In a recently published article, Lincoln County Power District (LCPD) manager Dave Luttrell said 2019 was ?an amazing year at the power district.?
He went on to explain in review the efforts made by the district which included strongly opposing Ballot Measure No. 3 in the elections in Nov. 2018. The measure proposed deregulating the electricity market in Nevada. Luttrell and others worked tirelessly to get the proposed legislation changed to recognize clean hydropower as renewable energy.
The measure was soundly defeated in statewide elections.
He said, ?This was an important win for Lincoln County. Approximately 85 percent of the electric power used in Lincoln County comes from Hoover Dam. If we could not count on our Hoover hydropower as renewable, the impact on our rates would have been significant.?
In other news, Luttrell spoke of LCPD opening a new headquarters facility in Panaca. After being at the Caselton location since 1936, the new administration building held a gala grand opening in April 2019. ?We are very proud of these facilities and thankful for the community?s support.? Luttrell said. ?Moving an entire utility operation is no easy task, so we decided to complete the move in two phases. The second phase of the move will be to construct a new shop and warehouse building. We will break ground later this year.?
In July 2019, the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp. recognized the LCPD as having some of the lowest electric service rates in the country. Luttrell said out of 814 rural utilities across the U.S., LCPD ranks eleventh among the lowest service rates.
Also in 2019, LCPD entered into a 10-year contract with Caliente to operate its electric system and support the city in providing electric service to customers. Pioche also transferred its electric system to LCPD.
?Both transactions will significantly benefit businesses and residents in Caliente, Pioche and Lincoln County as a whole,? Luttrell said.
Other new innovations brought into the district in 2019 included deploying a new automated metering infrastructure system in Panaca and the Meadow Valley area. Luttrell said, ?We will continue its roll out to other areas this year. AMI allows us to continue to reduce labor costs and improve operating efficiencies.?
Replacing of transmission line structures that supply the entire county, which has been going on for several years, will continue. Luttrell expects that the entire project will be completed by 2022.
All in all, a good year for LCPD.