UPDATE: Board meets Thursday, Feb. 19.
COUNTY News:
Members of the Board of Public Utilities voted at the Jan. 21 meeting to form an ad hoc citizens committee to form recommendations to the Board concerning the energy future for Los Alamos County.
The BPU is inviting citizens and businesses who are interested in participating to complete an application to fill four positions on the seven member committee. The application deadline is before 5 p.m., Feb. 10.
Two residential customers, one residential customer with on-site solar generation, and a commercial customer will be selected by the BPU to join individuals representing the Los Alamos Public Schools, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Los Alamos County’s Environmental Sustainability Board to formulate recommendations.
The committee will meet for four months to define carbon neutrality; examine impacts of increased distributed generation on the electrical distribution system; provide general policy direction on replacing existing coal-fired generation including the types of replacement energy that DPU should be looking at in the future; and consider measures to prepare the DPU for the grid of the future in light of changes to all facets of the power industry.
BPU will select the two citizens at large, the citizen with residential on-site generation and the business community representative at its Thursday, Feb. 19 Board meeting (5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at 1000 Central Ave.). Additional information about the Future Energy Resources (FER) Ad Hoc Citizens Committee and the application can be found on the DPU website at www.losalamosnm.us/utilities.
The Department of Public Utilities (DPU) operates the county-owned electric, gas, water and wastewater systems under the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Utilities. The Board meets the third Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. and the public is always welcome. Stay up to date with the DPU by subscribing to the monthly Board Meeting Recap via email, at www.losalamosnm.us/Pages/Subscribe.aspx. The DPU is funded by rates paid for electric, gas, water and wastewater services and auxiliary fees, and has provided the community with these services for more than 40 years. DPU@lacnm.us 505.662.8333 or 311 www.losalamosnm.us/UTILITIES.