Tri-State’s New Mexico co-ops intervene in ongoing exit battle

WESTMINSTER — Ten New Mexico power cooperatives belonging to Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. have filed to intervene in an ongoing legal fight between the power wholesaler and two want-away cooperatives, a dispute that now involves almost every power co-op in the group.

All but one of Tri-State’s 11 co-ops in New Mexico state filed earlier this week to enter the ongoing dispute between Tri-State and La Plata Electric Association Inc. and Brighton’s United Power Inc., according to filings with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Tri-State said it did not oppose the motions to intervene.

A motion to intervene is a legal tool for parties not directly involved in a dispute to have their opinions heard if a dispute would establish a precedent for their operations.

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LPEA and United Power asked state regulators to step into a dispute between the pair and Tri-State last November, saying Tri-State is effectively holding them hostage by either providing too high of an exit fee or refusing to give a quote and allow co-ops to enter negotiations to join another wholesaler. United and LPEA combined made up 21.8 percent of Tri-State’s 2019 revenue.

Tri-State said it is enforcing a moratorium on member exits while its committees develop a new procedure for leaving. It has also argued the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has jurisdiction over it, not state regulators.

But in an interim decision, state regulators asserted they hold authority over the dispute and set another round of hearings for the week of March 23.

Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association Inc., the co-op covering large portions of Larimer County, Boulder County and western Weld County, entered the dispute in late December. A coalition of other Colorado co-ops have already joined the litigation, while four out of Tri-State’s six Nebraska co-ops and all eight Wyoming member co-ops have filed to intervene.