August 15, 2023 |
Photo – Carbon Power and Light Card – Courtesy CP&L Facebook page
Carbon Power and Light and three other rural electricity providers are looking at joining forces to save customers money.
A public statement released last week from Carbon Power and Light Director of Member Services and Marketing Joe Parrie said Bighorn Rural Electric Company, Carbon Power and Light, Garland Light and Power, and High Plains Power, Inc. have hired a consulting firm to perform a feasibility study. Carbon Power and Light General Manager Russell Waldner said the feasibility study will determine if consolidating the four electricity providers will allow for lower customer prices.
Waldner said the power companies first researched their individual contracts with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association to lower production costs. When that plan didn’t work, Waldner said the board of directors for each of the four power companies decided to investigate forming a single cooperative entity.
Waldner said Oklahoma based consulting group Gurnsey will perform the feasibility study.
Waldner said the most likely way for the cooperative to lower costs is to limit the number of board members and managers used to run the power companies. Having the four power companies consolidate into a single entity would eliminate the need for four different boards of directors and management teams. Walder said the board members will determine how to best implement the feasibility study findings.
Waldner said Carbon Power and Light employees don’t need to worry about losing their jobs in the merger. The general manager said examples of other cooperatives show that boots on the ground employees are needed to ensure the electricity continues to flow properly.
Waldner said the feasibility study should be finished by December. The Carbon Power and Light general manager said customers won’t necessarily see savings right away. Waldner said consolidating the four power suppliers will stabilize the price of electricity in the future.
Waldner said the Biden administration’s push for renewable energy has had negative and positive effects on the cost of electricity production. He said the cost of wind and solar energy has gone down, but power can’t reliably be provided when the wind isn’t blowing, or the sun isn’t shining. Waldner said traditional power generation using coal or natural gas has gotten more expensive because the plants are only used to supplement wind and solar.
Together, the electricity companies service roughly 8,500 miles of power lines. Waldner said if the consolidation takes place, a portion of Wyoming running north and south from Colorado to Montana would be brought under a single energy supplier.
Waldner said the Carbon Power and Light board of directors will examine the findings from the feasibility study and determine if forming a cooperative with Big Horn, Garland, and High Plains Power will benefit customers. The study is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The individual companies will review the results during the first quarter of 2024.
