The La Plata County Electric Association will host a member-focused energy forum this April about the future of regional electric service.
A news release issued Thursday the forum is being held to “educate members on the rapidly evolving regional energy landscape and what it means for reliability, local generation, and the future of electric service.”
The event, called CommunityPowerX: The Regional Energy Future Forum, is scheduled 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at the Durango Arts Center. Tickets are $5 per seat, and reservation fees will be donated to the LPEA Round Up Foundation, the release said.
LPEA CEO Chris Hansen will facilitate the discussion, and three panelists are slated to speak.
“This forum is about education and collaboration,” Hansen said in the release. “By bringing peer utility leaders into the conversation, we’re giving members a clearer understanding of how the regional energy system is evolving and how utilities are working together to share resources, manage risk, and keep power reliable and affordable for the communities we serve.”
Panelists include Farmington Electric Utility System Utility Director Hank Adair, Delta-Montrose Electric Association CEO Jack Johnson and Kit Carson Electric Cooperative CEO and General Manager Luis Reyes Jr.
The event is being held in line with LPEA’s April 1 transition to greater energy independence, which will involve the company leaving its long-term wholesale power contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission, Inc. to operate independently within the Southwest Power Pool Regional Transmission Organization.
The shift will “(mark) a new chapter in how the cooperative sources power and participates in regional markets,” according to the release.
Kit Carson Electric Cooperative set a precedent as the first cooperative to successfully leave Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association in 2016, the release said, and Delta-Montrose Electric Association followed closely behind in 2020. United Power also left the association in 2024.
“Strong cooperatives are built on informed and engaged membership,” LPEA Board President Nicole Pitcher said in the release. “This forum gives our members the opportunity to hear directly from cooperatives that are already seeing the benefits of greater energy independence and to better understand what that means for LPEA. It’s about making sure our members feel informed, confident, and part of where we’re headed.”
