In my six years as a Chaffee County Commissioner, I’ve worked to reform how and where we get our electricity. It’s nice to be able to share good news for a change.

The energy industry is in a period of seismic change, as clean energy takes over from fossil fuels and we address catastrophic climate change. It’s more critical than ever for power providers to adapt to the emerging landscape.

I’ve encouraged our power provider to utilize the region’s abundant solar and wind resources while also trying to bring down consumer costs, and I’m happy to report they are adapting to the times.

Chaffee County, like much of rural Colorado, gets most of our electricity through the rural electric co-op system. In our case, many of the county’s homes and businesses are served directly by Sangre de Cristo Electric Association, which, like 17 co-ops in Colorado and another 25 in neighboring states, buys electricity from Denver-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission. Tri-State is the second-largest electricity producer in Colorado, and its members are under long-term contracts through 2050.

For many years, Tri-State members have paid some of the highest rates in the state to transport expensive, dirty coal-powered electricity from plants in Colorado, Arizona and Wyoming. For most of Tri-State’s 70-year history, co-op members like us were unable to challenge high rates or push for alternatives. For rural Colorado communities, coal-generated power from Tri-State was the only option.

But things are changing quickly. Starting In 2019, Tri-State began a transformation already producing sweeping changes that benefit all Tri-State members. First, a measure passed by the legislature that year finally made Tri-State subject to scrutiny by the Public Utilities Commission just like utilities such as Xcel Energy.

Next, facing pressure across its system from community leaders and rural co-op members, Tri-State in early 2020 committed to a dramatic increase in renewable energy and decrease in coal, with a projected 70% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030.

When members demanded further climate action later that year, Tri-State announced an expanded commitment to cut CO2 emissions; the new goal for its Colorado operations was an 80% reduction below 2005 levels by 2030, matching Gov. Jared Polis’s Greenhouse Gas reduction target.

Another auspicious development saw Tri-State change its requirement that member co-ops purchase 95% of their electricity from Tri-State. Under the new policy, member co-ops can procure up to 35% of their electricity through clean, local alternatives, which three cooperatives are already pursuing.

Most recently, Tri-State reached a settlement to increase energy efficiency, put off building any new methane gas plants and model earlier retirements of its expensive coal plants. These new goals are exactly what we’ve been asking for, and they are now locked into Tri-State’s binding Electric Resource Plan.

Turning the Tri-State ship this quickly is cause for celebration. As commendable as these changes are, however, the work is not done. Climate solutions cannot wait. In the last few years, Colorado has experienced its most devastating wildfires in history, and the mega-drought is changing life as we know it in the American West. Electricity is the second-largest carbon emitter in Colorado after transportation, and reductions in emissions from electricity will help avert the worst impacts of climate change.

Another benefit to accelerating this energy transition is that it will help control costs. Tri-State could save member-owners $43 million annually by retiring the Craig coal station in 2026 instead of 2029, as currently scheduled. It should also retire its expensive Springerville-3 coal plant in Arizona. Coloradans don’t get any electricity from the plant, even though we’re paying for it.

I commend Tri-State for moving in the right direction and urge members to continue pushing for even more. I hope to see progress continuing toward a cleaner, cheaper electricity system powered by renewable energy right here in our rural Colorado communities, where sun and wind are abundant.

Keith Baker serves on the Chaffee County Commission and is a businessman and retired U.S. Navy commander.