April 2008

LA PLATA ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION, INC.
Durango, Colorado

The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of La Plata Electric Association, Inc. was held Wednesday, April 16, 2008, in the headquarters building in Durango, Colorado. Director Goff led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Patton called the meeting to order at 10:00 A.M. The following directors were present:

Excused Absence: Tom Compton

Also present were:
Greg Munro, Chief Executive Officer
Barry Spear, Attorney
Dan Hammond, Chief Financial Officer
Steve Gregg, Manager of Operations
Ron Meier, Manager of Engineering
Mark Schwantes, Director of Corporate Services
Linda Wilsey, Executive Secretary

GUESTS (from sign in sheet)
Florida Hernandez

AGENDA
The agenda was addressed. President Patton stated a short presentation by Jerome Doane on the web based CEO evaluation being done this year will be added to the agenda.

MEMBER QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS
Florida Hernandez came before the board to express concerns on a past billing. She asked the board to take all of the information on her usage, study it and come back at the May Board meeting to explain it to her. President Patton requested that CFO Dan Hammond explain the detail of this account. Following the explanation and questions from the directors, President Patton informed Ms. Hernandez that the directors would study the information and contact her later that day.

CONSENT BOARD ITEMS
The consent board items were presented and reviewed.

ITEMS REQUIRING BOARD ACTIONS
Director reimbursements were presented and reviewed.

Committee of the Whole 4/14/08

Administration Committee 4/14/08
Terry Alley      Jeffrey Berman     Herbert Brodsky     

Systems' Operations & Planning Committee 3/17/08
Harry Goff      Harry Cole      Davin Montoya       Pam Patton

Board Meeting 4/16/08

Meetings

QUARTERLY WRITE-OFFS
The quarterly write-offs were addressed.

RESOLUTION 2008-05

COOPERATIVE SYSTEM INTEGRITY FUND
The Cooperative System Integrity Fund is a voluntary program that has been instrumental in protecting the territorial integrity of its members. The Board discussed LPEA contributing 5% of the CFC patronage capital refund for the electric only portion.

WEB BASED CEO EVALUATION PRESENTATION
Jerome Doane, System Administrator, walked the directors through the LPEA CEO Performance Plan to be completed on a secured web site with the use of their computers by May 1st.

CEO REPORT
CEO Munro expanded on items of his written report. He informed the board that he has set up a video conference with Tri-State on May 19th during the Committee of the Whole meeting for a presentation on their Resource Planning tool. This is a tool that EPRI helped to build to analyze what kind of generation resource should be built in the future. Staff and Board of Directors from Empire Electric have been invited to attend.
He noted LPEA and WESODI have agreed to go back to unit pricing which will reduce some of the construction costs.
The Annual Report is at the printers and is expected to be completed by the end of this week.
CFO Dan Hammond gave the March 2008 financial report. He also commented on the increased volume of calls to the office concerning high bills as a result from the colder weather. Delinquencies have increased sharply.
Steve Gregg, Manager of Operations, entertained questions on the safety report and gave the outage report. The other staff reports were noted in the board packet.
Mark Schwantes, Director of Corporate Services, presented the first quarter Green Power Renewable Generation Contribution Report. He indicated the average monthly billed in Green Power blocks is 20,200. The Green Power local fund balance is currently $13,731.

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING
The Committee of the Whole considered the LPEA scholarship guidelines and was given the strategic planning status update.

ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Director Berman addressed the four policies that the committee reviewed. Red lined copies with proposed changes were sent to the directors electronically.

CEO Munro informed the Board that he discussed Board Policy 356 with the La Plata Electric Round Up Foundation board since the proposed changes would require them to assume the responsibility of the educational grants. Requests up to $5,000 dollars will be sent to the Round Up Foundation and the funds will be allocated from unclaimed capital credits. The Round Up Foundation Board agreed to assume the added responsibility.

SYSTEMS' OPERATION & PLANNING COMMITTEE
Director Montoya reported the committee met to review the purchase of a transformer and a request from the Bayfield Senior Center.

LA PLATA ELECTRIC ROUND UP FOUNDATION
The Round Up Foundation met on Monday, April 14th. Director Alley reported they considered six requests. Three were denied and three were granted totaling $2,750. Since January, there has been a decline of 216 members rounding up.

WESODI REPORT
Director McCaw stated there has not been a Board meeting since last month. Financials were sent to the Board.

FASTTRACK REPORT
Director Zink gave the FastTrack report. Revenues for the first quarter are up 25% over last year. LPEA did purchase Don Miller's shares, so there are currently two stockholders, LPEA and Empire Electric. FastTrack is making significant payments to LPEA and hope to have their account current by year's end.

TRI-STATE REPORT
Director Goff asked Director Brodsky to submit the written report and give an oral report. Director Brodsky was the delegate for the Tri-State Annual meeting and stated he attended this in addition to the regular board meeting and the membership meeting. He has copies of some of the presentations if anyone is interested. CEO Munro offered to email the PowerPoint presentations he has from the meetings.
Directors Goff and Montoya added their comments on the Tri-State meetings.
Two presentations were given; the first was from Basin Electric, explaining the impacts of the proposed legislation concerning carbon credits and the second was from NRECA on "Our Energy, our Future".

CREA REPORT
In Director Compton's absence, the written report in the board packet was noted and CEO Munro answered questions.

WESTERN UNITED REPORT
Director Formwalt reported that Western United had a meeting following the one held to hire the new CEO. Member sales are down 13% and non member sales are down 40%. He gave lead times on products, noting the times are improving. The company is in a good cash position.

4CORE REPORT
Director Zink attended two 4CORE meetings. They are focusing on governance issues at this time. A temporary Board of Directors, which includes 7 directors, is operating to create bylaws and to address appointing a Board. They are interviewing for a director; they have narrowed the search from 30 applicants to 6 finalists.

ATTORNEY REPORT
Attorney Spear updated the Board on litigation matters.

FUTURE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETINGS AND AGENDA ITEMS
There will be a Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, May 19th. The agenda items will include the CEO evaluation, watching a DVD on water conservation, discussion of NRECA's Our Energy and Our Future, a video conference with Tri-State on their Resource Planning tool, and allocating unclaimed capital credits for the Round Up Foundation. The Administration Committee will revisit Board Policy 356 and review policies 111, 112, and 113. They will also address this year's annual meeting being held in September and set a date and time for the May 2009 Annual Meeting.

UPCOMING EXTERNAL MEETINGS
President Patton encouraged directors needing credentialed classes to attend the NRECA Summer School West in Colorado Springs in July. Director Alley plans to take classes.

EXECUTIVE SESSION
An executive session was called to discuss the customer concern presented earlier in the meeting and a property issue.

The Board went into executive session at 3:45 P.M.

The regular Board meeting reconvened and with no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:16 P.M.

Recorded by Linda Wilsey
Original Signed by Jeffrey A. Berman, Secretary
Original Signed and Approved by Pam Patton, President

R E S O L U T I O N 2008-05
WHEREAS, La Plata Electric Association, Inc (LPEA) staff has recommended certain changes to the LPEA Service Extension Policy, and

WHEREAS, the LPEA Service Extension Policy changes were reviewed and received preliminary approval by the Board of Directors in February of 2008, and

WHEREAS, proper notice of the proposed changes to the LPEA Service Extension Policy has been made to the membership,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Directors of La Plata Electric Association, Inc. that the Service Line Extension Policy changes as proposed and noticed, are hereby approved to be effective May 1, 2008.

I, Jeffrey A. Berman, Secretary of La Plata Electric Association, Inc. do hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of a resolution adopted by the Board of Directors of La Plata Electric Association, Inc. at a regular meeting held in Durango, Colorado on April 16th, 2008 at which meeting a quorum of Directors was present and voting.

Original Signed by Jeffrey A. Berman, Secretary

R E S O L U T I O N 2008-06
WHEREAS, the Association has a need to purchase a 69/12.47 kV transformer for the Pine Valley Substation; and,

WHEREAS, 4 responsive bids were received from suppliers for supply of the specified equipment; and,

WHEREAS, Western United Electric Supply Corporation for a transformer manufactured by Virginia Transformer Corporation was the best valued bidder incorporating cost and efficiency in that value assessment,

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Directors of La Plata Electric Association, Inc. that the bid of $307,695, which includes a 5 year warranty, from Western United Electric Supply Corporation for a transformer manufactured by Virginia Transformer Corporation for the Pine Valley Substation Transformer be accepted and that the Chief Executive Officer of LPEA be, and hereby is, authorized to execute, subject to legal review, the purchase agreement.

I, Jeffrey A. Berman, Secretary of La Plata Electric Association, Inc. do hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of a resolution adopted by the Board of Directors of La Plata Electric Association, Inc. at a regular meeting held in Durango, Colorado on April 16th, 2008 at which meeting a quorum of Directors was present and voting.

Original Signed by Jeffrey A. Berman, Secretary

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