Schwartz commends Gunnison County Electric Association

State Senator Gail Schwartz attended Gunnison County Electric Association’s (GCEA) 70th annual meeting to commend GCEA for its leadership and hard work in helping Colorado pursue its New Energy Economy.

Nearly 200 members and guests joined GCEA board of directors and employees in celebrating a successful year of operations.
Chief executive officer Mike Wells reported that GCEA remains financially strong despite the challenges of continued maintenance from the heavy snow storms in 2008 and the slowing economy. The association and its power provider, Tri-State Generation and Technology Association, say they have long focused on the primary mission of providing electricity in a reliable, affordable and responsible way.
But, as Tri-State’s senior vice president of energy markets, Brad Nebergall pointed out, “The simplicity ends there.”
The energy industry is facing many regulatory challenges. One challenge is the uncertainty in national energy policy and carbon emissions regulations that are being discussed.
The leading legislation in Washington is the Waxman-Markey Bill, which proposes a cap-and-trade system for emissions. The key issues are the allocation methodology and timing of reductions, both of which will affect the cost of electricity.
As proposed, the Waxman-Markey Bill is estimated to cost every American household approximately $175 per year. Nebergall encouraged GCEA members to keep informed about the carbon emissions legislation and to communicate ideas and concerns to their delegation in Congress.
Another regulatory concern is the decision by the Colorado Public Utility Commission (PUC) to open the docket to discuss regulation of Tri-State’s resource planning. Typically, public utility commissions regulate investor-owned utilities to ensure ratepayers’ interests are balanced against those of utility shareholders.
In the cooperative system, ratepayers are consumer-owners that own and manage the utility, ensuring that ratepayers’ interests are protected. As a not-for-profit wholesale power supplier, Tri-State is not regulated by the PUC, but files a resource plan with the PUC for informational purposes.
Public interest in energy, how much it costs, and how it is generated has escalated in the past few years. More than 10,000 comments were sent to the PUC regarding whether Tri-State should be regulated by the commission. Nebergall reported that the comments were divided fairly evenly between those who support regulation and those who do not. Tri-State’s position is that PUC regulation is not necessary since the rural electric cooperatives are adequately overseen by their boards and members.
Nebergall supported this position by informing GCEA members about Tri-State’s recent efforts to reduce green house emissions and to promote energy efficiency and conservation. For example, Tri-State has developed 220 megawatts of natural gas based capacity in eastern Colorado. Tri-State has also teamed up with First Solar Inc. to develop a 500,000 panel solar power plant in Cimarron, New Mexico. The Cimarron I Solar Project will be the largest photovoltaic project serving a North American public electric cooperative and one of the largest solar power stations in the world. It will produce 30 megawatts—enough electricity to meet the needs of 9,000 homes.
In addition to diversifying its generation mix, Tri-State has teamed up with Xcel Energy to pursue transmission projects in southern Colorado. The San Luis Valley has great potential for producing solar power, but transmission lines are needed to deliver the electricity produced by the sun to population centers where it is needed.
Senator Gail Schwartz said the state legislature has an important relationship with generation and transmission companies like Tri-State and Xcel Energy. As chair of the Energy Committee she emphasized Colorado’s commitment to renewable energy. One of the committee’s recent accomplishments was putting together a map of utility scale renewable energy. Schwartz also emphasized the role of the energy industry in creating reliable, well paying jobs for Colorado’s citizens.
Senator Schwartz demonstrated her commitment to the future as she congratulated the students who received scholarships from GCEA. “It is important to invest in our young people,” she said.
According to Dan McDonough, member services manager, GCEA student scholarship funds are provided from a variety of sources, including contributions from Tri-State, Basin Electric, GCEA board members, unclaimed capital credits, and GCEA’s Operation Round-Up® program. This year GCEA awarded $13,500 from the scholarship fund. “Knowing that GCEA is helping local students advance their educational goals has been one of the most rewarding responsibilities of the Member Services Department,” said McDonough.