, began purchasing many smaller electricity companies across Western Colorado. Western Colorado Power Co. produced electricity at the Durango plant and provided power to Durango and the Animas Valley. It closed the power plant in the early 1970s. Its power lines and distribution system for Durango were purchased by La Plata Electric Association in the mid-1970s.
Pam Patton
Bayfield
Editor’s note: Pam Patton served on the LPEA board from 2000-12 and as a Colorado Public Utilities Commissioner from 2012-16.
