Board of Directors Elections

Nicole Pitcher

For decades, LPEA has provided reliable power to our community because of skilled line crews, careful planning, and a cooperative that puts members first. As your District 1 Director and current Board President, my responsibility is to protect that foundation while leading the cooperative through a historic transition.  

My family and I have built our life in Archuleta County. I am a mother, a homemaker, and part of a small family business here. Like many in our community, I care deeply about keeping this a place where people can afford to live, work, and stay rooted.  

This year, LPEA kept rates stable for our members even as electric rates across the country increased by more than six percent on average and our former wholesale power supplier, Tri State, raised its rates yet again. Through careful planning, LPEA members did not have to absorb that increase. That is the future we are working toward: protecting members from decisions made elsewhere while managing costs here at home.  

On April 1, 2026, LPEA ended its restrictive 50 year wholesale power contract. For the first time in decades, we can now make smart business decisions based on what works best for our communities.  

That change allows us to move toward a more diversified and decentralized energy system that strengthens reliability and resilience. Instead of relying on a single wholesale supplier, LPEA can now work with multiple energy partners and local projects to build a balanced power supply.  

Our region is rich in energy resources. From natural gas and abundant sunshine for solar, to biomass from our forests, geothermal potential, and local hydropower, we have the resources for a strong and diverse energy future. Instead of sending our hard earned energy dollars to the Front Range, we can reinvest here at home, creating jobs, strengthening energy independence, and building a more affordable energy future.  

Protecting our electric system from extreme weather and wildfire risk is also critical. We live in a high fire danger area, and that risk is real. I have supported investments that harden the grid through vegetation management, stronger infrastructure, and targeted improvements that improve reliability and reduce fire risk.  

As your Board President, I have worked to ensure LPEA shows up in Archuleta County through local meetings, open conversations, and straightforward communication. Members deserve clear communication and leadership that listens.  

I care deeply about this community and about the cooperative that serves it. I would be honored to earn your support and your vote. Together, we control our energy future.  

James D. Lane

I moved to Southwest Colorado with my family in 1977 when my father partnered with my grandfather to operate our family ranch in Allison. Today my son Jarod represents the fifth generation on that ranch. This community has been home to my great-grandfather, grandfather, father, myself, and now my son. Our family's roots here go back nearly a century, and reliable, affordable electricity is essential for ranching, irrigation, and rural life.  

I graduated Salutatorian from Ignacio High School in 1984 and later earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (1989) and a Master of Science in Mining Engineering (1992) from the Colorado School of Mines. My graduate research focused on autonomous control systems, where I used sensors, controllers, and developed an obstacle-detection algorithm that enabled an underground haul truck to operate unmanned in a mining tunnel. I presented this research at an IEEE conference in Vancouver, BC, and authored a paper for the U.S. Bureau of Mines.  

For more than 30 years my career has focused on electrical engineering, industrial automation, power systems, and controls including hydroelectric, nuclear operations, oil and gas systems, and large automated distribution centers across the country. While working at BP and BPX as a Senior Electrical and Controls Engineer, I helped develop company standards for distributed solar and battery power strategies used across BP's Lower 48 operations. I also presented at an ISA conference in Houston on automated data monitoring systems designed to meet EPA RICE MACT reporting requirements.  

This experience has given me a practical understanding of how complex energy systems operate, including the importance of balancing reliability, cost, and emerging technologies. Electric cooperatives must carefully evaluate these factors to ensure that members receive dependable service at reasonable cost.  

Today I continue working in industrial automation while helping operate our family ranch and mentoring the next generation of engineers, including my son. I also serve on the board of the Pine River Canal Company and volunteered for over a decade as a firefighter and first responder in our community.  

I consider myself a hands-on, blue-collar engineer who believes in practical solutions, fiscal responsibility, and respectful communication. I am running to represent Archuleta District 1 members with strong technical understanding and a commitment to reliable, affordable power.  

When I talk about transparency, I mean something simple: decisions that are clear, open to scrutiny, and easy for members to understand. Members deserve straightforward communication and leadership that allows them to clearly see how decisions are made and how those decisions affect their electric service and rates. 

Jennifer Jenkins

Durango has been my home since 2013 and rural cooperatives have been a focus of my work since 2004. I am running to be your District 3 Board Representative to utilize my 20 years of utility and clean energy experience to give back to my community. I am eager to contribute my expertise to secure an affordable and sustainable future power supply for all LPEA members. We all share concerns that spiraling energy costs could impact our families, neighbors, and community. Keeping rates low during this time of unprecedented load growth requires awareness of the existing national resources available to support rural utilities, as well as the ability to be nimble and proactive as threats of wildfires in our region loom.  

My expertise in distributed energy and wind power taught me that a diverse energy portfolio is required for grid stability, energy security, and affordability. I work with counties across the country that are facing similar technology shifts and record load growth as our community is experiencing. My work involves all technologies, but the goal remains the same: to empower rural communities to decide for themselves if these technologies match their community's values.  

My career has allowed me to work with the diverse groups of rural stakeholders around the country as pressure to adapt to looming energy demand overwhelms our small communities. I have launched many initiatives that strengthen rural communities, most notably, the Rural Energy Academy in partnership with the National Association of Counties where we provide technical assistance to empower rural counties prior to outsiders coming in and telling them what they need or what is best for them. 

I am proud of, and will leverage, my longstanding relationships with national labs and other rural utilities that can provide best practices and solutions as LPEA drives toward its goals. I have an established record of Board leadership dating back to 2004 that will lend to continued support of staff and providing new ideas and solutions to any challenges that may arise during my term.  

I love our community and rural communities in general. We are a unique breed, those of us who choose more space and fewer people. This is a value that we all share, despite our differences. My pledge to you is to honor our values as rural stakeholders, rather than exploiting our differences, to keep electricity bills affordable, and to advance innovation responsibly. 

Jodi Zuber

My family moved to Durango in 1974, when tourism lasted only a few months each year and local businesses had to earn enough during that short season to cover a full year of expenses. Since then, my family has owned and operated several businesses in Durango, and we understand firsthand the challenges local families and small businesses face. 

Giving back to the community has always been important to me. I have volunteered with the La Plata County Clerk's office helping with local elections, worked with Blue Star Moms on the Field of Flags memorial project honoring our service members, and participated in the Snowdown Follies. I am also a member of the Ek; Ledge and serve on the Elks Scholarship Committee, where we help provide scholarships for local high school seniors. 

Today the cost of living continues to rise. Homes are expensive, and the bills that come with them keep increasing. That is one of the main reasons lam running for the LPEA Board of Directors. Our electric cooperative should focus on keeping electricity reliable and as affordable as possible for the people who live and work here. 

LPEA needs board members who will stand up for homeowners, small businesses, farmers and ranchers, single-income households, and those living on fixed incomes. The cooperative should put its members and community first. 

Reliable electricity is essential for homes, farms, wells, and local businesses. I support a balanced energy mix, including renewable sources, but reliability and affordability must always come first. 

Transparency is also essential. LPEA belongs to its members, and they deserve clear answers about decisions that affect their electric bills and their quality of life. 

I'm running for the LPEA Board because our cooperative should focus a, reliable power, reasonable costs and transparency for the members who own it. 

My goal is simple: keep electricity dependable, keep it affordable and always put the members of this cooperative first. 

John Purser

Your electric cooperative is at a crossroads. A crossroads you as member/owners were never allowed to vote on. The board that got us here is asking you to trust them with what comes next.  

I'm asking you to consider a change.  

For the past 5 years I've paid close attention to LPEA and been concerned and dismayed at what I've seen. The bills are now going to come due for decisions the board has made.  

The divorce with Tri-State, the non-profit cooperative of which LPEA was a member, is now complete. The $162 million payment has been made, and $72 million in Tri-State equity abandoned. LPEA's authorized debt stands at approximately $350 million ... roughly $9,000 per member. Before a single kilowatt-hour is purchased, interest payments will consume 15 cents of every dollar your cooperative collects. We currently operate at a deficit of approximately $500,000 a month, or $10 a month per member. Rates are being held flat this year by drawing down a reserve fund that will not last. Our board has not been fiscally responsible or transparent. We are not operating in a fiscally sustainable manner, and we've seen no financial plan for the future.  

Here is what your board did: they ignored LPEA's own statement of governance that says major decisions require a member vote. There was no vote on the Tri-State divorce. No vote on $250 million in new authorized debt. The board sold LPEA assets, including Fastrack Communications, without disclosing the sale price to members. They have a 2-year plan for power using a Swiss based broker. They paid $280,000 to a departing CEO, on top of their salary and pension. They hired a politician directly from the Colorado State Senate as Chief Executive Officer, while leaving the Chief Financial Officer position vacant during the most expensive transaction in co-op history.  

This is not a failure of ideology. It is a failure of fiduciary and fiscal responsibility.  

I've been an LPEA member and District 4 resident for 22 years. I hold an economics degree with studies in environmental economics and securities markets. I spent 35 years managing engineering and technology organizations. I have no ties to any company, lobby group, or special interest with a financial stake in LPEA's decisions. My campaign is funded by members, not organizations that hide the source of their funds.  

If elected, I will fight for three things: transparency in every dollar LPEA spends and every asset it sells; respecting our bylaws, policies and governing regulations; and management selected for cooperative experience and skills, not political connections.  

You are a member-owner of this cooperative. You are entitled to an honest and complete financial accounting and fiscally sound future plan, a real voice in major decisions, and a board member who answers to you.  

I have been showing up and telling you the truth for 5 years. As a board member I will not stop fighting for transparency and honesty.  

Please vote.  

John Purser  
www.johnpurserforlpea.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/johnpurserforlpea

David Luschen

I have been blessed to serve you and LPEA for the past 3 years. During my tenure, LPEA has secured a 10% reduction in power purchasing costs, increased reliability and fire safety, and opened Sunnyside Community Solar. It's a complex time for LPEA and electric utility co-ops and my long 26-year career in electric utilities brings the necessary expertise to help LPEA continue to best serve its members. With years of board experience under my belt, I hope to represent District 4 and keep affordability, reliability and safety as top priorities. Due to the work of many, we will not have a rate increase this year.  

We now have local energy control of our distribution, substation, and transmission assets along with generation choices. As a Public Power Engineer with an MBA, I am here to serve you, and bring my Strategic Leadership and decades of operational, financial, and customer experience to our Co-op members. I will use this knowledge to guide us through the many local energy control opportunities such as additional community and residential solar.  

Generation opportunities abound as we are now part of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP). SPP coordinates, controls, and monitors a multi-state electric grid to ensure reliability and facilitates open access to transmission lines. An example of these opportunities is our recent Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) with Vallecito Hydro which allows LPEA to directly support our community and our energy producers. As your board representative, I will evaluate future PPAs prioritizing low cost and price stability, local projects and flexibility, environmental impact, and reliability.  

Our Service Territory is transmission constrained, which means transmission reliability, resiliency and fire safety can be improved by upgrading existing lines and/or building new lines. This is an opportunity to work with SPP and transmission stakeholders to develop regional partnerships to improve the reliability of LPEA's transmission grid, which was not possible under Tri-State.  

My goals for the future of LPEA are securing affordable rates through our new power supply, increasing fire mitigation and infrastructure resiliency that utilizes new technologies like drone line inspection and Al analysis. I would continue to support our local community through local energy projects and through our current patronage capital payment cadence. I am here to support the best long-term investment decision for our members maintaining our Fitch A+ financial rating from 2025, not a short term "band aid". 

I am engaged and serve our community in other ways. I'm on my HOA's Board and member of my Church's Directional Team. My expanded duties at LPEA include Western United Electric Supply (WUE) Board Treasurer, Financial Audit Committee, and Committee On Policy. I also served 2 years on the LPEA Round-Up Board. I look forward to continuing to bring my lifetime of experience to the future of LPEA and supporting local energy control for predictable and affordable rates.