|
 General Manager's message
Winter 2009
Ken Anderson
Executive Vice President/General Manager
Tri-State made great progress in many key areas in the past year, managing the risks facing the association and utility industry while meeting our corporate objectives, staying faithful to our values and advancing our strategic initiatives.
With uncertainty in the economy and the regulatory environment, last spring we outlined our evaluation of a wide-range of long-term resource planning options to affordably and reliably meet the future needs of our members. We also identified our near-term efforts to serve member system growth and diversify our resource portfolio.
Our energy efficiency programs were revised to better meet consumer needs, and new programs piloted successfully in 2009 have become part of our comprehensive 2010 product offerings.
To help meet member requirements and integrate renewable resources, we began receiving 220 megawatts of natural gas capacity from two agreements with independent power producers in eastern Colorado.
And to grow our renewable resource portfolio, Tri-State executed power purchase agreements for a 30-megawatt solar power plant in New Mexico and 51-megawatt wind farm in Colorado, both to be operational in 2010. Our members are also receiving support from Tri-State for their projects through our local renewable energy program.
Still, we recognize the majority of the energy we provide is met with our outstanding fleet of coal-based units, which are a key factor in Tri-State’s ability to maintain stable and affordable rates to our member co-ops. With that in mind, we have a comprehensive maintenance program to maximize plant availability and efficiency. A highlight of activities completed during the year was an upgrade at Craig Station’s Unit 3, which resulted in improved performance.
With the possibility of new environmental regulations that could affect our industry, Tri-State released its Greenhouse Gas Management Roadmap, a report on the association’s assessment of its potential to manage emissions, which will be heavily dependent upon the development of cost-effective technologies. We continue to make the necessary investments, and a highlight of our efforts was the announcement of a $4.8 million partnership to assess the carbon sequestration potential in geological formations near our Craig Station power plant.
Equally important to our mission of providing affordable power is maintaining and upgrading our transmission system. Tri-State’s many ongoing and new projects support reliability, serve growth in the membership and provide opportunities to interconnect new resources. Looking at longer-term, regional transmission goals, we are participating in studies of the High Plains Express and the Sun Zia Southwest projects.
Tri-State’s commitment to safety is one of our most important values. We are proud that in 2009 our employees at Escalante Generating Station in New Mexico were singled out as the first coal-based plant in the state to be recognized with the prestigious Voluntary Protection Program status by the New Mexico Environmental Department’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration — a major benchmark in safety excellence.
Our employees were also recognized for their environmental performance as the only Colorado electric utility named by the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment as a Silver Partner under the Environmental Leadership Program. This is the second year our Nucla Station employees have been awarded under this program, and the first year for recognition of our corporate efficiency initiatives. Colorado Biz magazine also recognized Tri-State as the “Top Company” in energy and natural resources.
We were also pleased to have been able to announce last fall that there was no increase in the wholesale rate to the membership in 2010.
Overall, we can look back on a solid year of accomplishments and hard work by all the staff at Tri-State. The new year already promises many new challenges, which we are well positioned to address across our enterprise.
Finally, I want to recognize Ray Clifton who, as you will read in the following pages, retired from the Colorado Rural Electric Association after a long career of service to our cooperative family. Ray’s leadership and dedication will be missed.
Updated: March 1, 2010
|
