Representatives of San Miguel Power Association (SMPA) briefed Ouray County commissioners on Sept. 24 about several large utility projects intended to improve reliability, resilience and local renewable generation.

SMPA said it has completed key steps in its Red Mountain Electrical Reliability and Broadband Improvement project — a multi‑year program to rebuild aging lines between the Ouray and Red Mountain substations and to add hardened infrastructure. The cooperative said recent pole replacements and substation upgrades have improved redundancy and that construction work in 2025 finished a section early, allowing the planned highway closures to be reduced. SMPA said the corridor work also included vegetation management for wildfire mitigation.

SMPA outlined future local projects including a planned microgrid at its Ridgeway facility (a resilience hub with solar and battery storage funded in part by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs) and a proposed 20‑megawatt solar array in the Narita area where the cooperative has a federal grant of about $9.8 million; SMPA said the larger solar project depends on Montrose County land‑use code decisions and a Tri‑State policy change that would allow larger local generation (referred to in the presentation as an expansion of a prior 5% local cap, and other local‑generation programs such as BYOR — "bring your own resource"). SMPA said Tri‑State is pursuing revised limits and the proposed changes are under federal review.

SMPA also described new customer programs including a time‑of‑use rate intended to move demand out of the 4–9 p.m. peak window and an 'Electrify and Save' financing product that lets customers access heat pumps and other technologies with a pay‑as‑you‑save model. SMPA said wholesale cost pressures, a planned Tri‑State wholesale increase and rising insurance and materials costs mean SMPA is planning for rate pressure in coming years, while the cooperative pursues projects and programs to lower long‑term costs.

Ending

Commissioners thanked SMPA for the presentation and said they will continue to coordinate on local projects, workforce housing for operations staff, and the microgrid effort at Ridgeway’s Decker Room. SMPA said it will follow up with details on the Narita solar project and the timing of land‑use triggers in Montrose County. No county action was taken during the session.