By Reuben Bergsten, Utilities Director
When you wake up and flip the light switch and start the coffee maker, you may not be thinking about where that electricity came to life. If you’re an Estes Park Power and Communications customer, your electricity has been on quite a journey.
Our team is responsible for the final leg of the journey – moving the electricity from our substations to your coffee maker without interruption. This is very important work that is challenging and complex. Even more complex is what happens before that – the process of sourcing and transmitting power to Estes Park.
In 1973, the Town of Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont and Loveland, created Platte River Power Authority, a not-for-profit organization to source, generate and transmit wholesale electricity to the four community-owned electric utilities. As the owners, each community is represented on the Platte River board, which hires a CEO to operate the organization, hiring staff for generation, transmission and business operations. Mayor Gary Hall and I currently serve on the board, and the Platte River CEO is Jason Frisbie. Platte River sources and generates electricity and transmits the electricity to us through its electric lines as well as Western Area Power Administration’s 115 kilovolt lines (like those above the Lake Estes causeway). Estes Park Power and Communications purchases the electricity from Platte River at a bulk/wholesale rate, which is then billed to customers based on the amount of electricity they use. Increases in the wholesale rate are shown as the “wholesale power cost adjustment” line on an electric bill.
For decades, the electricity Platte River generated came from hydropower and coal, alone. Over the decades, the drive to reduce dependence on coal increased. Before any mandates came our way, Platte River gradually began incorporating noncarbon, renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and battery storage into its electric generation resources.
In 2018, Platte River's board enacted the Resource Diversification Policy. This was informed by significant customer feedback on renewable energy sources -- their perspectives on a global level all the way down to their electric bills. The policy directs Platte River to proactively work toward the goal of 100 percent noncarbon energy by 2030 while upholding reliability and financial stability for the utilities and their customers. This ambitious internal policy aligns with, and indeed exceeds, the subsequent Colorado 2019 Climate Action Plan, which set a statewide target of an 80% reduction in 2005-level greenhouse gas emissions by the same deadline.
As of 2025, renewable energy on our system, including wind and solar, generated over a million megawatt-hours of clean energy. Renewables like wind and solar generate significant electricity… when the wind blows and the sun is out. So, adding power storage resources to the grid is a non-negotiable stop on the clean energy journey. In fact, we are planning to add local battery storage in the next few years, which is especially important for our customers given our relatively remote location.
All of this impacts the cost of the journey. Platte River’s generation and transmission costs are studied on a daily basis, and wholesale rates must be adjusted through a public process similar to Estes Park’s electric rate studies and rate changes. Let’s be honest, rate “changes” are always “increases,” unfortunately. Just like the cost of food, healthcare and housing costs. To ease the impact on electric bills, rates increase gradually over a few years until we reach the necessary revenue to continue funding our electricity.
The Current Situation
Since Platte River’s last wholesale power rate increase, the worldwide demand on the industry’s supply chain of generation and engineers has increased at a rate far greater than forecasted. Utilities everywhere are facing unprecedented cost pressures that show up on customer bills, and extend our journey to clean energy.
We recognize the importance of stable electric rates for our customers, and for our local economy, and our focus is on balancing the clean energy journey with the actual effects of its increasing costs on our customers. There are several cost-reduction measures underway at Platte River, including lowering operations and maintenance expenses, strategic system investments, generating revenue from excess capacity and renewable energy certificates, joining a regional energy market to integrate renewables, and enacting the board-approved deferred revenue/expenditure policy and implementing a rate-smoothing strategy for increasing wholesale rates.
We originally projected a 6.3% annual increase in wholesale rates through 2028. Now, we anticipate retaining the 6.3% projected wholesale rate increase for 2026 and recommending wholesale rate increases of 7.5% in both 2027 and 2028. This rate-smoothing strategy will help minimize the immediate impact of these industry-wide increases by spreading them over multiple years. Nonetheless, we understand the challenges that rising costs present and want to assure our communities that this concern remains the foundation of our journey to a sustainable, carbon-free energy future. Both Estes Park Power and Communications and Platte River Power Authority remain committed to delivering reliable power while prioritizing affordability and environmental responsibility for all. The Town of Estes Park recently signed our contract with the other three owners extending Platte River through 2075, and our power supply agreement with Platte River through 2075.
You can read more about this milestone on Platte River’s website (PRPA.org) under News.The website also provides a wealth of information about where your electricity comes from, as well as our journey to clean energy. Platte River’s monthly board meetings are open to the public, and I encourage all of our customers to follow and engage in these important discussions.
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