Challengers energize REA voting

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

The theme of change dominating presidential politics is seeping down to the local level in the fierce race for election to the Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association board of directors.

A slate of three alternative energy advocates allied as the PV Pioneers is waging a concerted campaign for three of the four director seats up for election at the March 15 annual meeting.

The race makes apparent the changing face of the consumer-owned, nonprofit cooperative.

Formed nearly 70 years ago in the wake of the Depression, its mission was bringing electricity to far-flung farms across Larimer and Weld counties.

Today it serves 35,618 increasingly suburban members. The REA maintains more than 3,800 miles of line spread over 3,600 square miles from Virginia Dale to the north, Boulder to the south, Kersey and beyond to the east and Estes Park to the west.

Previously there were few contests for the 11 board seats. They typically were held by long-time directors associated with agriculture. In 2007, however, a pair of relative newcomers pushing renewable resources and challenging continued reliance on coal-fired electric generation came within a whisker of unseating two incumbents.

Roger Alexander and Steve Szabo challenged plans by the REA's wholesale supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, to build two new coal-fired power plants in western Kansas and a third in southeastern Colorado.

Tri-State insisted the plants were needed to meet future demands. But Alexander and Szabo maintained the $5 billion total cost was excessive and unnecessary. Those needs, they asserted, could be met more economically and environmentally soundly through greater conservation and use of renewable energy.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment rejected the power plant plans, however, and a compromise is now being drafted by the Kansas Legislature. It would allow construction of the plants to proceed, providing Tri-State minimizes the carbon dioxide emissions widely believed by scientists to contribute to global warming.

Those two PV (Poudre Valley or Photo-Voltaic) Pioneers are back again, with the addition of Tim Hurst, campaigning on a plank of three R's - rates, reliability and renewable energy. They want Poudre Valley and other co-ops to press for greater development of renewable energy by Tri-State.

Based in the metro suburb of Westminster, Tri-State provides power to Poudre Valley and 43 other co-ops serving 1.4 million customers in Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and New Mexico. Each co-op in turn appoints a representative to the Tri-State board.

This year's contest has been quiet and civil for the most part with candidates from both camps expressing respect for the ideas and opinions offered by the other. Beneath it all, however, is a deep split between those convinced coal-generated electricity is the only real option in the foreseeable future and those equally convinced it should be the last option.

"There are two very different philosophies," said 18-year board member Jim Park, who is being challenged by Hurst.

"Coal is going to be in the mix but we need to be phasing out," insisted Szabo, who is running against Robert Lock.

"They think green power is the answer to everything," said Dean Anderson, who's being opposed by Alexander as well as Bob Berling.

While green power has its place, Anderson said it remains expensive and unreliable. It is available only when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing and can't be stored for later use when it is needed most.

There also is a less profound split about whether global warming is a consequence of the carbon dioxide produced by the combustion of fossil fuels.

"I don't think (the directors) really understand what's happening with climate change. It's kind of irrefutable," said Szabo.

"Quite frankly, I don't buy into that totally," Park said. He suggested such warming instead could result from long-term cyclical variations.

"It really seems that it's only in the U.S. that the discussion still exists," said Alexander. Disputable or not, he asked, "What's the downside of moving away from fossil fuels now? Why would you gamble with the future of the human race?"

Election options

Poudre Valley REA members can vote one of two ways. For the first time, postage-paid ballots will be mailed to all members of record as of Dec. 31. They must be returned by 5 p.m. March 14.

Members also can vote in person at the annual meeting the following day, March 15, at the CSU Lory Student Center.

Open to all REA members, registration starts at 11 a.m., complimentary lunch is at noon and the meeting at 1 p.m. Election results will be announced at 2:45 p.m. This year's entertainment is "king of caulk and talk" Doug Rye