La Plata Electric Association is losing its chief executive officer to retirement.
Greg Munro, who has been with LPEA since 1993 and has served as CEO since 2002, announced Monday he will leave in July.
Munro said he soon will be 65, a good age to turn to other activities. He and his wife, Val, will remain in Durango but will be active in the community.
Whoever succeeds him will start the job with a number of issues pending, Munro said. Pending issues include:
Three solar garden applications have been approved, with others pending, Munro said. Solar gardens are collective efforts in which groups, not individuals, install photovoltaic panels to produce electricity.
“The program is going well,” Munro said.
He estimated that 1.5 megawatts of power will be available from solar gardens by the end of the year.
LPEA has a complaint before the Public Utilities Commission against Tri-State Generation and Transmission, its wholesale energy supplier, over rates.
Tri-State changed the LPEA rate structure, basically destroying its time-of-use option, Munro said.
A solution now depends on what attorneys work out, he said.
LPEA is among 10 to 15 electric cooperatives served by Tri-State that wants to increase the amount of power generated from non-traditional sources.
Tri-State now limits its members to 5 percent of total energy from sources such as solar, wind and hydro. LPEA is up against its limit, as are the other forward-looking cooperatives.
The Tri-State contract committee will take up the matter in coming months, Munro said.
LPEA was established in 1939.
Munro was hired at LPEA in 1993 as economic development director and assistant district manager based in Pagosa Springs. Munro transferred to Durango in 1995 when he was named chief operating officer.
He was the first LPEA CEO chosen from the ranks in at least 15 years. His two immediate predecessors, Emery Maez and David Potter, came from outside the utility.
Munro was born in Silverton and reared in Montrose. He has a degree from Southern Colorado State College, now Colorado State University, Pueblo, in civil engineering and a degree from Colorado State University in electrical power systems engineering.
“Greg has proven to be a solid leader and business executive who has steered the cooperative through some challenging waters and kept us on an even keel,” LPEA Board President Davin Montoya said Monday in a statement. “He’s made sure LPEA has always met its financial obligations while contributing to the community as a whole.”
LPEA board members are scheduled to begin discussing a process to replace Munro at their March 19 meeting.
daler@durangoherald.com
