LPEA Fact Checker

LPEA has made the decision to exit its 50-year wholesale power supply agreement with Tri-State on April 1, 2026.

On March 25, 2024, the LPEA Board voted to submit its unconditional notice of withdrawal, officially beginning the two-year process to exit the contract. This timeline is determined by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Reason for Departure: LPEA is pursuing greater flexibility and more affordable power options for its members. By leaving Tri-State, LPEA aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, explore local renewable energy solutions, and secure more cost-effective energy pricing that better aligns with its long-term goals. As part of the decision to leave Tri-State, LPEA is positioning itself for greater flexibility in managing its energy mix and focusing on clean, renewable energy sources.

No, we do not anticipate rate increases through 2026 to support the transition. Our focus is on securing cost-effective, renewable energy solutions that ensure stable and predictable rates for our members.

We are encouraged by the indicative pricing we’ve received from potential new power suppliers, and we feel confident that the future of LPEA will be marked by the same system reliability we’ve always provided, along with newfound flexibility. This change will allow us to be nimble in responding to economic pressures, ensuring we can continue to keep our members’ electric bills as low as possible.   

The estimated $209.7 million CTP represents a settlement of debt we are already obligated to pay, regardless of our decision to leave Tri-State. It covers the debt incurred by Tri-State when it originally expected us to remain a member for 50 years. The final amount will be determined in March 2026.

Using the estimated $209.7 million:

• LPEA Would Pay ~$150M to Tri-State to pay off LPEA’s portion of the debt Tri-State has incurred, which is largely tied to coal plants that have since been or will be shut down under Colorado state law.
• The Balance, ~$60M, would be an LPEA transmission credit to be used for future use of Tri-State owned transmission infrastructure through the Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT).

FERC will finalize and approve the CTP amount in March 2026 based on Tri-State’s financial records, obligations, and regulatory framework. FERC's role is to ensure the payment calculation follows the rules and guidelines for such settlements

No, we would have been responsible for paying the $209.7 million for the debt incurred by Tri-State, regardless of our decision to exit the contract. This payment is related to debt Tri-State accumulated when it originally expected us to remain a member for 50 years. Our decision to exit simply triggers the settlement of this debt, but it is not an additional cost beyond what was already owed.

We are making great strides in securing financing for the CTP. We plan to take out a loan for a one-time settlement payment, which will allow us to manage the cost effectively over time. Similar to how we currently pay Tri-State monthly for the debt incurred on our behalf, we will repay the loan over time. The debt payment is not an additional cost, but rather a settlement of debt LPEA is already responsible for, regardless of the decision to leave Tri-State. The interest rates for the loan will be determined by Fall 2025.

We will maintain strong reliability throughout the transition. While no longer a Tri-State member, we will remain a transmission customer, benefiting from Tri-State’s reliable infrastructure. We are managing the transition carefully to ensure uninterrupted service and the high level of reliability our members expect.

We will join the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) RTO on April 1, 2026, when we exit our contract with Tri-State. An RTO coordinates the efficient and reliable delivery of electricity across multiple utility systems. Joining SPP will provide us access to a competitive energy market, offering better pricing and more control over our energy future.

LPEA has signed two Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for its future power supply:

PPAs with Tri-State (April 1, 2026 – December 30, 2033):

• 40 MW from Dolores Canyon Solar Project: One of the PPAs will provide LPEA with 40 MW of power from the local Dolores Canyon Solar Project, helping to increase the cooperative's use of renewable energy in line with its sustainability goals. 

• 40 MW of Firm Power: The second PPA secures 40 MW of firm power for LPEA from Tri-State, ensuring a stable and reliable supply of energy to meet the cooperative's needs. 

LPEA has made the decision to exit its 50-year wholesale power supply agreement with Tri-State. On March 25, 2024, the LPEA Board voted to submit its unconditional notice of withdrawal, officially beginning the two-year process to exit the contract. LPEA’s formal exit from the current Tri-State contract will be on April 1, 2026. 

From April 2026 through 2028, LPEA has signed a bridge period agreement with Mercuria, to market for the power it needs that is not covered by local generation or the Tri-State PPAs. 

During this period, LPEA will negotiate a PPA with Mercuria, locking in a set price for the power it buys, providing more certainty and price stability. LPEA will establish a risk policy to determine the level of hedging and involvement in the power market the Board is comfortable with. This will help ensure that the cooperative can secure energy at competitive prices while managing the risks of market volatility.

LPEA is actively taking steps to ensure its future energy needs are met through a mix of local and external generation sources, while maintaining a focus on cost-effectiveness, reliability, and sustainability. These efforts are also aligned with LPEA's commitment to meet and exceed the state-mandated greenhouse gas reduction goals, contributing to a cleaner, more sustainable energy future for the region.

Energy Authority RFP Process (April 2025):

Starting in Spring 2025, The Energy Authority (TEA) will initiate the Request for Proposals (RFP) process on behalf of LPEA for power supply agreements.

This process will explore both local generation projects and external power options to meet LPEA's energy needs. It will provide an opportunity to secure long-term contracts with competitive pricing and clean energy options, which will be critical in shaping LPEA’s energy mix post-2028.

Qualified candidates for the 2025 director elections are as follows: 

• District 1, Archuleta County: Dusty Mars and Holly Metzler 
• District 2, South and West La Plata County: Greg Barber, Brad Blake, and Terry Greiner 
• District 3, City of Durango: David Peters and Joe Lewandowski 
• District 4, North and East La Plata County: Lyle McKnight and John Witchel 

View their candidate statements here.

Each year, LPEA’s membership elects four representatives to the LPEA Board of Directors. Cooperative members vote for a single representative in the District where they live. Businesses that purchase electricity from LPEA also have a vote in their districts. One member equals one vote. This means that often there is only one vote per household given to the person whose name the LPEA account is listed under.

Visit this page and enter your street address in the address search box in the browser's upper right corner. The map image will increase to display your address's location. Using your mouse, move the pointer over your home or business image and left-click to verify your address location. A pop-up will display your LPEA voting district.

View candidate statements and photos on this page.

LPEA is excited to announce the introduction of online voting for the 2025 board election. Paper ballots will still be mailed, and members will have the choice of how they’d like to cast their vote. Even if a member has opted out of receiving a paper ballot this year, per state statute, they will still receive the notice of the annual meeting by mail. 

How to Vote: 

Starting April 21 at 8:00 a.m. MDT, eligible voters will have multiple ways to cast their ballots: 

• Online via SmartHub: Log in to your secure SmartHub account (where members pay their bills online). A "Vote Now" button will appear for eligible voters, allowing members to access the secure voting portal. Follow the instructions to complete and submit your electronic ballot. Once submitted, the "Vote Now" button will disappear. Members who are signed up for Smarthub will receive an email when voting opens, containing a direct link to complete their ballot online. 
   
• Mail-in Ballots: Paper ballots will be mailed to LPEA members in mid-April. Members can complete and return their ballots by mail or by 24-hour drop box at either LPEA office. LPEA ballots can no longer be dropped at La Plata County or Archuleta County ballot boxes and must be received only at LPEA drop boxes at 45 Stewart Street in Durango or 603 S. 8th St. in Pagosa Springs. 
   
• In-Person Voting: Members may vote in person at the Annual Meeting. 

The new online voting procedure prevents the possibility of duplicate votes and provides safeguards for an accurate vote count. 

To be counted, online ballots must be submitted by 12:00 p.m. MDT on May 20, and paper ballots must be received by 4:00 p.m. MDT on May 20, 2025. Election results will be confirmed at LPEA’s Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 21, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Truck Barn at the LPEA Durango Office.

Starting at 8:00 a.m. April 21, 2025 (when Board elections begin) all eligible voters will see a "Vote Now" button in their secure SmartHub account (where you go if you pay your bill online.)

• Click the "Vote Now" button to navigate to the secure voting portal. 
• Review the voting instructions and complete your electronic ballot. 
• Submit your ballot. This is final and after voting, the "Vote Now" button will no longer be visible in your SmartHub account.

How Online Voting Works

🟡 Email: If you have an email address registered to your LPEA account, you will receive an email when voting goes live. Members with a SmartHub account can follow the link and use your SmartHub credentials to login and access your online ballot. 

🟡 SmartHub: Starting at 8:00 a.m. April 21, 2025 (when Board elections begin) all eligible voters will see a "Vote Now" button in their secure SmartHub account (where you go if you pay your bill online.)

• Click the "Vote Now" button to navigate to the secure voting portal. 
• Review the voting instructions and complete your electronic ballot. 
• Submit your ballot. This is final and after voting, the "Vote Now" button will no longer be visible in your SmartHub account.

Keep an eye out for one of the following envelopes starting April 21, 2025. If you opted out of receiving a paper ballot this year, you will still receive the Annual Meeting Notice. 

Download Ballot Insert
 

Members can complete and return their ballots by mail or by 24-hour drop box at either LPEA office. LPEA ballots can no longer be dropped at La Plata County or Archuleta County ballot boxes and must be received only at LPEA drop boxes at 45 Stewart Street in Durango or 603 S. 8th St. in Pagosa Springs. 

LPEA registration staff will have a list of eligible voters provided by SBS. If a member has already cast a ballot online by noon on May 20 or we have received a ballot via mail or via dropbox before May 20 at 4pm, they will not be able to vote in person. If neither applies, a member will be able to cast a vote via paper ballot from 11:30am until 12:30pm at the Annual Meeting on May 21, 2025.

For replacement ballots, members should contact our Member Service Representitives (MSRs) who will facilitate the member verification and ensure the members receive their new ballot. They can be reached at: (970) 247-5786 or msr@lpea.coop. Replacement ballots are not available at our offices. Members can also opt to vote online or visit us in person at the annual meeting to vote. 

No. If you attempt to vote online and via paper ballot, only your paper ballot will be counted. 

The 2025 LPEA Annual Meeting

Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Location: Truck Barn at the LPEA Durango Office
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Lunch & In-Person Voting
           12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.  | Meeting & Election Results 

Mark your calendar and make plans to attend LPEA’s 2025 Annual Meeting! This is your opportunity to connect with fellow members, hear about LPEA’s accomplishments in 2024, and learn the results of our board elections. Plus, you’ll have the chance to ask questions, engage with LPEA leadership, and celebrate our Scholarship and Youth Tour recipients!

• Come early to learn about our Community Power programs
• Enjoy a complimentary lunch from Grassburger
• Enter to win a door prize
• Bring your ID for check-in to ensure everything runs smoothly and securely 

To learn more, click here.

LPEA's annual reports are posted on this page. 

Latest: 2023 Annual Report

LPEA will publish the 2024 annual report ahead of the 2025 Annual Meeting.

To maintain reliable service, LPEA’s Board of Directors and leadership team are proposing an average rate increase of 7.72%, effective April 1, 2025. Actual increases will vary by member based on rate schedule and usage, and residential members will see an average increase of $7.54 on their monthly bill.

We understand the confusion around the word choice of tariff vs rate. This word choice was by no means intended to imply political causation. Please note the following definitions as they relate to electric "rates" vs "tariffs":. 

• "Rate" - typically refers to the specific price per unit of electricity that users are charged. These are the figures members see on their bills that indicate how much is paid for energy consumed.  
• "Tariff" - is an industry term and refers to the comprehensive documents or schedules that outline the complete pricing structure for electricity. Our proposed "tariff" includes not only the rates (price per kilowatt hour) but also outlines additional charges (such as base charge, demand charge, facility charge etc.), fees, and terms and conditions under which service is provided.   

So, while rates did change, this announcement is a much broader communication of the changes in our complete pricing structure (aka "tariff").  

You may also review Policy 364 here for a more formal discussion of "tariffs" as they relate to our cooperative governance. 

The 2025 rate tariff proposal was published on February 14, 2025 for public comment. 

The public comment period ended on March 16, 2025 to submit written comments on the rate design proposal. 

The Board approved the rate tariff on March 26, 2025.

The new rates will go into effect April 1, 2025. 

These rates will be applied to your April 2025 usage and will first be reflected on the bill you receive in May 2025.

Yes. Our friendly and knowledgeable Member Service Representatives are available Monday through Thursday to help you understand your electric bill and find new ways to save on your energy costs.

Call them at: 970-247-5786
Email them at: msr@lpea.coop

Since the rate increase and "true-up month" are occurring in the same month (April), we are implementing a formula to include the rate increase percentage amount in our predictions for your next year of budget billing costs. The percentage increase for your rate schedule will be added to your previous year's usage average. If you have further questions about budget billing, reach out to Amanda Williams at awilliams@lpea.coop  

The Peak Power charge is based on the single, highest hourly kilowatt load used by the customer between the hours of 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm each month.

You can find your rate type on your bill. If you need help understanding your rates, check out our bill explainer here and reach out to our member services team at memberservices@lpea.coop or call 970-247-5786. 

There are several ways to time your usage for the benefit of the system in conjunction with solar. The first would be to remain on the standard rate and time your usage to coincide with your solar production. This will take full advantage of the power you are self-producing and minimize the reverse power flow onto the grid. Keeping reverse power flow to a minimum allows LPEA to interconnect even more distributed solar resources onto the system.

Another option would be to sign up for LPEA’s Time of Use (TOU) Program. As a general rule of thumb, if you have more controllable load than you have solar capacity, you should consider LPEA’s TOU rate. For instance, if you add a timer to a 4.5 kW electric water and your solar array is 4.5 kW or less, you should consider TOU.  If you have an electric vehicle, that is another 4-7 kW of controllable load.

LPEA has an “obligation to serve”. This means that we must provide service to any member within our service territory who has applied for service and is willing to pay for that service. The amount a member is required to pay for service is governed by LPEA’s Line Extension Policy.

The primary benefit of installing solar on your home comes from LPEA’s net metering policy – in which we pay you for what you generate. The Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) are only the icing on top and are based upon market rates, which have fallen in recent years as the cost of solar installations has fallen dramatically.

Local PV can be competitive with purchased electricity during daylight hours, and a significant portion of LPEA’s load could be served by local PV even before the use of energy storage is required. With the dropping cost of solar over the last several years, it presents a great opportunity.

LPEA has seen interest in battery installations with dozens of systems in place already. Most of what we have seen are early adopters that are interested in what the technology can do. We have also seen the use of energy storage at locations where exporting power to the grid is limited. For LPEA to obtain value from energy storage, we would need some degree of control for charging and discharging. As such, will be investing in a Distributed Energy Resource (DER) software platform that can assist with the management of energy storage devices. Once systems like this are functional, LPEA may be able to offer incentives to increase battery installations in our area.

LPEA has unveiled its 2025 operational plan, marking the end of a five-year strategic plan and setting the stage for a new one, developed with input from community members and stakeholders. See the full plan here.

The updated strategy focuses on securing LPEA’s energy future with an emphasis on sustainability, reliability, and cooperative growth. Developed by LPEA leadership, this plan meets the region's evolving energy needs with innovative solutions, highlighting grid resilience, fire mitigation, and enhanced community engagement. 

The 2025 operational plan focuses on four key areas:

• Securing Future Energy Supply: Securing the energy needed for the future by signing contracts and making strategic investments in diversified, dependable sources, while keeping affordability and local partnerships in mind.
• Ensuring Reliability and Resiliency: Modernizing infrastructure to minimize outages and adapt to evolving energy demands.
• Meeting North Star Targets: Advancing sustainability through emission reductions, energy efficiency programs, and beneficial electrification (BE) integration, while continuing to deliver the reliable, high-quality service you expect from your cooperative.
• Advancing Cooperative Growth: Expanding member programs, fostering local partnerships, and driving economic development. 

LPEA is also strengthening its commitment to wildfire prevention by prioritizing proactive mitigation strategies and investing in grid infrastructure upgrades. The cooperative is expanding fire prevention efforts which include risk assessments, creating defensible spaces, strengthening infrastructure and enhancing tree trimming in high-risk areas. The new clearing schedule along power lines and the use of advanced grid mapping tools and drones will further improve fire safety. 

In 2023, CEO Matlock was paid $544,645.

In 2025, CEO Hansen will be paid $500,000.

At the end of each year, our Board approves the meeting schedule for the following year. We look forward to engaging with you, whether we're connecting through screens or meeting face-to-face. The variety of meeting formats and locations allows us to be inclusive while making the most of our time together. In October of 2024, the Board approved the following schedule, including dates, times, and locations, for all Board meetings in 2025:

• Mar 26, 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | Virtual Meeting
• Apr 16, 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | In-person (Pagosa Springs)
• May 21, 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | In-person
• June 18, 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | Virtual Meeting
• July 16, 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | Virtual Meeting
• Aug 20, 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | Virtual Meeting
• Sept 17, 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | In-person
• Oct 15, 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | In-person
• Nov 19, 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | In-person
• Dec 17, 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | Virtual Meeting

Members can sign up and read all past editions of LPEA's monthly member emails here.

We hope our members will join us at upcoming engagemnet opportunities right here.