t r o 2022 Fisca p l Year Annual Re Annual Report From the President: We Are Not Resting on Our Laurels
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efficient and timely. We need local, state, and he energy industry is on the verge tribal governments to do the same. of significant change. The growing We are fortunate and thankful to interest in electric vehicles. Expanded lawmakers this past session for use of smart household legislation giving officials the appliances. The push toward a authority to waive easement renewable energy tomorrow. fees for new infrastructure The success of all these on state land that can provide developments hinges on broadband internet to unserved reliable, affordable electric and underserved locations service. throughout New Mexico. Fueling this rapid transition We need lawmakers to are billions in federal money consider the same or similar through the Inflation approaches for new electric Reduction Act of 2022, the infrastructure; otherwise, most significant clean energy Keith Gottlieb not-for-profit cooperatives like investment ever made. Board President Continental Divide have no Electric cooperatives are vital choice but to pass on such costs to the transformative energy to you and me as ratepayers, which makes and broadband service in rural America our essential service less affordable. envisioned by the Biden administration. But When the costs and cumbersome it will take more than a mean green printing machine to battle our current climate crisis. It permitting become unbearable, they requires systemic policy changes. discourage new projects, and the safety and We urge Congress to reform the processes reliability of our existing electric grids and to make permitting and siting of new electric telecommunication networks suffer. generation and transmission projects more In general, our governing board
continues to take a forward-looking and optimistic approach to be better stewards of the environment and enterprising in incorporating renewable energy opportunities. But as it stands now, it’s still not possible to run a reliable electric grid without firm power resources such as coal, gas and nuclear. Someday it may be, once battery technology has advanced and the country’s transmission grids have been upgraded. But these improvements will take significant time to come to fruition. Until then, we continue to work with our power provider Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association to enhance further the 34% renewable energy we deliver to Continental Divide members. Since December 2019, two local solar facilities have accounted for 56.7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity provided to you through a 20-year renewable power contract between our co-op and the project’s developer Lightsource BP. continued on Page 2