Encouraging co-ops to look to renewables
Peter Miesler
Four Corners Free Press
July 2016 | page 20
{My previous post provides an introduction and the background for this FCFP column}
It started with an email that read: “La Plate Electric Association’s board of directors is meeting on June 15 to consider a blanket waiver giving Tri-State Generation and Transmission, our power provider, the right to be the primary negotiator of ALL our renewable energy projects going forward. Given Tri-State’s reliance on coal, given how it is stonewalling affordable solar and other renewables …”
The
email’s plea was simple, if you care about developing renewable energy, get
informed, write the LPEA's BoD, and attend the upcoming June Board of Directors
meeting at 9AM for your short opportunity to speak and share concerns.
My
curiosity roused, I started ‘googling’ and reading related articles that pieced
together an interesting regional story worth sharing. To understand what
happened at LPEA this past month, you need to go back to the 1978 passage of
PURPA (Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act) which mandated electrical co-ops
such as LPEA start purchasing some of their power from renewable energy sources.
