LPEA Exits Tri-State, Dolores County Solar Anchors Interim Power Supply

The Dolores Canyon Solar Project, a Tri-State-owned array in Dolores County, is now carrying 30 percent of La Plata Electric Association's new power supply portfolio, making a sparsely populated rural county a material anchor in the Four Corners region's electricity grid.

LPEA formally departed its 50-year wholesale membership with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association on April 1 and simultaneously joined the Southwest Power Pool regional transmission organization, capping a two-year exit process that began when the cooperative's board voted to withdraw in March 2024. The departure did not sever every tie between the two cooperatives. LPEA immediately activated two new power purchase agreements with Tri-State, both drawing from the Dolores Canyon facility: one delivering up to 40 megawatts of firm capacity, the other covering 40 megawatts of as-available energy from the same array. Together those contracts account for 30 percent of LPEA's energy resource mix through the 2026-2028 bridge period.

LPEA serves La Plata and Archuleta counties along with portions of Hinsdale, Mineral and San Juan counties. Its full post-exit supply portfolio also includes a new agreement with energy trading firm Mercuria and power from local generation. The cooperative said it secured that entire package at more than 10 percent below what it previously paid Tri-State, allowing it to hold base rates flat for 2026 despite rising regional power costs.

"Affordability is a long-term commitment," said CEO Chris Hansen. "This transition gives us the tools to manage costs responsibly while continuing to improve service."

For Dolores County, the Dolores Canyon agreements underscore a dynamic that the county's commissioners and residents are likely to revisit repeatedly as the regional energy transition accelerates. A utility-scale solar installation physically inside the county now backstops electricity delivery for tens of thousands of customers across neighboring counties, while local government absorbs the permitting demands, land use pressures, and infrastructure responsibilities that accompany large-scale generation. Community benefit agreements and property tax revenue from projects of this size have become pressure points in other rural Colorado counties that host generation serving distant load centers.

LPEA will continue as a Tri-State transmission customer even after the membership exit, relying on Tri-State's existing grid infrastructure while sourcing generation independently through the Southwest Power Pool's competitive wholesale market. The cooperative's longer-term procurement strategy, covering the period after 2028, is subject to a separate request for proposals already underway.

The electricity flowing from Dolores Canyon eastward into La Plata County represents, at least for the next two years, a quiet but quantifiable fact of how this region now keeps the lights on.