Archive for category: Newsletters

Durango-based La Plata Electric Association collaborated with Durango School District 9-R to apply for a grant to purchase a fully-electric school bus and install the necessary charging infrastructure.

The district was awarded over $300,000 for the equipment through the grant from the Regional Air Quality Council’s ALT Fuels Colorado program. The grant to the school district was one of eight grants awarded out of 38 total applicants. LPEA will contribute an additional $120,000 to help cover costs.

Not only is this the first electric school bus for the school district, but it is also the first vehicle-to-grid installation in LPEA’s service territory. Using bi-directional charging, the bus can pull electricity from the grid to charge during off peak hours, and LPEA can pull electricity from the vehicle onto the grid during critical times when power is needed.

This innovative project will reduce diesel emissions and improve air quality.

Highline Electric Association announced recently that its new Level 2 EV charging station is ready for public use at its headquarters in Holyoke. This is the first public charging station for electric vehicles the co-op owns and the first within the Phillips/Sedgwick/Chase/Washington county area of northeastern Colorado.

The Enel X JuicePedestal 40 dual head station was purchased by the co-op after it applied for a Charge Ahead Colorado grant last year through the Colorado Energy Office. In addition to receiving the grant, the northeastern Colorado co-op’s power supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, offers a rebate program to its member co-ops to help offset the costs of new EV infrastructure.

Rates for the station are $0.50 per charging session plus $0.08 per kilowatt-hour usage. Highline Electric Association Manager of Member Services Tad Huser says, “My Nissan Leaf takes about 12 kWh to charge back to 100% from my 40-mile commute from home to the HEA office. My charge costs the $0.50 session charge plus $0.96 for the 12 kWhs used for a total of $1.46.”

Highline Electric is excited for this EV charging station addition to its headquarters and region.

During recent proceedings, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission accepted Tri-State Generation and Transmission’s voluntarily-announced retirement dates for its coal power plants Craig Station Units 2 and 3. This is after the AQCC was considering enforcing early closures.

According to a Tri-State press release, the plan meets or exceeds federal requirements to improve visibility in Colorado’s national parks and wilderness areas, according to Tri-State CEO Duane Highley. The cooperative power supplier’s Craig Station Unit 1 will retire by December 31, 2025; Craig Station Unit 2 by September 30, 2028; and Craig Station Unit 3 by December 31, 2029.

And separate from the AQCC proceedings, Tri-State and Gov. Jared Polis announced Tri-State’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado by 80% by 2030. This is part of Tri-State’s innovative Responsible Energy Plan. Tri-State filed its Electric Resource Plan with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on December 1. The ERP includes a preferred scenario to reach emissions reductions by retiring Craig station, adding 1,850 megawatts of renewable resources and a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that support state goals.

Poudre Valley REA CEO Jeff Wadsworth was named Fortnightly Foremost Innovator in Microgrids for 2020. The recognition was awarded by Public Unity Fortnightly, a utility organization that supports innovation. The yearly Fortnightly Top Innovators awards select the most outstanding individuals in 10 categories of innovation.

Wadsworth was honored for PVREA’s work installing a microgrid for Red Feather Lakes, a community which is served by one transmission line prone to damage from weather, natural disasters and human accidents. The cutting-edge microgrid technology will provide backup for the electric grid for the area. It is one of the first in the state. PVREA’s goal is to have the microgrid operational by spring.

Families are still facing the challenges of remote learning, but the town of Mancos is helping to reduce some of the burden for people who don’t have reliable internet access.

It was found that 20% of families in the Mancos school district were without reliable internet access at home. So the town of Mancos teamed up with FastTrack Communications to deliver free, high-speed internet from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily at a local park. FastTrack will provide a 100 mpbs dedicated internet connection available to families and students who otherwise won’t have a connection to participate in remote learning.

FastTrack is an internet subsidiary of southwestern Colorado electric cooperatives La Plata Electric of Durango and Empire Electric Association of Cortez.