1. How do we remain relevant as a distribution cooperative?
Steve Metheny – Vice President, Power Supply, DMEA

2. Backdrop
Tri-State G&T: Generation and Transmission electric cooperative owned by 43 distribution cooperatives in four states.
DMEA: 1 of 43 TSGT owners serving approximately 35,000 meters in two rural counties in beautiful southwestern Colorado. Contract to purchase most of our electricity from TSGT through 2040.
Discussion of relationship between the two organizations
Price signals (cost of wholesale power)
For each month, measure the highest 30 minute demand in kilowatts that occurred between noon and 10 PM (excluding holidays and Sundays) and multiply it by $19.34
For all the kilowatt-hours purchased in the month, multiply them by $.04204
Add these two together
This is the wholesale cost of power
Retail costs (cost of residential power)
Residential rate for DMEA: $27.50/ month fixed cost recovery
$.1045/kilowatt hour for all kilowatt hours purchased.

3. 2017
2000
Discussion around how the industry is morphing at the retail level right before our eyes. Many people characterize the transition as a disruptive technology.
Here is an example of a significant transition. Swiped his ‘tag line’
Formed early this year through the merger of four municipal utilities outside of Toronto, Alectra is now the second-largest municipal utility in North America behind the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
“If utilities do not begin to offer distributed technologies on their own terms, consumers can find alternatives to their default utility service for the first time.” Bentz
“Someone's going to cannibalize our business — it may as well be us. Someone's going to eat our lunch. They're lining up to do it,” Bentz said. “I think repositioning, redefining the grid from what it is as sort of a passive purveyor of energy to one that is an enabler of transactive energy at the grassroots level is a much more sustainable, profitable strategy.”
Alectra Incorporated, through its subsidiary Alectra Utilities Corporation, is the electricity utility and distributor that serves municipalities north and west of Toronto. The company was formed by the merger of the municipally-owned utilities Enersource, Horizon Utilities, and PowerStream on January 31, The formation of the company was completed with the acquisition of Hydro One Brampton from the provincial government's Hydro One on February 28, 2017.
Source (September 19, 2017) :

4. What do all of our member-owners want?
Hot showers
Cold beer
Connectivity
Data sharing from every meter. Members can see what their usage is as a function of time and temperature.

5. What do our member owners want?
To know what their real options are:
Some retail members (will) want to purchase what they want ‘like they always have’ since 1938 (do nothing).
Some retail members (will) want to make their own electricity when they can and use DMEA as their ‘supplemental supply’ (net-metering).
Some retail members (will) want to make their own electricity and sell excess to others when they can (net metering with excess).
Some retail members (will) want to make their own electricity and store excess to use later (net metering with storage).
Some retail members will want to go off grid and deal with their own challenges as they arise. (off grid – avoid our base charge ($330/year))
Some retail members will want to … _________________________
A 750 kilowatt hour per month on grid residence at DMEA pays the following:
$27.50 base charge + taxes = $ taxes
$.1045/kWh * 750 kWh + taxes = $78.38
= $105.88/ month * 12 months = $1,270/year
For 750 kwh/month * 12 months = 9,000 kWh
$1,270/9,000 = $.141/ kWh
A solar PV panel in our area will generate 1,800 kWh/year per kW installed (nameplate)
To be approx. net zero (on grid)
How big of an array would be necessary to make 9,000 kWh/year? (near net zero)
1,800x=9,000 ==> 5 kilowatts
What is the installed cost per watt.

6. To remain relevant, what should we provide our member owners
To remain relevant, what should we provide our member owners? Others will if we don’t
Keep doing what we are doing
Provide an opportunity for retail members to make their own electricity when they can and use DMEA as their ‘backup supply’ (law: net-metering).
Provide an opportunity for retail members to make their own electricity and sell excess when they can (law: net metering with annual true-up).
Provide an opportunity for retail members to make their own electricity and store excess and use or sell it later (net metering with storage). Residential scale storage; some members are already doing this.
Provide an opportunity for retail members to have their non-essential loads managed in real time to save money (real time demand response)
Provide an opportunity for retail members to schedule their non-essential loads in to save money (real time demand response TOU)
Provide an opportunity for retail members to go off grid and help them deal with their off grid challenges as they arise. (Provide off grid power - think microgrids?)

7. Relevant distribution cooperative of the future will:
On grid:
Enable real time bilateral transactions in the retail space; provide a chance for market arbitrage if it exists (FTTM)
Enable demand response opportunities; with or without real time network management (FTTM) Think: CoServ beat the Peak program; NEST Rush hour programs
Enable properly sized DG with and without storage (FTTM); penetration limits
Enable transportation (EV) to be integrated economically (FTTM)
Provide DG installation and O&M services for those desiring those services
Operate the ‘grid’ differently (but safely); think network management
Real time allocation of margins (capital credits); reward engagement that counts. Do rebates work? What?
Off grid:
Enable off grid installation and O&M services
Enable microgrid opportunities
Discussion on the point for operating the grid differently in that we turn off generation to suit our needs (HLO)
(FTTM) Fiber to the meter