Transmission & Distribution
Colorado Co-ops Pursue Transmission
Electric cooperatives in Colorado are pushing ahead to identify options to ensure electric system reliability, despite a decision by Xcel Energy to drop out of a joint proposal for a transmission line.
Reps from Tri-State G&T, the Bureau of Land Management and a landowner review a route map for a proposed transmission line in So. Colo. (Photo By: David Tejada)
Tri-State G&T, Westminster, and Xcel, an investor-owned utility, had proposed in 2008 a $180 million transmission line in southern Colorado to improve reliability in that part of the state.
But in a resource plan filed with state regulators last month, the IOU reconsidered its involvement, citing declining power demand forecasts, a sluggish economy and uncertainty about federal policies.
“Our needs have not changed,” said Sarah Carlisle, public affairs coordinator at Tri-State G&T. “We will move forward to identify our options.”
Carlisle said it’s too early for the G&T and its member systems to describe alternatives, but “doing nothing is not an option.”
“The need for reliable electric service across the San Luis Valley, south central Colorado and northern New Mexico has not changed,” said Joel Bladow, senior vice president of transmission. “Tri-State is committed to serving the power needs of the region.”
A new transmission line would add critical redundancy to the area’s electric system, Carlisle said. Currently, all power comes into the area from one direction.
“There is one feed coming into the [San Luis] Valley and if something significant happened to it, we’d could be out of power for weeks. If this happened in the middle of the summer, it would be a disaster for our agricultural community,” said Loren Howard, the new CEO at San Luis Valley REC, Monte Vista. The co-op was an early supporter of the project.
While Xcel Energy projects a 292-megawatt drop in demand by 2018, Tri-State saw demand grow 5.5 percent last year. Average transmission use has grown to 2,626 MW in August, up from 2,442 MW in 2007, the G&T said.
The project, known as Southern Colorado Transmission Improvements, has wide support outside the co-op community and many are pitching it as an economic necessity.
Without the line, the area “will not have the adequate infrastructure available to attract new businesses and industries,” according to a statement by the Upper Rio Grande Economic Development Council.