Co-op should build natural gas plant

LPEA’s new 10-year deal to buy hydro power from Vallecito Dam is being pitched as a win for local clean energy. In reality, it’s a small, unreliable and likely expensive gesture that does little to serve member needs. At best, the project provides 5.8 megawatts, enough for just 2,500 homes, or 2% of LPEA’s load. Vallecito’s hydro is seasonal, highly dependent on snowmelt and river flows. During drought or under flow restrictions, output drops leaving LPEA to scramble for backup power. That’s not reliability.

Meanwhile, administrative costs at LPEA are skyrocketing, with more consultants, legal fees and new staff added to manage an energy plan that’s increasingly complex and fragile. All while LPEA quietly replaces affordable Tri-State energy with small, uncertain projects like this without clear cost comparisons or member input. And here’s the bigger question: Why is LPEA ignoring a true local energy solution, natural gas? 

The San Juan Basin already produces clean-burning natural gas that meets all state, federal and tribal emissions standards. A local, gas-fired power plant could provide stable, affordable and dispatchable energy, create local jobs, and keep energy dollars here. It’s a win-win, yet it’s being ignored in favor of symbolic but impractical “green” gestures.

Members deserve real solutions, not PR moves. We need LPEA to stop chasing headlines and start building a reliable, affordable and locally grounded, affordable energy future.

– Patrick Hegarty, LPEA member, District 4