If you knew your business partner was holding $3 billion in debt and was doing nothing to pay it off, would you stick around? Probably not. Well, that’s what LPEA was facing while being hog-tied to the ridiculous 50-year contract with Tri-State. So the LPEA board did the smart thing – it ended the Tri-State contract.
Tri-State is deeply in debt and in serious financial trouble. It has to pay off its debt eventually, and the only way it can do that is to raise the rates it charges its co-op members. But LPEA is no longer tied to that debt; LPEA will no longer have to pay the rates dictated by Tri-State.
Now our co-op can negotiate fair prices and participate in the free market for power. I find it fascinating that a bunch of local Republicans believe LPEA should not be involved in market-based solutions.
LPEA’s moves are already paying off. The coop’s power costs will drop 10% a year when it starts buying power from a variety of providers. That means $7 million more that will stay with our local coop instead of being sent to Tri-State in Denver.
Let’s keep LPEA going in the right direction. Vote for Joe Lewandowski and John Witchel in the LPEA election.
Louise van Vonno
Durango
