Cliggett ready to take seat at GCEA board

Against raising rates…

Crested Butte’s Chuck Cliggett was elected to the Gunnison County Electric Association board of directors last week, defeating long-time GCEA board member Lou Costello. As the district-at-large representative to the electric co-op, Cliggett says his focus will be on the entire membership and working to keep rates affordable. We asked a few other questions of your new electric co-op representative who served many years as the GCEA attorney. Here are his answers…

What change in direction or philosophy do you hope to bring to the GCEA board?
The direction and philosophy I want to support on the GCEA board is to reinforce the required criteria for every company decision by always asking “Is this in the best interest of our members?” That’s what drives everything. That’s our first criteria. And that’s our legal duty. In a way, it’s that’s simple.

What will be your focus in terms of electricity generation? Cheaper coal-fired, solar, hydro? Something else?
On the topic of electric generation: we’re still stuck with coal for a while, and the price is attractive, but we have to force our supplier to invest more in making its coal-fired plants cleaner. We simply cannot have emissions that are polluting our environment and endangering our citizens. In addition, we must push our power supplier to concentrate more time and resources towards supporting the research and development of the use and efficiency of solar, wind, and hydro-generated power.

Where do you see electric rates going for big consumers like CBMR and the average guy who owns or rents a home?
Regarding rates, we simply can’t impose any higher prices. So many of the young people I spoke to in our community during my campaign remarked that their winter electric bills were already oppressive. They simply can’t take anymore rate increases. And CBMR has its own challenges—and it’s a major part of our community. So we have to help it operate as efficiently and cleanly as possible. GCEA has access to a lot of technology that can do just that. And we all benefit from a successfully run, and environmentally sound, ski mountain.

General thoughts…
I’m anxious to get to work.