Los Alamos County Board of Public Utilities Work Session - February 4, 2026

The Board of Public Utilities (BPU) held a work session on 2026-02-04 at 5:30 PM in the Municipal Building Council Chambers, Los Alamos, NM. Chair Robert Gibson participated online, and Vice Chair Matt Heavner presided. The board voted to suspend its procedural rules so formal action could be taken, recommended approval of a short-term Tenaska power purchase agreement, approved BPU travel to the ECA Forum, and received informational presentations on electrification planning, the 10-year Capital Improvement Plan, and the H2 2025 customer survey. All formal votes were 5-0.

Procedural Actions

• The board voted 5-0 to suspend the procedural rules for the February 4, 2026 work session.
• The agenda was approved as amended by a 5-0 vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Joni Aaron, representing Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, commented during the Tenaska PPA item. She said she could not open the referenced WSPP document on wspp.org, receiving a server error 50403 with “forbidden access is denied,” and expressed concern that a county expenditure of more than half a million dollars for roughly 30 days of power should include public access to all relevant documents. Staff said they would follow up by email.
• No other public comments were made at the start or end of the meeting.

Presentations and Discussion

Short-Term Power Purchase Agreement with Tenaska (Agenda 4.a)

• Ben Olbrich, Deputy Utility Manager-Power Supply, presented a request to recommend approval of a one-month Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Tenaska Power Services Co. for the Los Alamos Power Pool's March 2026 load.
• The requested amount was $423,112.80, plus a $106,000.00 (25%) contingency, for a total of $529,112.80 excluding Gross Receipts Tax (GRT). GRT at 7.0625% added $37,368.59, for a total of $566,481.39.
• The current Mercuria PPA ends February 28, 2026. DPU needs about 22 MW for March, received two offers, and selected the lower-priced offer. The PPA will be executed under the WSPP Inc. master agreement dated October 31, 2025, through a confirmation letter.
• Olbrich told the board that the estimated price is roughly plus or minus $30 per megawatt-hour, substantially below the approximate $78/MWh under the current Mercuria agreement. Forward prices suggest a gradual rise toward about $50/MWh by summer. The current ECA authority limits purchases to one-month increments and runs through the end of March; if no follow-on authority is in place, DPU would either return to BPU for approval or buy power on the day-ahead market.
• A motion to recommend approval and forward the agreement to Council was made by Jennifer Hollingsworth, seconded by Charles Nakhleh, and passed 5-0.

Distribution and Electrification Plan Implementation (Agenda 4.b)

• Dennis Astley, Deputy Utility Manager-Electric Distribution, gave an informational update on implementing the 2025 Distribution System Electrification Study, originally presented by Burns & McDonnell.
• Asset replacement costs are expected to be larger than system improvement costs. Most of the electric distribution system has adequate capacity, but age is a primary concern. Electrification is expected to be driven mostly by residential conversions to heat pumps, electric water heating, and electric vehicles.
• Residential electric use has risen about 2% per year on average over the past decade despite efficiency gains, while residential gas use has generally declined. Board members questioned whether these trends were normalized for population, new construction, or heating degree days; staff said the data came from residential consumption reports and had not been weather-normalized.
• Staff are addressing study recommendations by adding a Line Superintendent, improving the Milsoft power-flow model/GIS linkage, considering Volt-Var controls and Rule E-5 changes for rooftop solar, designing the East Gate Substation, upgrading the EA4 line, replacing White Rock Substation transformers, and reviewing demand-side management, asset replacement planning, integrated resource planning, and cross-departmental engineering coordination.
• The County Broadband “make-ready” project is a major near-term opportunity. The first seven of about 20 requested sections are in White Rock. DPU plans to bundle overhead maintenance with broadband pole/anchor/clearance work, including removing open-wire secondaries, replacing rotted crossarms with post insulators, and upsizing transformers where needed.
• The 10-year capital list includes repeated underground residential distribution (URD) replacements in Los Alamos and White Rock, EA-4 power line replacement, SCADA installation, East Gate Substation construction, and roughly $1 million per year in each community for unspecified URD replacement in later years.
• Board discussion covered future capacity needs. Astley said townsite demand in the electrification study was around 60 MW, while current peak load is about 17-18 MW; the U.S. DOE Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) is expected to add about 200 MW to the network, but the townsite share is not yet defined.
• Robert Gibson proposed a deliberate board policy discussion on undergrounding, noting that current upgrades will set the tone for the rest of the century. Jennifer Hollingsworth noted a recent community survey indicated 71% of respondents had no intention of electrifying and questioned the cost and fairness of undergrounding. Dennis Astley estimated undergrounding is at least five times more expensive than overhead and identified secondary-service costs as a major hurdle. Philo Shelton said the topic could be added to a future agenda and noted new development is already required to install underground.

Asset Management Team 10-Year CIP Budgets (Agenda 4.c)

• James Alarid, Deputy Utility Manager-Engineering, and James Martinez, Senior Engineer, presented the rationale behind the FY2027 and FY2028 project budgets in the 10-year Capital Improvement Plan. No formal action was taken.
• Electric production includes $200,000 in FY27 to install replacement wicket gate hydraulic servos at Abiquiu, and FY28 work at El Vado totaling about $1.05 million for shaft seal repair, controls upgrade, and synchronizer replacement.
• Electric distribution includes $2.485 million in FY27 for White Rock URD replacement (Aragon, Ridgecrest, Garver, Catherine), overhead system replacement, a DP Road staging-area contribution, and East Gate Substation design. FY28 includes $9.45 million for several URD replacement projects, the EA-4 power line replacement, La Senda, Los Pueblos Phase 1, and more overhead work.
• Gas distribution has shifted to maintenance mode after aggressive 2002-2022 improvements, with roughly $100,000-$220,000 per year for repairs and equipment.
• Water distribution projects are coordinated with Public Works road repaving, including Denver Steels Phase III in FY27 and 34th & Little Urban in FY28, using Drinking Water State Revolving Loan and Water Trust Board funds, plus DPU profit-transfer funding for some waterline work.
• Water production projects include Pajarito Tank 4A repainting ($1.6M), Pajarito Road transmission line replacement Phases I and II ($1.7M and $2.2M), Pajarito Well No. 3 replacement design and test well drilling/hydrogeology ($300,000 and $1,500,000 in federal allocations), North Mesa tank altitude valve, and booster station mechanical/electrical upgrades and building renovations.
• Wastewater spending shifts from lift-station refurbishment to rehabilitating/replacing aging vitrified clay sewer lines because of recurring failures, overflows, and claims. FY27 sewer collection totals $1.885 million and FY28 totals $4.15 million; FY27 wastewater treatment has $300,000 for converting effluent wash water to a gravity system, with no FY28 wastewater treatment capital budget.
• In board discussion, staff explained that the DP Road staging area is intended to reduce complaints at the Sycamore site and would include fenced contractor laydown space, subject to a public process and Council master-plan approval. Robert Gibson questioned why ratepayers should pay for the Pajarito Well No. 3 replacement study when the lost well is tied to DOE-related chromium contamination; Philo Shelton responded that the design/study is needed to develop cost estimates and funding arguments, and discussions with DOE are ongoing. The board also asked for a deeper future discussion on El Vado because federal decisions on the dam remain uncertain.

Transactional Survey Report for July-December 2025 (Agenda 4.d)

• Catherine D'Anna, Public Relations Manager, presented the semiannual GreatBlue Research Transactional Survey update. The H2 2025 survey had 136 completes and a margin of error of +/-8.37% at the 95% confidence level; the full calendar year had 303 respondents, the highest since 2022.
• Respondents were overwhelmingly residential; only 5 commercial customers responded. More than 67% were one- or two-person households, 55% lived in the townsite, 80% were homeowners, 49.3% had been DPU customers for at least 20 years, and 37% for 10 years or less.
• Top contact reasons were billing questions and payments/pay arrangements; payments/pay arrangements topped billing questions for the first time in the 2022-2025 comparison. Move-related contacts fell about 5%. About 17 of 136 respondents called with electric-related questions, the first time electric has appeared as a stated reason since CY2023.
• Customer effort improved: 31% of H1 2025 respondents needed multiple contacts, falling to 19% in H2 2025. The average rating for six DPU representative characteristics rose from 84.4% to 93.3%, with four characteristics at 94% or higher. About 74% of respondents interacted with Customer Care Center representatives.
• D'Anna noted that new tap/QR pads were added at the Customer Care Center to try to increase in-person survey participation. Jennifer Hollingsworth asked about older-skewing demographics; D'Anna said the phone-based distribution likely reaches that group and she is open to ideas for reaching younger customers.

Business Items

ECA Forum Travel Approval (Agenda 5.a)

• Philo Shelton presented the request for BPU member travel to the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) Forum in Augusta, GA, April 21-23, 2026, with tours on April 24.
• The board approved travel expenses for Member Eric Stromberg to attend the 2026 ECA Forum. The motion passed 5-0. Council Liaison Ryn Herrmann also planned to attend, and Vice Chair Heavner said a previous ECA Forum was valuable.

B&C Luncheons and Farmers Market Volunteers (Agenda 5.b, 5.c)

• Board members volunteered for the 2026 Boards & Commissions luncheons (11:30 AM-1:00 PM, Council Chambers): Eric Stromberg on March 5, Charles Nakhleh on May 14, Robert Gibson on September 10 (tentative), and Jennifer Hollingsworth on November 12.
• Board members volunteered for the Farmers Market booth (fourth Thursdays, 9:00-11:00 AM at Ashley Pond Park): Jennifer Hollingsworth on May 21, Robert Gibson on June 25, Charles Nakhleh on July 23, Matt Heavner on September 24, and Eric Stromberg on October 22. There was no August booth due to the County Fair.

Key Outcomes

• Approved suspension of procedural rules and agenda (5-0).
• Recommended Council approval of the Tenaska short-term PPA for March 2026, up to $566,481.39 including GRT (5-0). If not approved, staff said they would use day-ahead market purchases with price risk.
• Approved BPU travel for Eric Stromberg to the ECA Forum (5-0).
• Received informational updates on Distribution and Electrification Plan implementation, the FY27/FY28 CIP budgets, and the H2 2025 Transactional Survey; no formal action was taken on those items.
• Agreed to consider a future policy discussion on undergrounding and a deeper review of El Vado/hydroelectric investments.