Power in transition: Tri-State Generation aims to keep energy options open while shifting to renewable sources.

• Author: Cote, Mike
• Position: COTE'S - Lee Boughey speaks about Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc.'s services - Interview

While headlines about renewable energy mandates usually focus on the state's largest utility, Xcel Energy. Westminster-based Tri-State Generation is undergoing a similar shift. Tri-State supplies power to 18 member electric cooperatives in Colorado, 12 in New Mexico, eight in Wyoming and six in Nebraska, serving nearly 1.5 million people.

Tri-State is working with Xcel Energy on a $180 million transmission line over La Vera Pass from the San Luis Valley that is designed to improve reliability of service and export renewable energy from southern Colorado to the From Range. The owner of the 171,000-acre Trinchera Ranch, billionaire hedge fund manager Louis Bacon, has been trying to block the project from going through his property.

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This interview with Tri-State's Lee Boughey, senior manager for communications and public affairs, was edited for space and clarity from an interview also available as a podcast at cobizmag.com. (Look for part 2 of this conversation in July in the "State of the State" section.)

ColoradoBiz: Tell us about the significance of the southern Colorado project and what the legal battle represents as utilities work on improving transmission lines to bring renewable power onto the grid.

Boughey: Tri-State has been looking into resolving some of the reliability issues in the San Luis Valley and south-central Colorado for the better part of a decade, With the stale Legislature passing and the governor signing Senate Bill 100, investor-owned utilities in the state (such as Xcel) also now have a requirement to plan for renewable energy transmission.

South-central Colorado and the San Luis Valley have been identified as areas for renewable energy development. It became clear to Tri-State and Xcel that it made a lot of sense to work together and Lake a systems-based approach to expanding the transmission system in the southern part of the state. This project would help ensure reliability throughout southern Colorado while also creating the opportunity for renewable energy exports from the renewable energy resource-rich parts of the state.

While we have received broad support from throughout southern Colorado recognizing the need for infrastructure investments, there is one landowner (Bacon) who has a large land holding that is presenting some unique challenges to us. Our...