In this edition of #LPEAwire, LPEA CEO Jessica Matlock answers some of your questions on LPEA’s power supply, power reliability, and power costs, in the wake of the rolling blackouts in Texas.
Learn More
Transcript
1
00:00:00,360 –> 00:00:02,180
Hi, I’m Hillary Knox,
2
00:00:02,180 –> 00:00:05,550
VP of Member Experience at
La Plata Electric Association
3
00:00:05,550 –> 00:00:08,243
and this is your LPEA wire for April.
4
00:00:15,910 –> 00:00:19,150
In the wake of February’s
rolling blackouts in Texas,
5
00:00:19,150 –> 00:00:22,020
LPEA has been fielding
questions from our members
6
00:00:22,020 –> 00:00:26,460
on the reliability of our
power now and into the future.
7
00:00:26,460 –> 00:00:29,340
I sat down with LPEA CEO, Jessica Matlock
8
00:00:29,340 –> 00:00:31,240
to discuss this question
9
00:00:31,240 –> 00:00:34,960
Jessica, thank you very
much for joining us.
10
00:00:34,960 –> 00:00:37,620
You know, as you know, we’ve
received a lot of questions,
11
00:00:37,620 –> 00:00:41,380
since the Texas blackouts
our members kind of curious
12
00:00:41,380 –> 00:00:45,330
about what we’re doing to
ensure reliability and you know,
13
00:00:45,330 –> 00:00:47,020
one of the main questions
that we’ve gotten
14
00:00:47,020 –> 00:00:50,190
is how do we know that
what happened in Texas
15
00:00:50,190 –> 00:00:51,980
is not going to happen here?
16
00:00:51,980 –> 00:00:54,073
So what’s your response to that?
17
00:00:54,073 –> 00:00:55,540
Yeah, it’s a good question Hillary.
18
00:00:55,540 –> 00:00:57,530
I think a lot of us have
friends down at Texas
19
00:00:57,530 –> 00:01:01,530
so it is very dear and near to our hearts.
20
00:01:01,530 –> 00:01:03,360
So what we did right away
21
00:01:03,360 –> 00:01:07,460
is just make sure that our grid is stable.
22
00:01:07,460 –> 00:01:11,137
And we contacted a lot
of our partners to say
23
00:01:11,137 –> 00:01:13,780
“how are we protected in our state?”
24
00:01:13,780 –> 00:01:16,330
Our equipment out here
is weather protected
25
00:01:16,330 –> 00:01:17,400
for cold weather.
26
00:01:17,400 –> 00:01:20,250
Texas did not have those protections.
27
00:01:20,250 –> 00:01:23,160
So we know for a fact that
our gas wells will not freeze
28
00:01:23,160 –> 00:01:26,123
because we did place
extra equipment on those.
29
00:01:27,370 –> 00:01:30,770
Second is that Texas is
part of a independent grid.
30
00:01:30,770 –> 00:01:31,670
It’s called ERCOT.
31
00:01:32,560 –> 00:01:33,520
We do not have that.
32
00:01:33,520 –> 00:01:35,960
We’re part of the
Western Interconnect grid
33
00:01:35,960 –> 00:01:38,160
which is one of the largest
in the United States.
34
00:01:38,160 –> 00:01:42,160
So we have a great diversity
of energy that we can pull from
35
00:01:42,160 –> 00:01:44,140
to make sure that we
don’t have the same issue.
36
00:01:44,140 –> 00:01:45,410
Another thing we’re hearing a lot
37
00:01:45,410 –> 00:01:48,160
is there have been some that have claimed
38
00:01:48,160 –> 00:01:50,440
that an over-reliance on renewable energy
39
00:01:50,440 –> 00:01:55,270
specifically wind energy was
to cause for these outages.
40
00:01:55,270 –> 00:01:58,810
People also know that LPEA is exploring
41
00:01:58,810 –> 00:02:00,110
different types of renewable
42
00:02:00,110 –> 00:02:02,470
and low carbon energy for our future.
43
00:02:02,470 –> 00:02:05,266
So how would you answer
folks who want to know
44
00:02:05,266 –> 00:02:08,180
how we’re going to
maintain our reliability
45
00:02:08,180 –> 00:02:11,603
even as we pursue low
carbon power sources?
46
00:02:12,540 –> 00:02:14,240
Yeah, that’s a great question as well.
47
00:02:14,240 –> 00:02:18,070
So just to be clear though,
the outages in Texas
48
00:02:18,070 –> 00:02:20,723
were not solely the fault
of renewable energy,
49
00:02:22,416 –> 00:02:24,670
the wind turbines some of them did freeze
50
00:02:24,670 –> 00:02:25,920
because of cold weather
51
00:02:25,920 –> 00:02:30,920
but same with gas
pipelines, coal piles froze.
52
00:02:30,920 –> 00:02:34,780
So there was a larger supply
infrastructure issue in Texas.
53
00:02:34,780 –> 00:02:37,340
And because of that and because
they’re independent grid
54
00:02:37,340 –> 00:02:40,080
they weren’t able to
call across state lines
55
00:02:40,080 –> 00:02:41,680
to get additional energy.
56
00:02:41,680 –> 00:02:43,980
So for La Plata Electric,
57
00:02:43,980 –> 00:02:46,360
we do have a goal of
reducing our carbon footprint
58
00:02:46,360 –> 00:02:49,550
50% below 2018 levels.
59
00:02:49,550 –> 00:02:50,890
But at the same time,
60
00:02:50,890 –> 00:02:53,260
we’re making sure that we do
that in an affordable way.
61
00:02:53,260 –> 00:02:58,260
So we won’t go to that goal if
we cannot maintain our rates.
62
00:02:59,520 –> 00:03:00,717
So that’s very important.
63
00:03:00,717 –> 00:03:03,410
And I think the other
thing we’re thinking about
64
00:03:03,410 –> 00:03:05,590
is that yes, we’d like to
bring in renewable energy
65
00:03:05,590 –> 00:03:08,390
but you have to firm
it with base load power
66
00:03:08,390 –> 00:03:11,230
and the only base load power
today that’s affordable
67
00:03:11,230 –> 00:03:13,260
and on the market, it is coal.
68
00:03:13,260 –> 00:03:14,410
It is natural gas.
69
00:03:14,410 –> 00:03:16,210
It’s, hydro-power.
70
00:03:16,210 –> 00:03:17,440
There’s some battery storage
71
00:03:17,440 –> 00:03:19,600
but that’s still pretty expensive.
72
00:03:19,600 –> 00:03:21,300
So we’re looking at all options.
73
00:03:21,300 –> 00:03:24,570
I don’t think we have to
choose one over the other.
74
00:03:24,570 –> 00:03:28,150
The point is, is that we need
to diversify our energy mix
75
00:03:28,150 –> 00:03:32,390
so that we don’t rely on
one source at all times.
76
00:03:32,390 –> 00:03:34,860
Great. Well, thank you so
much for your time, Jessica.
77
00:03:34,860 –> 00:03:36,400
Thank you.
78
00:03:36,400 –> 00:03:37,620
For more information
79
00:03:37,620 –> 00:03:40,100
on LPEAs future power supply discussions,
80
00:03:40,100 –> 00:03:45,100
visit our website at
lpea.coop/powersupply.
81
00:03:45,360 –> 00:03:48,320
And that’s it for this
edition of LPEA Wire.
82
00:03:48,320 –> 00:03:50,730
Join us next month with more from LPEA.
