The video of the full meeting may be seen at: https://losalamos.granicus.com/player/clip/4876?view_id=2&redirect=true

OBSERVER CORPS REPORT – COUNTY COUNCIL – August 18, 2026

2026 Electric Coordination Agreement, Resolutions for Charter Amendments

This work session was attended by Chair Randall Ryti, Vice Chair Ryn Herrmann, and Councilors Theresa Cull, David Reagor, Suzie Havemann, Beverly Neal-Clinton, with Councilor Melanee Hand online.

2026 Electric Coordination Agreement

Ben Olbrich, Deputy Utilities Manager-Power Supply, presented the briefing to the Council.  He began by stating that the County’s electrical system is unusually complicated.  The Department of Public Utilities (DPU) is not a typical electric utility.  He said it “does not own all of the assets needed to get energy from the generators to the users.”  The County does have some contracts for resources and some county-owned assets, such as the Abiquiu Hydroelectric Facility, but does not own the transmission lines.  Those are owned by PNM and other companies.  DOE and NNSA own the final “leg” that carries the energy to LANLas well as to County residences and businesses.  DOE owns the substations that provide the energy to the Los Alamos townsite.  The County does own the White Rock substation, but the transmission lines and the backup power feeds are provided by DOE.

The DPU partners with DOE through the Electric Coordination Agreement (ECA) because they own a lot of the pieces Los Alamos County needs in order to access the electricity.  The current ECA has been in effect since 1985.  It has been modified as needed to address changes in resources as new generating resources become available.  The most recent change was the Foxtail Flats contract for solar energy and battery energy storage.  The DPU’s overriding goal is to minimize the total operational cost of power generation while maintaining reliability. 

Now, after over 40 years, the DOE’s procurement rules have changed.  In order to continue the arrangement, a 2026 ECA is necessary to replace the 1985 ECA.  DOE, NNSA, and County staff been working together on a new plan since 2022 to make the needed changes.  Some aspects of the agreement will remain the same.

·         The County provides the power generation, management, and scheduling staff.

·         The DOE owns the transmission lines.

·         The County provides all the billing and accounting functions to the ECA.

·         The DOE and NNSA provide the bulk electric metering. They own all the meters that register into our system, and what comes out to Townsite and White Rock.

The 2026 ECA has new provisions for mitigating the County’s risks of procuring long-term generation resources.  In the past, cost was allocated based upon how much of the electricity was used by each party.  Typically, about 80% is used by LANL, and the remaining 20% is used by the County.  However, the County takes a risk when it signs up for long-term resources like Foxtail Flats.  So, it is trying to mitigate some of that risk by changing the way cost is allocated to the DOE with a new mechanism, a cost premium to the DOE, to capture some of the risk.  In addition, the County is going to be selling electricity to Sandia National Laboratory and Kirtland Air Force Base.  The amount will vary, depending on their actual power needs.

DOE’s procurement rules have changed over time.  Whereas the 1985 ECA was for 40 years, they can now only sign up for a maximum of 10 years, through 2036, with an option to extend that by ten years.  Generally, when the County signs up for long-term resources, the term is at least 20 years, potentially longer.  The new ECA provides a method for addressing the problem and mitigating the long-term risks.  Olbrich pointed out that there is really no alternative to a new ECA “because of the inextricable linkage connection between the resources of the DOE and the County.”

Resolutions for Charter Amendments

Term Limits

The Council previously passed three ordinances proposing to amend the County Charter.  County Manager Anne Laurent presented the formal resolutions for the ballot questions to be submitted to voters on the November 3 General Election ballot.  Ballot Question #1 asks the voter whether the Charter should be amended to allow members of standing boards and commissions to serve three terms in succession rather than two terms.  After slight changes in the wording to improve the clarity, the Council approved the resolution unanimously.

Composition of Standing Boards and Commissions

The second resolution was for Ballot Question #2 concerning the composition of the standing boards and commissions.  The County Charter says that “No more than a simple majority of the voting members of any standing board or commission of the Council shall be members of the same political party.”