The annual Mountain View Electric Association Lamplighter Dinner was held at the Wedgewood Wedding and Banquet Center in Black Forest Oct. 3. Errol Hertneky, a District 3 board director, served as the master of ceremonies; and Jim Herron, MVEA chief executive officer, was the featured speaker.Herron spoke to the crowd about how the MVEA is ìcommunity-focused, community-involved and community-engaged.î He said what makes the MVEA different is that it is owned by co-op members. Mountain View Electric has offices in Falcon and Limon, and, as of this summer, Monument, he said.Members should take advantage of the Energy Efficient Rebate programs, including the 2018 LED bulb rebates, Herron said. MVEA gave away four whole home-lighting packages as part of an online registration contest. This yearís winners were Ronald and Michelle Carr of Peyton, who were present at the dinner; Thomas and Jeanette Cole of Elbert; Tim and Janet Schulte of Monument; and Darlia Simmons of Calhan.MVEA has written about 15,800 checks to equal $300,000 worth in rebates the past couple of years, Herron said. The rebates help the members and the co-op. ìWhat it does for Mountain View Electric is, it defers or postpones the building of new generation plants; and it also extends the life of the current ones we have out there,î he said. Herron discussed the Environmental Protectionís Clean Power Plan, which is being replaced by the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, or ACE.ìThe Clean Power Plan was designed to control carbon dioxide; at the time there was no way from a commercial standpoint to control carbon dioxide, and there was the possibility it would mean shutting down power plants, which would have had a major impact on MVEA, its members and all electric utilities across the U.S.,î he said. Because of legal actions taken on behalf of MVEA and other utilities and organizations, the Clean Power Plan was postponed.Meanwhile, the White House changed administrations, and the Clean Power Plan is being replaced by ACE, which Herron said is friendlier to the states.ìIt allows states to have control over what they might do and to set unit-specific standards, although there are limitations as states cannot add to or substitute their judgement about what constitutes the best system of emission reduction,î he said. The Clean Power Plan set requirements for power plants that werenít feasible because of the lack of technology at the time, Herron said. ìACE says we are not going to require you to shut down your plants just because of performance issues, and allows the utilities to feather that in according to their plan,î he added. Co-op reliance on coal-based generation declined from 2014 to 2016. ìRenewable energy (nationally) has gone up to 17 percent, and Tri-State is No. 1 in solar projects among Cooperative G & Tís (Generation and Transmissions),î Herron said. Thirty percent of the electricity consumed by Tri-State members comes from renewable resources, which includes hydro power, he said. MVEA has a voluntary program where members can buy Green Power Renewable Energy credits (RECs), which allow individuals to be part of the renewable energy program. Many members are adding solar panels to their homes; 140 were added in 2017, which makes more than 675 in the service area, Herron said. Mountain View Electric Association is an electric cooperative, organized in 1941. Today, MVEA serves more than 46,000 members with almost 55,000 meters in portions of eight counties. Visit http://mvea.coop for more information.
