• Tri State Generation and Transmission is an electricity Generation and Transmission Cooperative based in Westminster, CO. It is one of 64 G&Ts in the US and was formed in 1952 to sell electricity to rural cooperatives in Colorado and neighboring states. Today Tri-State has 42 member-owned local Distribution Cooperatives, or Rural Electric Associations (REAs) that serve more than 1.5 million customers in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and parts of Nebraska (and a tiny bit of Utah.)

• Tri-State is governed by its board of directors, made up of one board member from each of the 42 member coops, regardless of the size of the member coop. Today 18 of the 42 members (41%) are from Colorado while Colorado accounts for 66% of the Tri-State power load. All of the distribution coops have very long contracts with Tri-State, reaching out until the end of 2050.

• Each of those 42 electric cooperatives are contractually obligated to purchase at least 95% of their electricity from Tri-State, but may, if they choose, obtain up to 5% of their electricity from other sources, and may bid for the right to build an additional 2% locally-generated power* Tri-State requires its meter on any projects that make up the 5-7%, and Tri-State controls 100% of the power purchased or produced by all its member coops. This limit on local energy development has been controversial in many communities that want to pursue more local and/or renewable energy projects. However, a final determination from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has not been issued yet. **In the winter of 2020, Tri-State announced that it will allow REAs to increase that 5% cap to 7% via a bidding process, whereby REAs can vie for the right to build more grid-tied power, locally.

• In the late 80s, Tri-state invested heavily in coal plants and infrastructure.  It now finances its business with $1.1 billion in equity capital and $3.3 billion in debt (see 10Q filing), most of which is made up of publicly traded bonds.  Tri-State’s annual interest expense is approximately $150 million, which is paid by member/customers of Tri-State’s 42 member coops. This high debt we are paying for outdated coal is part of the reason why Tri-State members pay some of the highest rates in the West.

  • Tri-State’s model has changed over the years. When it started in 1952, Tri-State only purchased power from Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) for distribution to the coops. Tri-State did not own any generation until the 1970s and only got into coal in the 1980s.  When large centrally generated coal-fired plants were some of the cheapest forms of delivering electrical power to remote landscapes of the west, Tri-State’s model made sense but the times have changed and fossil fuel generation is no longer the least-cost alternative in many cases, and the markets are shifting at a rapid pace. Tri-State has shown that it can adapt to changing times and it needs to do so again. Coops want to be able to pursue cheaper, cleaner, reliable, and locally sourced power for their customers. Members of coops need to push Tri-State to evolve with current times.