(January 31, 2025, Westminster and Granby, Colo.) Not-for-profit wholesale power supply cooperative Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and Granby, Colo.-based not-for-profit cooperative Mountain Parks Electric, Inc. have terminated their wholesale electric service contract, withdrawing Mountain Parks from Tri-State membership, effective February 1, 2025.
“We wish Mountain Parks Electric and its consumer-members well,” said Duane Highley, CEO of Tri-State. “Our teams worked together amicably to successfully execute the complex contract termination process.”
A Tri-State member has the flexibility to terminate its wholesale electric service contract and withdraw from Tri-State membership by providing an unconditional two-year notice and making a contract termination payment (CTP) under a tariff and formula ordered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“Tri-State has been a long-time reliable power supplier and will continue to be a trusted transmission provider for MPE moving forward,” said Virginia Harman, general manager of Mountain Parks. “We have appreciated working with the Tri-State team throughout the withdrawal process and look forward to continuing our relationship with their transmission team into the future.”
Mountain Parks provided an unconditional notice to Tri-State in January 2023. Mountain Parks’ CTP to Tri-State is approximately $86 million, including Mountain Parks share of Tri-State’s power purchase obligations. Mountain Parks received a credit for its patronage capital in Tri-State, resulting in a cash payment of approximately $71.6 million from Mountain Parks to Tri-State.
The FERC-ordered CTP is intended by FERC to address cost shifts from a withdrawing member to the remaining members, and the two-year period prior to a member’s departure permits Tri-State to adjust its resource and other planning to maximize opportunities and avoid costs related to a member’s withdrawal. The CTP allows Tri-State the flexibility to deploy the funds received in a manner best benefiting the Tri-State membership.
Mountain Parks joined the Tri-State membership in 1952, and in 2007 extended its contract with Tri-State to 2050.
About Tri-State — Tri-State is a power supply cooperative, operating on a not-for-profit basis, serving electric distribution cooperatives and public power district member-owners in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming. Together with our members, we deliver reliable, affordable and responsible power to more than a million people across nearly 200,000 square miles of the West. Visit www.tristate.coop.
About Mountain Parks — Mountain Parks Electric, Inc. (MPE) is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric utility cooperative. Established in 1946 in Walden, Colorado, MPE has been headquartered in Granby since 1953 with a service center in Walden. MPE serves approximately 18,000 members through more than 22,000 meters across approximately 4,000 square miles of Rocky Mountain terrain, including all of Grand and Jackson counties, as well as parts of Larimer, Routt and Summit counties. Visit www.MPEI.com.
Media Contacts
Tri-State, Lee Boughey, VP Communications, 720-670-6696, lee.boughey@tristategt.org
Mountain Parks, Aaron Street, Manager of Communications, 970-887-7001, astreet@mpei.com