Celebrating National Lineman Appreciation Day across America

Published on April 18, 2013 in General. 1 Comment Tags: .

CNMIP-transmission-98Tri-State is proudly celebrating National Lineman Appreciation Day today in honor of the skilled and brave men and women who protect the safety of the American public and keep vital electric power flowing across the nation.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution honoring all linemen for their work in keeping the power on and designating April 18, 2013 as National Lineman Appreciation Day.

“Coloradans know well that weather conditions can change rapidly, and that unpredictability can wreak havoc on our electric grid that supplies power to our homes, businesses, and communities,” Senator Michael Bennet said. “The men and women who serve our communities as linemen protect public safety on a daily basis as first responders during storms and other catastrophic events. I am sincerely grateful for their service and willingness to brave dangerous conditions to maintain the energy infrastructure of the country.”

Tri-State employs approximately 40 journeymen linemen and six apprentices. Mac Fellin, maintenance manager for the west side, noted the value of all linemen, including those at Tri-State’s member systems. “They respond day or night in any kind of weather,” he said. “They’re all out there to keep the lights on for everybody.”

Billy DePue, line maintenance superintendent, pointed out that the work of a lineman has changed dramatically in the last 40 years. “The knowledge and skills they need today is incredible,” he said. “They operate heavy equipment, drive large trucks, work from helicopters, report damages electronically, manage vegetation, input all data for structures to the GIS department and more – they’ve become risk managers.” Continue reading ‘Celebrating National Lineman Appreciation Day across America’

Local math class takes a field trip to Craig Station

Published on April 17, 2013 in General and Public Meetings. 0 Comments Tags: .

Algebra-Class-tours-Craig-station_07Students from Moffat County High School’s algebra class visited Craig Station last week for a tour and presentations involving many plant employees including coal handling superintendent Tim Osborn, mechanical engineer Rick Carson, electrical engineer Brandon Haddock, plant manager Rick Johnson (pictured) and maintenance superintendent Bill Johnston.

The goal of the visit was to show the importance of math and science studies and how they are useful in future careers including work at a power plant. Tri-State provided a pizza lunch for the group.

Colorado Highlands Wind facility to expand by 36 percent

Published on April 17, 2013 in Clean Energy and Renewable Energy. 0 Comments Tags: .

Colorado-Highlands-Wind-expansionColorado’s newest renewable energy facility is already growing.  The current 67-megawatt Colorado Highlands Wind project – from which Tri-State receives 100 percent of the power – is expanding to 91 megawatts.  Construction, using 14 GE turbines, is expected to commence in July and be completed this fall.

Tri-State has a 20-year power purchase agreement to receive all the electricity and environmental attributes from the facility, which is jointly owned by Alliance Power, Inc. of Littleton, Colo., and GE Energy Financial Services of Stamford, Conn.  The wind farm was constructed in 2012 and became operational in December.  It is located on 6,640 acres in northeast Colorado’s Logan County – in the service territory of Tri-State member co-op Highline Electric Association.

“Colorado Highlands Wind has been performing extremely well since being brought on-line late last year,” said Tri-State senior vice president Brad Nebergall.  “The original engineering and design accommodated up to 91 megawatts – which is the maximum that the existing transmission interconnection can support.  So now that the additional 14 turbines are available, we are pleased to move forward with its full build-out after Tri-State’s board of directors approved the expansion at its February 2013 meeting,” he said.

“Colorado Highlands Wind is pleased to enable Tri-State to complete the original vision of the project, capturing its full efficiency and benefits,” said Jim Michael, managing member for Colorado Highlands Wind.

Colorado-Highlands-Wind-expansion_02The expansion coincides with an RFP (request for proposals) process for additional renewable energy supply that Tri-State is currently undertaking.  Tri-State issued the RFP in mid-February and is presently analyzing the proposals that were submitted by the April 2 deadline – and intends to review a short list of the top prospects with its board of directors within the next couple of months.

“The current competitive pricing in the renewable energy sector – particularly wind – encouraged us to explore market opportunities to add an additional project or projects to Tri-State’s renewable resource portfolio through the RFP process,” Nebergall said.  “At the same time, we realize the value we’ll be receiving through the Colorado Highlands Wind expansion.”

Colorado Highlands Wind is currently one of three utility-scale renewable energy facilities from which Tri-State receives all of the electrical output and renewable energy credits.  In 2010 the wholesale power supplier began purchasing the electricity generated at the 51-megawatt Kit Carson Windpower Project in eastern Colorado as well as the 30-megawatt Cimarron Solar Facility in northeastern New Mexico.

In addition, Tri-State’s member co-ops have another 45 megawatts of local, community-based renewable and distributed generation projects in operation or scheduled to be operational later this year.

Tri-State and its member co-ops oppose misguided legislation

Published on April 11, 2013 in General, Public Meetings, Public Outreach and Renewable Energy. 1 Comment Tags: .

On April 3, a bill was introduced in the Colorado Senate aimed at Tri-State and its member co-ops which would require Tri-State to generate 25 percent of the power it sells to its Colorado members from renewable resources by 2020.

CO_State_capitolThe measure would essentially replace the current renewable energy obligation of 10 percent by 2020, which was passed in the Colorado Legislature with support by Tri-State in 2007 – and which the association is on track to meet.

If enacted as written, the proposed legislation could potentially cost Tri-State and its members up to $4 billion over the next 20 years, which is one of several reasons Tri-State and the Colorado Rural Electric Association have engaged resources to oppose it.

“Fundamentally, the manner in which this bill was hastily written and introduced represents a flawed process,” said Tri-State executive vice president and general manager Ken Anderson. “Despite our willingness to do so, we, nor any other rural Colorado constituents who will be deeply impacted by this mandate, were not provided the opportunity to provide any input. It is irresponsible – not to mention probably unachievable – and could cost Colorado electric cooperatives and their member-owners billions of dollars.”

After a Senate committee’s initial hearing on April 8, which involved seven hours of testimony, the bill passed by a 3-2 vote along party lines.

“We are receiving significant support from both rural and urban interests, from the state chamber of commerce to agricultural producers to our labor unions.  Together we are sending a strong message to legislators and the governor to do the right thing by rural Colorado,” said Dave Lock, Tri-State’s senior manager of government relations.

Part of that pressure includes Tri-State’s communications and public affairs team working, with strong support from its members and partner organizations, to help spread the message in an effort to raise public awareness and action. As a result of those activities, The Denver Post, Colorado Springs Gazette and Pueblo Chieftain have all quickly weighed in with strongly worded editorials opposing the bill.

The bill is currently on the Senate floor for debate. If it passes the Senate, it would transfer to the Colorado House of Representatives, where it again would receive a committee hearing, then be debated on the House floor. If the bill gets that far and passes the House, it would go to Gov. Hickenlooper for his signature; or, he could veto it. The process is expected to take at least two weeks, perhaps longer. The legislature is scheduled to adjourn on May 9.

The Rural Economic Action Alliance (REA-A), which is supported by Tri-State and CREA, is currently running Keep Electricity Affordable radio commercials and online ads across Colorado, along with activating its 20,000 plus grassroots supporters. Electric cooperative advocates are encouraged to support the Keep Electricity Affordable initiative as well as using CREA’s Take Action Network.

Tri-State and Wheatland REA help keep history alive

Published on April 10, 2013 in General. 0 Comments Tags: .
Chugwater’s famous soda fountain is housed in a building constructed in 1916.

Chugwater’s famous soda fountain is housed in a building constructed in 1916.

It’s not uncommon for rural electric cooperatives to deliver power to unique and interesting people, organizations and businesses.Tri-State member system Wheatland REA (Wheatland, Wyo.) has provided power to the historic Chugwater Soda Fountain for as long as anyone in the area can remember.

The oldest operating soda fountain in Wyoming is housed in one of the oldest buildings in Chugwater, which sits about 45 miles north of Cheyenne. The original building was constructed in 1914. Not long after, it partially burned down and was rebuilt in 1916.

“Wendell” the elk makes sure the shakes and malts are tasty and memorable.

“Wendell” the elk makes sure the shakes and malts are tasty and memorable.

As was often the case around the turn of the 20th century, the fountain co-existed with a pharmacy — and the original pharmacy drawers are still intact along the south wall of the store. The pharmacy eventually closed and while ownership of the business has changed many times over the years, it remains one of the few active soda fountains in the U.S. that serves traditional hand-dipped ice cream shakes and malts.

Tourists from all over the country and sometimes even from outside the country stop in all year, but summer is an especially busy time. “We give the REA a lot of business then,” laughed Barbara Dayton, who bought the business five years ago.

So the next time you find yourself passing by Chugwater, stop into the soda fountain for a taste of the homemade treats and its one-of-a-kind atmosphere, which even features an elk overlooking the room nicknamed “Wendall” for the man who shot him near Jackson, Wyo., in 1946. A town petition prevents Wendall from leaving no matter who owns the soda fountain.

Tri-State officers elected following 2013 annual meeting

Published on April 4, 2013 in Public Meetings. 1 Comment Tags: .

2013-Annual-Meeting_14Approximately 400 electric cooperative representatives and industry officials attended Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s 61st annual meeting April 3-4 in Broomfield, Colo., where they reviewed recent activities and accomplishments, while addressing numerous issues and challenges facing the electric utility industry.

Following the meeting, the association’s board of directors was seated for the upcoming year, including the six officers and three at-large positions that make up the board’s Executive Committee.  Under the cooperative business model, Tri-State’s board is made up of one representative from each of its member systems, serving as the democratically-elected governing body of the association.

Rick Gordon, representing Tri-State member co-op Mountain View Electric Association (Limon, Colo.), was re-elected chairman for a fourth consecutive term.  Gordon originally joined Tri-State’s board in 1994 and served as vice chairman for 13 years prior to first being elected chairman in 2010.  He has served on his MVEA’s board since 1992.

Tony Casados, representing Northern Rio Arriba Electric Cooperative (Chama, N.M.), also was re-elected vice chairman for a fourth term, after having served as an assistant secretary for nine years previous.  Casados has served on his local co-op’s board since 1982 and has been on the Tri-State board since 2000. Continue reading ‘Tri-State officers elected following 2013 annual meeting’

Long-awaited completion of Nucla-Sunshine transmission line is celebrated

Published on March 29, 2013 in General, Public Meetings, Public Outreach and Transmission. 0 Comments Tags: .
Kevin Ritter, San Miguel Power Association general manager, spoke to the collaborative effort of all parties involved in bringing the Nucla-Sunshine line to fruition.

Kevin Ritter, San Miguel Power Association general manager, spoke to the collaborative effort of all parties involved in bringing the Nucla-Sunshine line to fruition.

A transmission line that takes three years to construct and nearly five times that long to conceive, debate, plan and engineer certainly deserves to be celebrated when it is finally electrified into service. Such was the occasion for a March 26 reception in Mountain Village, Colo., recognizing the completion this past November of the 51-mile, 115-kilovolt Nucla-Sunshine project.

The critical line provides an improved level of service and reliability to the towns of Telluride and Mountain Village and other nearby communities in the southwestern Colorado service territory of Tri-State member co-op San Miguel Power Association.

“I remember hearing about a new power line when my son was born – and that was 15 years ago,” said an only half-joking San Miguel county commissioner Joan May, who joined other local elected officials and representatives from SMPA and Tri-State at the afternoon event at Mountain Village Town Hall.

Telluride mayor Stu Fraser noted the urgency for a more reliable redundant power source that grew out of a 2004 avalanche that wiped out the area’s primary 115-kv line. “We said at the time that we can’t let this happen again,” Fraser said, who estimated that the outage caused by that avalanche cost his resort town approximately $250,000 in lost revenue.

The 51-mile, 115-kilovolt Nucla-Sunshine transmission line was built over the past three years and energized this past November.

The 51-mile, 115-kilovolt Nucla-Sunshine transmission line was built over the past three years and energized this past November.

Tri-State vice president/transmission Joel Bladow spoke to the “difficult technical challenges” involved with planning and constructing the line, while SMPA general manager Kevin Ritter discussed the critical collaboration that took place among the utilities, local government jurisdictions and various stakeholders. Other speakers at the reception included Mountain Village mayor Dan Jansen and San Miguel board president Rube Felicelli.

The line is unique to Tri-State’s transmission system in that approximately 10 miles of the power cable was placed underground to satisfy landowners’ concerns. Those concerns and other siting issues delayed the construction of the project for more than a decade.

2013 looks to be a busy year for Tri-State’s transmission team

Published on March 28, 2013 in Resource Planning and Transmission. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Editor’s note: The following has been excerpted from a recently published column by Tri-State senior vice president/transmission Joel Bladow that will appear in the spring 2013 issue of Tri-State’s quarterly magazine, Network.

Coyote-Junction-substationTri-State crews and contractors are ramping up for another busy year of transmission maintenance and improvement activities aimed at providing continued efficient and reliable service to our member systems.

Ongoing system improvements are necessary to keep pace with demands on our system and are required to serve the growing loads of our member co-ops.

In 2013 and beyond, increased activity is anticipated in the ongoing asset transfer program that was established in 2010. This is a voluntary program which allows Tri-State’s member systems the option of selling all of their existing power delivery equipment that is 100 kilovolts or greater to Tri-State.

PV-linemen-bucket-truckDuring the next several years, these transactions are expected to double the transformer inventory and add hundreds of miles of transmission and scores of circuit switchers, battery systems, substation control buildings and other equipment owned by our member co-ops.

Also in the pipeline, National Environmental Policy Act and local permitting activities are expected to be completed this year, which will enable construction in 2014 of the 65-mile, 230-kilovolt Burlington to Wray transmission line in eastern Colorado.

CNMIP-transmissionWe also have begun the planning process to provide vital system upgrades to southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley. The proposed 118-mile, 230-kV San Luis to Carson Transmission Project, which would extend along a southerly route from the San Luis Valley Substation into northern New Mexico, presents an alternative solution to bolstering reliability in that region.

Tri-State is guided in all of these endeavors by the primary goal of improving the performance and efficiency of the entire system while safely and reliably delivering power to our member systems at the lowest possible cost.

Tri-State hosts InfraGard meeting in collaboration with the FBI

Published on March 27, 2013 in General and Public Meetings. 0 Comments Tags: .

Infra-Gard-01Last week, Tri-State had the distinction of hosting the quarterly meeting of the InfraGard Denver Members Alliance. InfraGard is a collaborative effort between the FBI and critical infrastructure private sector subject matter experts in the fields of cyber and physical security.

Kevin Smith, Tri-State’s enterprise security specialist, serves as the energy sector chief of the Denver InfraGard chapter and Allan Wick, enterprise security manager, serves on the board of directors.

Donna Baptiste of Colorado Springs Utilities spoke to InfraGard members about last summer’s Waldo Canyon Fire.

Donna Baptiste of Colorado Springs Utilities spoke to InfraGard members about last summer’s Waldo Canyon Fire.

“InfraGard is a unique opportunity for those protecting our nation’s critical infrastructures to network with colleagues in interdependent sectors and to work closely with the FBI to deter threats against the industries we represent,” Wick said.

The theme of the chapter’s meeting was “Natural Hazards and Continuity of Operations,” which focused on the unique challenges that Colorado experiences when responding to and recovering from natural disasters such as tornadoes, winter storms, severe winds and wildfires. Presenters and participants discussed lessons learned from past disasters, preparedness plans and alternative approaches.

Approximately 100 members attended the event, which was strongly supported by Tri-State. Speakers included experts from the utilities sector, the National Weather Service and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Meeting attendees heard about lessons learned from past disasters, preparedness plans and alternative approaches to dealing with crises.

Meeting attendees heard about lessons learned from past disasters, preparedness plans and alternative approaches to dealing with crises.

More than 1,600 local chapter members of the InfraGard Members Alliance have the opportunity to join with fellow private sector subject matter experts to discuss issues, concerns and threats that impact the nation’s critical infrastructure security, as well as their business interests on a local level.

Each of the 86 chapters across the U.S. is co-located with an FBI field office and is represented by both a private sector chapter president and an FBI special agent coordinator.

ACCCE announces new internship program

Published on March 20, 2013 in Public Outreach. 0 Comments Tags: .

ACCCE_01Beginning this summer, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) will hire interns for an eight-week program at its Washington, D.C. headquarters. ACCCE interns will work one-on-one with an ACCCE mentor in areas such as communications, membership and state affairs.

As a result, ACCCE members will benefit through the enrichment and development of the next generation of clean coal supporters and grassroots activists. Students interested in becoming an intern at ACCCE must follow the application process and submit the application and supporting documents no later than April 1, 2013.