County of Los Alamos - File #: 21206-26

• File #: 21206-26
• Version: 1
• Type: Budget Item
• Status: Business
• File created: 2/25/2026
• In control: County Council - Regular Session
• On agenda: 6/9/2026
• Title: Approval of Department of Energy / Los Alamos County Electric Resource Pool Budget for Fiscal Years 2027 and 2028
• Presenters: Ben Olbrich
• Indexes (Council Goals): Quality Excellence - Effective, Efficient, and Reliable Services, Quality Governance - Fiscal Stewardship, Quality Governance - Intergovernmental and Regional Relations, DPU FY26 - 1.0 Provide Safe and Reliable Utility Services, DPU FY26 - 2.0 Achieve and Maintain Excellence in Financial Performance, DPU FY26 - 6.0 Develop and Strengthen Partnerships
• Related files: 21206-26a, 21206-26b

Title

Approval of Department of Energy / Los Alamos County Electric Resource Pool Budget for Fiscal Years 2027 and 2028

Recommended Action

I move that Council approve the 2027-2028 Electric Resource Pool Budget as presented.

Utilities Manager Recommendation 

The Utilities Manager recommends approval of the motion as presented.

Board, Commission or Committee Recommendation

The Board of Public Utilities approved this budget at their regular meeting of May 20, 2026 and recommends that Council approve the motion as presented.

Body

The Electric Energy Coordination Agreement (ECA) between the County of Los Alamos and the Department of Energy requires that a 24-month budget be approved each year. The budget process begins with both parties preparing a load projection by month for the budget period.  Based on the load projections, the Power Supply division prepares a projection that matches electric generation resources to the projected loads and estimates the variable costs for County-owned resources and purchased power. Finally, costs for projected generation, purchases, and transmission are allocated to the parties based on the terms of the ECA.

The projected power pool allocated total costs per MWh are $68.93 and $76.72 for fiscal years 2027 and 2028, respectively. Costs to the LAPP participants vary due to each party’s load factors. The projected allocated costs to the County per MWh are $66.92 and $76.64 for fiscal years 2027 and 2028, respectively.

This budget was approved by the ECA Operating Committee on May 12, 2026.

Alternatives

Due to the fact that certain costs are billed to the participants as budgeted (fixed charges associated with the various resources) and reconciled in the next budget cycle, if this budget is not approved by the Board and Council, significant adjustments will be needed to reconcile actual billings with the budget once a budget is approved.

Fiscal and Staff Impact

None.  DPU’s expenditure author...