SMPA to Leave Colorado Rural Electric Association

SMPA to Leave Colorado Rural Electric Association

The following is an exerpt from the Telluride Watch Article at:
http://watchnewspapers.com/view/full_story/6449513/article-SMPA-and-DMEA-to-Investigate-a-Merger?

"Just over two weeks after the Delta-Montrose Electric Association announced that it was resigning its membership from the Colorado Rural Electric Association, the San Miguel Power Association announced this week that it was doing the same.

SMPA’s Board of Directors, according to an announcement released last Monday, voted to withdraw from the CREA at its regular meeting on Feb. 18. The decision to leave the statewide association is due in part to philosophical differences.

“The Board has recognized for some time that there are philosophical differences,” SMPA Board President Wes Perrin said. “We are always kind of outside the vote on CREA and it is a different type of organization. We did a survey in 2008 that indicated what the most important issues are for our members and that is reliability, cost, information on conservation, and renewable energy. We took that information seriously and we redirected our strategic planning. We are a progressive organization and we are seeing that it may be best for our members to start lobbying in a different fashion so we decided to separate from the legislative arm of CREA.”

SMPA expresses sincere appreciation for the past work CREA has accomplished on behalf of all Colorado electric cooperatives, the announcement stated. However, in order to assure that the values of SMPA’s members are reflected in our legislative lobbying efforts, SMPA finds it necessary to end participation in CREA’s legislative division."