Being a La Plata Electric Association director is a serious commitment, as Davin Montoya has pointed out. He should know; he’s been one for 24 years. But for a man who says that, “directors need to be present (and) well-informed,” he certainly wasn’t the day I attended a board meeting.
He hadn’t even read the prepared background information on the impacts (good and bad) of waiving LPEA’s rights to negotiate with Tri-State to allow more local, qualified energy producing facilities, but was willing to move forward with a vote waiving our rights regardless. Luckily, that vote was tabled.
Montoya says that historical perspective is needed to ensure that past mistakes are not repeated, but I have to think that, based on his recent comments against renewables and local jobs, his 1990s perspective is clouding the 2017 realities of renewables’ costs and benefits.
Renewables are not “unproven practices.” They are here to stay; solar alone employs four times as many people as the entire coal industry. Prices for electricity from solar and wind now compete with all other fossil fuels.
Why wouldn’t La Plata County want to be part of the new energy economy?
Douglas Walker
Durango
