Watts and Volts
July 2013
STATE RENEWABLE MANDATE ARBITRARILY
INCREASED FOR COOPERATIVES
SB13-252 was signed into law by Governor Hickenlooper early in June. As signed by the Governor, the bill:
• increases the renewable energy standard applicable to IREA from 10% by 2020 to 20% by 2020;
• imposes a 20% by 2020 renewable energy standard on Tri-State Generation & Transmission Company for energy sold through its Colorado distribution cooperative members, specifying that the cost of
meeting the standard shall be borne only by those Colorado members;
• increases the retail rate impact of complying from 1% to 2% of the total electric bill annually for each
customer;
• eliminates by January 1, 2015 the statutory “multiplier” that grants 1.25 renewable energy credits for
each megawatt hour of renewable energy produced from Colorado-based projects;
• requires that 1% of electricity sold be from distributed generation sources; and
• expands the definition of energy resources that can be used to meet the standard to include methane
captured from coal mines and synthetic gas derived from municipal solid waste.
IREA was singled out in the bill in that it is the only one of the four Colorado co-ops which do not buy power
from Tri-State that is required to meet the increased renewable energy standard. The new standards do not
apply to municipal utilities, although the second and sixth largest utilities in the state are municipal. Municipal
utilities objected to the bill’s costs and mandates and would have killed the bill had they been included.
SB13-252 was drafted behind closed doors and promoted by an alliance of wind and solar energy interests
and their paid advocates in the environmental industry. Not one electric cooperative or electric cooperative
industry representative was consulted about the economic or technical feasibility of the bill before it
was introduced in the Senate late in the 2013 legislative session, even though the bill doubles electric
cooperatives’ renewable energy mandate within the same time frame required for the 10% standard enacted
in 2007. The Colorado Rural Electric Association and Tri-State agreed to the 2007 increase in the renewable
energy standard with the understanding they would have until 2020 to do the planning and make investments
necessary to meet that goal. Tri-State now says the 20% goal probably cannot be achieved by 2020 given the
new transmission and generation infrastructure needed to integrate more wind energy and that the expenses
involved will be enormous. IREA acquires its renewable energy through its power purchase agreement with
IREA Board of Directors: Tim White, President; Bruff Shea, Vice President; Eugene Sperry, Secretary/Treasurer; James Dozier, Asst. Secretary/
Treasurer; Mike Kempe, Director; James Anest, Director; Robert Graf, Director. IREA General Manager, Patrick B. Mooney
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Xcel and certainly would have been in compliance with the 2007 standard before 2020; 9.3% of the energy sold
by IREA in 2012 came from renewable energy sources. Nevertheless, IREA too faces major hurdles in meeting
the new standard by 2020.
Supporters of SB13-252 claim that renewable
“We believe additional renewable
energy is and will be less expensive than conventional
energy resources should be includgeneration and that the law protects ratepayers with a
ed in the planning and develop2% retail cost cap. It is true that wind energy can be
cost competitive under some circumstances, i.e., if there
ment of generation, transmission,
is a need for new generation, sufficient fast ramping
and distribution systems so those
back-up generation is available, and transmission lines
resources can be integrated in a
needed to bring power from remote wind sites are
available. Those circumstances do not exist, however,
reliable, cost effective way.”
and the bill’s proponents did not bother to examine this
issue before submitting the bill and rushing it through
the General Assembly. Nor may the 2% cost cap be relied upon as the statutory language defining the cap is
vague and apparently allows certain costs to be ignored in calculating the retail rate impact.
Neither IREA nor any other Colorado cooperative is reflexively opposed to renewable energy. We believe
additional renewable energy resources should be included in the planning and development of generation,
transmission, and distribution systems so those resources can be integrated in a reliable, cost effective way. The
electric utility industry is capital intensive and requires long-term planning. Wholesale power supply contracts
generally have terms measured in decades. In the case of SB13-252, however, the only planning was done
behind closed doors by wind and solar industry representatives bent on maintaining a continuing pipeline of
government-mandated projects.
“Governor Hickenlooper should
have vetoed SB13-252 and insisted
that the bill’s proponents work
with cooperatives on a reasonable
alternative.”
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omers who
Governor Hickenlooper should have vetoed SB13252 and insisted that the bill’s proponents work with
cooperatives on a reasonable alternative. Indeed,
IREA, the Colorado Rural Electric Association, and
Tri-State urged the Governor to do just that and
pledged to work in good faith with all concerned
parties to draft a reasonable alternative. Instead, the
Governor signed the bill and issued an executive order
creating an advisory committee “to advise the Director
of the Colorado Energy Office on the effectiveness
of SB13-252.” The committee is to include an IREA
representative. The executive order acknowledges
that cooperative concerns “were not given due
consideration” during the legislative conference,
including “the feasibility of the implementation
timetable and consumer protections.” We will continue
to work to address the problems created by SB13252, but are skeptical that meaningful correction is
possible now that the bill has been signed and the
bill’s proponents have what they want.
Watts and Volts July 2013
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Facebook: Intermount
Twitter: @IREAcolorado
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Where to look during an outage...
Our goal is to make outages as short-lived as possible. Find information at:
www.irea.coop and click on Outage Report on the home page
like us at facebook.com/IntermountainREA and look for updates during extended outages
follow us on Twitter at @IREAColorado and look for updates during extended outages and fire
evacuations during which fire officials ask us to de-energize power lines.
Trees and
Power Lines
High winds are prone to uproot or snap off
trees or limbs, occasionally causing them to make
contact with the power lines that serve customers in
wooded areas. These incidents can cause momentary
outages—often referred to as blinks—or sustained
outages. They can even ignite fires.
It is important to remember that forest ecosystems are not static: As trees grow and extend the
reach of their limbs they can pose new safety concerns
that weren’t present just a year or two ago; patches of
new pine trees tend to sprout in dense clusters and
grow quickly where there is limited human activity;
some trees become diseased or beetle infested and
are weakened and may begin to rot; and of course all
trees eventually die and ultimately fall to the ground.
The safety and reliability of our electrical system are of paramount concern to service workers and
customers alike. We inspect and trim rights-of-way to
keep lines clear of vegetation. We also ask our customers to be aware of these concerns. Please contact us if there is any question as to whether a tree
is encroaching on a power line at: (720)733-5501 or
through our web contact form at: www.irea.coop/
contact.
With the onset of summer many IREA customers
are actively improving their landscaping by
planting new trees and shrubs. Please remember
that anytime you dig, Colorado law requires that
you call the Utility Notification Center at 811
to ensure all underground lines and cables are
marked. Professional locators will come to your
home to mark electric and other utilities for you.
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Watts and Volts July 2013
IREA History continues....
Reprinted with permission from Evergreen Newspapers
Transforming the Mountains with Light, by Betty Moynihan
We continue the 75th anniversary year IREA history series with the following, a partial reprint of a story
chronicling IREA’s founding that originally appeared in High Timber Times Newspapers in 1977. The first part
of this story appeared in the May Watts and Volts. Two groups of pioneers were attempting to bring power to
the 285 corridor: Here is more of their story...
Breidster of Homewood Park, secretary; Mamie
Head Young of Jefferson, treasurer. Also on the
board were Eugene Kleinknecht of Hartsel, Mrs
Mary Sanger of North Turkey Creek and Loren D.
Fend of South Turkey Creek.
Further south, In Hartsel, Eugene Kleinknecht
was hard at work perfecting a water wheel
to generate power from the South Platte for his
auto dealership and garage business. When he
heard plans for an electric association, he turned
his attention from the wheel, which his neighbors
jokingly called “Klein’s Folly.” Like Fender in
South Turkey Creek and Fitzsimmons in Bailey,
Kleinknecht began knocking on doors asking for
neighborhood support.
Legal documents had to be collected
from each homeowner granting right of way
for power lines. Each homeowner had to agree
to have his buildings correctly wired according
to government specifications before power was
energized. Finally homeowners had to agree in
writing to use the electricity once it was furnished.
These papers had to be sent to Washington for
review before a loan could be approved.
After hours of persuasive talking, after
days of careful Planning and nights of lengthy
meetings, all the necessary papers were signed
and collected. A commitment had been made
by the Public Service Company to furnish power
once the IREA had done the ground work, set
the poles, strung the wires and buried the dead
men to anchor the guy lines. The pioneers who
had started the project and worked so hard to
develop it drew a sigh of relief when the packet
containing all the neessary papers was mailed
to the R.E.A. in Washington. They were ready to
enjoy the fruit of their labor and to bask in the
light of their success.
The greatest opposition to the plans
was generated by the need for right of way. Yes,
people wanted electricity. No, they didn’t want
those transformer poles on their property. Even a
man so publicly involved as John C. Vivian (at the
time lieutenant governor of Colorado) objected
to electric lines cutting patterns through his
mountain ranch. He threatened a law suit.
Once a board of directors had been
elected, the problems were handled more
efficiently and progress was heartening.
In the summer of 1938, the combined
representation of Jefferson and Park counties
adopted the name “Intermountain
Rural
Electric Association.”
Their mood was as dark as the mountains
when the documents were returned from
Washington marked “Application Denied.”
Jesse Fitzsimmons of Bailey was president;
H. J. Peterson of Shawnee, vice president; George
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Watts and Volts July 2013