By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
Rancher J. Paul Brown tends sheep and cattle on his La Plata County spread, facing a $4,000 monthly electric bill. Lisa huddles in a home with her children, skipping heat to ease her electric bill’s bite.
This spring, folks like them could owe $90 more a year — or $308 more monthly for Brown — if a rate hike passes.
Meanwhile, La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) CEO Chris Hansen, who took the helm in November 2024, earns an estimated $545,000 annually, within the role’s $400,000–$600,000 range reported by the Durango Herald.
On Feb. 19, county residents packed the LPEA Board of Directors meeting over climbing rates, tied to a $210 million plan to ditch Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, their longtime power supplier.
LPEA serves 36,600 members across Southwest Colorado — Brown’s ranch and Lisa’s place among them.
This April, monthly bills could climb by $7.54 — $90 annually for most — if LPEA’s board greenlights a 7.7% rate increase.
For Brown, in District 2, feeding livestock through summer, that’s $308 more a month on his $4,000 tab. Lisa, a District 4 single mom, asked the board, “Do you want families with little kids with no heat?” She’s stretching every dime to get by.
The hike stems from a big shift — LPEA aims to stop buying most power from Tri-State, a supplier they’ve leaned on for decades. Hansen calls it “refinancing liabilities” to manage stranded assets like coal plants.
Tri-State feeds 41 rural co-ops like LPEA, mostly with coal and gas — 35% from coal alone. Its coal-fired power plants, like Craig Station, are set to shutter by 2028. According to The Colorado Sun, the energy shift coincides with Tri-State’s debt haul of $3.32 billion.
At the Feb 19 meeting, Darrel Shockley, a local resident, said, “We’re not hearing about future costs.” Fellow member Sarah Ruckels added, “Why are we not laying it out on the table?”
LPEA is rewiring where power comes from — by April 2026, 30% will come from solar and firm capacity agreements.
Hansen described the co-op’s evolving energy portfolio, saying, “We did complete the settlement agreement with Tri-State, including buying power from the Dolores Solar Project,” set to launch near Cortez, “it represents about 30% of our resource mix” by April 2026.
Some LPEA members expressed their frustration over Tri-State’s service. Lori told the board, “Tri-State’s been ripping us off.” Emily, a District 3 resident, criticized Tri-State’s $4 billion in old coal debts.”
Court docs, number crunchers and member fury peg those debts on regulatory chokeholds — ramped up by Denver folk and the Biden Administration’s anti-fossil-fuel policies.
Other members worry about outages down the line.
Mark Walsh, a District 1 resident, recalled a 2021 storm that left millions powerless for days: “I think our reliability goes down — what I’m not in favor of is increasing the risk of reliability through this transition mechanism. Texas was hit with a polar vortex — 269 people died.”
He also highlighted that a Feb. 14 storm in the Durango area knocked out power to 16,000 LPEA homes.
Bruce Siler, a District 2 resident, added, “With the advent of electric automobiles, renewable energy isn’t just going to carry it.”
The question of whether solar power has the muscle to meet growing demand was argued.
Emily pushed back, “Reliability is federally regulated, so that concern is something you should take up with the federal government and the agencies whose budgets are being slashed, not the co-ops here.”
Concerns over long term impact were raised. Shockley asked, “What’s it going to cost for the land, the solar panels — how do you get rid of 2,000 acres of solar panels safely?”
Hansen acknowledged Tri-State deals carry uncertainty.
“Depending on what their future looks like, there is some risk there — I don’t want to describe it as zero because it’s not zero,” he said of the [Power Purchase Agreements’] reliance on Tri-State’s stability.
Hansen addressed transparency gripes head-on, telling members, “The communication on the rate change, we sent that out to all members, both electronically and in paper format.”
As Brown considered the rate hike, he said, “I don’t know that we can make it.” County residents are already feeling the strain.
Rate increases face a final vote by LPEA board members on March 19.
Hansen became LPEA’s CEO in November 2024, leading the co-op toward an April 2026 exit from its Tri-State contract. On January 22, 2025, the LPEA Board approved Resolution 2025-01, giving him authority to manage memberships in organizations that benefit LPEA and its 36,600 members.
As stated in the resolution, “the CEO is responsible for evaluating the organizations and managing these memberships.” The CEO has full discretion in making these decisions and must keep a list available for the board to review.
To bridge the gap with members, Hansen’s launched ‘Coffee with Chris’ events, hosting open talks across districts to unpack the Tri-State shift.
But at the Feb. 19 meeting, the public engagement revealed that residents still want answers. Dave Peters pushed for evening town halls, instead of LPEA board meetings during the workday.
Board members wrestled with next steps after hearing from residents. Kirsten Skeehan, District 1 director, pressed for relief, asking, “How can you best do your tariffs so that they have the least impact on those who harm the most?”
John Witchel, District 4 director, pushed back, “I think allocating another half day to a [Committee of the Whole] is a poor use of time.” His stance countered calls for more debate before the March 19 rate vote, signaling the board’s split – some wanted deeper tweaks to ease member pain, while Witchel saw extra meetings as inefficient with a deadline looming.
Hansen’s energy-industry ventures sparked a query from Tim Wheeler, District 4 director.
“Western Power Players, right? Give just a little more background about what is the intent and motivation, so that we have something in public that doesn’t sound like the organization doing something,” he said.
“It’s something I started eight years ago with two other co-founders,” Hansen replied. “I serve on the board of it. I’m obviously not employed by it.”
After CREA peers recently probed Wheeler on LPEA’s moves, he drove home the point: “Perception becomes reality. It destroys trust,” he said. “I felt really defenseless [when questioned about it].”
Residents can learn more about the proposed rate increases and submit online input at lpea.coop/rates or email [email protected]. The deadline for providing input to the board is March 16.
The LPEA Board of Director meeting schedule can be found here: https://lpea.coop/lpea-board-directors-resources
Four board member seats are open for the 2025 LPEA election on May 20, including District 1 (Archuleta Co.), District 2 (South and West La Plata Co.), District 3 (City of Durango) and District 4 (North and East La Plata Co.).
For those interested in running for a board director seat, the application period is now open and closes March 22. Candidates must submit a petition with at least 15 signatures to be considered eligible. LPEA Board of Directors serve three-year terms.
Ballots will be mailed out to all members April 21, and ballots are due by 4 p.m. May 20.
At the LPEA annual meeting on May 21, election results will be announced.