As La Plata Electric Association’s April 2026 exit from membership of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association draws closer, customers are getting a clearer picture of where their power will come from.
The answer? About 30% will come from a Tri-State solar facility in Dolores County.
LPEA is a member-owned power cooperative that serves La Plata and Archuleta counties along with parts of Hinsdale, Mineral and San Juan counties. The board of directors announced in March that LPEA would exit its contract with Tri-State, which obligated LPEA to purchase 95% of its power from the wholesaler.
The co-op sought more freedom to control power rates and wanted to increase the share of clean energy available to customers. The exit announcement left open questions, including how much the contract buyout would cost and how LPEA would supply power to its members.
Last week, the co-ops announced the execution of a term sheet which includes, among other things, two power purchase agreements.
Upon contract departure on April 1, 2026, Tri-State will provide up to 40 megawatts of guaranteed power. A second agreement will provide up to 40 megawatts of additional power as available from the Tri-State-owned Dolores Canyon Solar Project located in Dolores County through the end of 2033.
The two agreements will account for 30% of the energy in LPEA’s new resource mix, according to a news release.
In essence, LPEA will shift from being a member of Tri-State to a customer of the wholesaler co-op.
“As we transition away from our all-requirements contract, we want to emphasize that this decision is not a reflection of our longstanding relationship with Tri-State, but rather a step toward adapting to changing needs,” said LPEA Board President Ted Compton in the release.
The settlement comes 18 months ahead of LPEA’s exit. United Power reached a similar agreement just seven months before it left Tri-State earlier this year.
The power purchase agreements are the first certain sources of future energy LPEA has secured. The co-op announced in September a partnership with Mercuria Energy America, an energy commodity group, through which it will begin to flesh out detailed plans for the co-op’s power supply post-exit.
At the same time, Tri-State has been working to increase the share of renewable power in its portfolio. The supplier recently secured $2.5 billion in federal low-cost financing and grants to support the development of 1,280 megawatts of renewable energy projects, and says it expects 70% of its power to come from renewable sources by 2030.
The two organizations have celebrated what they say is a cooperative relationship with one another.
“Working together, Tri-State and LPEA have reached an agreement that provides greater certainty in LPEA’s withdrawal process and beneficial power sales for Tri-State’s membership as we advance our reliable and affordable clean energy transition,” said Tri-State CEO Duane Highley in the release. “We can focus on the work ahead to complete a successful and amicable separation and advance our plans for the future.”
rschafir@durangoherald.com
A previous version of this story was unclear about the source of LPEA’s power after April 2026. Tri-State will provide up to 40 megawatts of guaranteed power, and LPEA will purchase up to an additional 40 megawatts of solar power as available.
