Durango city govt. to buy 100 percent wind power

DURANGO — The city has signed an agreement with its electric utility to boost the amount of wind-generated power it buys from 10 percent to 100 percent, officials said.

The additional cost of about $120,000 per year should be offset by savings stemming from an energy audit by the La Plata Electric Association aimed at helping the city improve conservation and energy efficiency, said City Manager Bob Ledger.

“This is the right thing to do,” he said in a statement.

He said one option to reduce power use could be change rates at the Chapman Hill ice rink to encourage people to use the rink at times when energy consumption elsewhere is low.

Utility officials said Durango is the first government in its service area in La Plata and Archuleta counties to commit to buying only wind-generated power.

Greg Munro, the utility’s chief executive officer, said under the agreement, the city is buying power generated by wind turbines rather than energy credits.

The company’s Web site says the utility gets its wind-generated power Tri-State Generation and Transmission, which buys renewable energy from wind farms across the West.

Since 1998, Tri-State has given members including the La Plata Electric Association an option to provide wind-generated and other renewable energy to customers who agree to pay an additional $1.25 per 100 kilowatt-hours each month.