On May 15, 2020 Colorado Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Robert Garvey granted a motion for summary judgement filed by La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) and United Power—two cooperative power providers—to not allow Tri-State Generation and Transmission (G&T) to raise a federal preemption defense.[1] In 2019, modifications to Tri-State’s bylaws allowed Tri-State to add new non-utility members which brought Tri-State under FERC jurisdiction. Therefore, Tri-State had argued that federal law preempts state law in the issue of exit fees . The ruling, however, has stated that the issue falls under state purview and has cleared the way for state regulators to determine the fees the two cooperatives will pay to exit Tri-State’s service.

United Power, LPEA and other members of Tri-State have pressed to leave Tri-State's service over dissatisfaction with the G&T provider’s generation mix which heavily relies on coal. Tri-State, however, says it is working to eliminate coal emissions in New Mexico by the end of 2020 and in Colorado by 2030. According to a new report by the Rocky Mountain Institute, Tri-State’s new clean energy plan is a well thought out approach to phasing out 1 GW of coal.[2]

[1] https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6895523-Interim-Decision-Granting-Motion-for-Summary.html

[2] https://rmi.org/tri-state-chooses-the-low-carbon-path/