One of only six organizations in the nation to be so honored, La Plata Electric Association has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy with a Green Power Leadership Award for its commitment to supporting electricity generated from a renewable resource.
The Durango-based electric cooperative received its award at the October 20 Green Power Leadership Awards ceremony in Portland, Oregon. LPEA was awarded the title, along with fellow utility Portland General Electric, as the Utility Green Power Program of the Year. LPEA is the only rural electric cooperative in the nation to receive the honor, as PGE is a publically-traded company. Non-utility Green Power Suppliers of the Year are 3Degrees, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, SunRun and SolarCity.
“We’re tremendously honored to receive this national award from the Department of Energy,” said Greg Munro, LPEA CEO, noting that the cooperative is very conservative in spending its members’ money for any marketing programs. “Credit for LPEA’s success in our Green Power program goes to our creative and enthusiastic LPEA staff and board, which have worked hard to get the word out to our communities about the benefits of supporting renewable energy, as well as how easy it is for everyone to do their small part. In turn, our communities deserve praise for stepping up and voluntarily paying a premium for electricity from a renewable resource.”
The DOE annually singles out those organizations that distinguish themselves among U.S. green power market participants. La Plata Electric has been actively involved in promoting voluntary Green Power purchase for more than a decade, and within the last year launched its successful “Just One Block” program to encourage purchase of 100-kWh blocks of Green Power – currently available at 10 cents per block – noting that if all members would sign up for only “just one block,” the support would go far to further the development of additional renewable generation.
Currently, a majority of LPEA’s Green Power is purchased through the cooperative’s power supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, which continues to add a mix of renewable options to its portfolio. The LPEA Green Power program was initiated in 1998 when Tri-State first included Green Power as part of its available resources to end-use consumers. Currently, LPEA members are voluntarily purchasing 25,500 100-kWh blocks of Green Power, more than 25 percent of the renewable energy sold by Tri-State.
LPEA has also supported local renewable generation projects, providing rebates for residential and commercial solar arrays to installing PV panels at local schools. Currently, a total of 1 megawatt of Green Power is being generated from local systems within LPEA’s service territory.
“We would have liked to attend the awards celebration, especially since there were only six organizations being honored,” said Munro of the Green Power Leadership Awards. “Given these challenging economic times, however, we didn’t think that this was a prudent use of our members’ money. We opted to just stay home and continue to get our jobs done.”
LPEA, a Touchstone Energy Cooperative established in 1939, provides to its more than 30,000 members, with in excess of 40,000 meters, safe, reliable electricity at the lowest reasonable cost, while being environmentally responsible. For additional information, visit www.lpea.coop.