According to the Herald (Sept. 2), a petition is being circulated that calls for our city to commit to a transition to 100 percent locally-produced and renewable energy by 2050, or 33 years from now. We can do better – much better.
Colorado’s largest utility, Xcel, recently committed to produce 55 percent clean energy in eight years (by 2025). To achieve this objective, Xcel will close two coal-fired plants (thereby reducing carbon-dioxide pollution in our state by over 4 million tons annually).
Durango residents should demand our council adopt the same commitment – namely, by 2025, 55 percent of the electricity provided within the city will be generated by locally-produced, renewable energy.
Our utility, La Plata Electric Association, and its electricity provider, TriState, would be given one year to submit a plan to achieve this objective. If LPEA and TriState fail to submit a viable plan, our city would then begin authorizing additional firms to enter the energy market using locally-produced, renewable energy.
TriState currently possesses vast market power that enables it to decide – unilaterally – that Durango residents must use electricity generated from its dirty coal-fired plants. This market power arises because its members like LPEA are monopolists, and it has stuck these monopolists in unreasonably long contracts.
The solution to this vexing problem is to break up the local monopoly.
How would TriState respond to a city requirement that 55 percent of electricity be locally-produced and renewable? Its choice would be two: Give LPEA the flexibility to meet this requirement or accept a 55 percent reduction in the amount of electricity that LPEA buys from TriState.
TriState’s dirty coal plants will become obsolete either way.
Once we achieve a 55 percent level of clean energy, we can then discuss how best to extend this development to all electricity available in the city.
By 2025, I suspect that even TriState will finally acknowledge that renewal energy is the only way to produce electricity responsibly.
Jeff Bork
Durango
