Daryl Hahn, electric utility director for Longmont Power & Communications (LPC), briefed City Council on proposed updates to two intergovernmental agreements: the 4‑owner “organic contract” that establishes Platte River Power Authority (PRPA) and the individual power‑supply IGA between the city and PRPA. Hahn said the updates modernize language adopted in 2018, remove prescriptive references to specific technologies and add flexibility so the joint entity and the four municipal owners can adapt to changing law, markets and technology over the next decades.

Hahn described three broad themes in the updates: (1) reinforce PRPA’s three pillars — reliable, cost‑effective and environmentally responsible energy; (2) remove overly prescriptive language that mandated particular technology choices; and (3) clarify governance items such as the qualifications and timing for the second owner representative on the PRPA board. Sarah Leonard, general counsel for Platte River, participated in explaining drafting coordination across the four cities and PRPA staff.

Councilors asked detailed questions about a limit in the current IGA that allows new city‑owned generation “no greater than 1,000 kilowatts or 1% of Longmont’s peak load, whichever is greater.” Councilor Popkin and others recalled staff discussions aiming to make the IGA less prescriptive. Hahn and PRPA representatives said the limit (about 2 megawatts based on Longmont’s roughly 190 MW peak) was retained in the agreement to protect PRPA’s bond covenants and the aggregate revenue base for PRPA bondholders; behind‑the‑meter generation is exempted, and small projects like community solar and batteries would be coordinated with Platte River so system‑level impacts and bonding considerations are addressed.

Why it matters: The organic contract is essentially PRPA’s constitution. Changes to that agreement and to the city’s power‑supply IGA affect how the municipal owners jointly plan resources, recover costs, and respond to new technologies (battery storage, distributed generation, small modular reactors) over decades. The updates aim to preserve PRPA’s ability to finance projects while giving the partners more operational flexibility.

Next steps: Longmont staff will return the two IGAs for council action; PRPA’s board will separately consider the power‑supply agreement. Council members asked staff for additional information about how local, behind‑the‑meter projects and tax‑credit‑eligible small solar installations would be handled under the IGA.