WSRL.ORG / Rural Colorado Energy Issues - July. 2005 - Revised January 2008 - DMEA Page - For whatever reason, it seems Delta Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) and the manager, Dan McClendon are quoted in the major regional newspapers more that any other REA. It's as if DMEA and Dan are a spokesperson for all the other REA's in the state. This is fine with me. I'm a customer of DMEA, receive their mailing, and have no problem picking on them to the exclusion or the other REA's. I will again reference a Washington Post article that, I feel closely describes today's REA organizations. I'm not at all certain that the REA method of doing business is relevant to what needs to happen today on the energy front. It is hard for me to come up with words that sufficiently describe my anger at the Federal Government for the great peril they have placed our country in relative to energy.
Tri-State News Update 1-2-08
As a DMEA customer, if you are feeling like a well cultivated mushroom relative to information about Tri-State, relief is here. The Colorado PUC has made available Tri-State's 140 page "Electric Resource Plan" which was filed mid-November 2007. The document is a little tricky to find on the PUC website so it has been transfered to this server. The document appears to be fully in the public domain with no copyright noitices that I could find. I think you will find the document contains several items found on this website that have never, to the best of my knowledge, been mentioned by DMEA or made available to the public on their website.
To DMEA's Credit -
They were first to rock the boat relative to TriState's conventional coal fired power plants. I can not, however, think of anything less relevant than not signing the famous "All Requirements" contract due 2040. In my view the act was a publicity stunt that had and currently has no meaning. At this rate, I question if TriState will be around in even five years. Conventional (old technology) coal plants have been under attack for years. This act, for sure, did not cause Kansas to reject the Sunflower Electric Power 700 Mwatt build permit. It was all of the high level down-wind state officials and politicians that were in line to suffer the effects of the new plant.
DMEA - The Political Animal
DMEA has kept large amounts of information from their members. Terms like "Global Warming", "Carbon Caps", "Nuclear Power", "OASIS", " Co-Gen","CHP"," Beck, Schmitz, School of Mines report", don't seem to be in their vocabulary. I'll save my comments on their PURPA concepts for the next page. They keep sending out brochures announcing their upcoming 11.5% rate increases but including lots of pretty pictures and graphs on things like renewable energy, geothermal energy and so on. They sponsor forums and expos on various topics but in the end they continue to increase rates. It's as if their efforts justify and grease the skids to higher rates. For all their effort, the only concrete information I've gotten from them is that rates are going up. No real strategy, no long term plans, just increase rates.
DMEA's Future - We're Waiting
Lets see, if the two Kansas units don't come on-line and Xcel Comanche Unit-3 is either delayed or canceled, by my count, needed generation is down by nearly 2000 megawatts. DMEA, now would be an excellent time to reveal your "Plan-B". You do have a Plan-B that includes hard numbers don't you? Update 10-31-07 - Xcel announced today the cancellation of their proposed super clean IGCC style plant in Colorado. The 2000 megawatts mentioned above does not include this plant.
TriState Issues -
This area may shortly become a separate page. Western Resource Advocates (WRA) is currently trying to influence the furture path of TriState in the generation of energy for member REA's. I currently consider this a very dangerous group in that they have no real technical expertise in the energy field. They are comprised mainly of attorneys and economists. To view their latest write-up on Tristate, go to their "Energy" page. WRA apparetnly depends on reports from Summit Blue Consulting which is headquartered in Boulder. Summit Blue is a highly qualified technical organization and has recently produced a 47 page guide for REA board members. Doing a quick read, the document appears to contain much good general information but lacks the hard numbers contained in other prestiges reports.
Related Topics Pages - - Geoexchange - Electrical Costs Page -
Copyright WSRL.ORG © 2005 thru 2008
|
DMEA Links
Updated August 2008 
|
