La Plata Electric Association is proud to announce that it has been selected to participate in a United States Department of Energy (DOE)-funded technical assistance study in partnership with the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) and Baringa, a global consulting firm. The study, slated to begin in January 2025, is called the “Grid Resilience and Climate Change Impact (GRACI) Analysis” and will feature eleven utilities chosen from across the western United States. Baringa will analyze how well equipped these utilities are to respond to and withstand foreseeable climate threats and will provide crucial insights into the performance, investment strategies, and future climate risks for the electric grid.
"We are excited to collaborate with Baringa, the DOE and other stakeholders in this important study,” said Dan Harms, LPEA’s Executive VP of Grid Solutions and Special Projects. “This analysis will give us valuable insights to prepare for future challenges posed by extreme weather events and improve service reliability for our members."
LPEA was chosen to participate based on its commitment to improving resilience and its exposure to weather-related challenges, making it an ideal candidate for this groundbreaking study. Baringa’s research will leverage public data sources as well as information provided by the chosen utilities.
The results of the study will ultimately help LPEA by:
- Analyzing Historical & Current Performance: This will give LPEA a clearer understanding of how it has performed in response to past extreme weather events and similar challenges.
- Assessing Investment Strategies: This will include considerations on the potential impact of regulatory policies and of climate risk in future planning. LPEA can use this assessment to look critically at their plans and determine how best to optimize their future investments in grid resilience.
- Evaluating Capital Spend: This study will assess the effectiveness of capital spend on addressing climate risks and provide insight on ways to improve investment efficiency on the network.
- Exploring Climate Risk Methodologies: Baringa will provide LPEA with insights and tools to better anticipate and mitigate future weather and climate risks through effective planning and infrastructure investments.
“A resilient power grid is essential to delivering reliable and affordable clean electricity to Coloradoans as we electrify our cars, homes, and businesses to meet our ambitious climate goals,” said Will Toor, Executive Director of the Colorado Energy Office. “This study will not only help LPEA plan for stronger grid infrastructure, but will also offer valuable insights on how we can improve grid resilience and energy security statewide in the face of increasing climate-related challenges.”
As part of its participation, LPEA will engage in working sessions to share its resilience goals and concerns, provide its most recent grid and investment plans for review, and attend educational webinars on prioritizing resilience investments.