Tri-State elects board officers at 2017 Annual Meeting
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association held its 65th Annual Meeting on April 5 in Broomfield, Colorado, with more than 425 electric cooperative representatives and industry officials in attendance. Tri-State is the cooperative wholesale power supplier to 43 member electric distribution cooperatives and public power districts in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming.
The annual meeting’s theme, Power with a Purpose, highlighted the association’s commitment to its members and the communities they serve with electricity across the West. At the meeting, Rick Gordon, chairman of Tri-State’s board of directors, Treasurer Stuart Morgan and Mike McInnes, CEO, reported on the association’s performance in 2016 and the strength of the cooperative business model.
Keynote speaker Cynthia Coffman, attorney general of Colorado, described the current regulatory environment as being in a time of change at the federal and state levels for the energy industry and cooperative utilities.
In 2016, Tri-State continued to take significant steps to increase member engagement, manage costs and diversify its energy portfolio. The association’s board of directors authorized payment of $10 million in patronage capital to the membership, which is a significant benefit of belonging to the association.
The association reached a milestone in 2016; 26 percent of the energy Tri-State and its members delivered to consumers was generated from renewable energy. Looking forward, Tri-State, along with other regional utilities and transmission providers, is exploring participation in an organized market, which potentially could increase generation and transmission efficiencies and result in cost savings throughout the region.
Following the annual meeting, the executive committee of the association's board of directors was seated, including the six officers and three at-large positions.
Rick Gordon, representing Tri-State member co-op Mountain View Electric Association (Limon, Colo.), was reelected chairman for an eighth consecutive term. Gordon originally joined Tri-State's board in 1994 and served as vice chairman for 13 years prior to first being elected chairman in 2010. He has served on Mountain View's board since 1992.
Joe Wheeling, representing La Plata Electric Association (Durango, Colo.), was elected vice chairman for a second term, after having served in an at-large executive committee position. Wheeling was elected to the La Plata board of directors in 2008 and joined Tri-State's board of directors in 2010.
Leo Brekel, representing Highline Electric Association (Holyoke, Colo.) since 2003, was reelected to the position of secretary.
Stuart Morgan, who has represented Wheat Belt Public Power District (Sidney, Neb.) on the Tri-State board since 2007, was reelected treasurer – a position he first assumed in 2012.
Matt Brown, who has represented High Plains Power (Riverton, Wyo.) on the Tri-State board since 2010, was reelected to the assistant secretary position for his fifth term. Julie Kilty, who has represented Wyrulec Company (Torrington, Wyo.) on the Tri-State board since 2012, was elected to the second assistant secretary position for her third term.
The executive committee's three at-large positions are being filled by incumbents Bill Mollenkopf representing Empire Electric Association (Cortez, Colo.) and Tim Rabon representing Otero County Electric Cooperative (Cloudcroft, NM), and newly-elected member Wayne Connell representing Central New Mexico Electric Cooperative (Mountainair, NM).