Title
Approval of Department of Energy / Los Alamos County Electric Resource Pool Budget for Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027
Recommended Action
I move that Council approve the 2026-2027 Electric Resource Pool Budget as presented, with the understanding that the current Electric Coordination Agreement (ECA) approved in 1985 and modified 24 times since then, is expected to be replaced by an updated modern contemporaneous ECA before the recently amended ECA extension ends on December 31, 2025, and that the 2026-2027 Resource Pool budget being recommended here is contingent and dependent upon the terms and conditions of the future ECA, which is unknown at this time, and which may require future amendment to the 2026-2027 Resource Pool budget that is recommended here.
Utilities Manager Recommendation
The Utilities Manager recommends approval the motion as presented.
Board, Commission or Committee Recommendation
The Board of Public Utilities approved this budget at their regular meeting of May 21, 2025 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 resource supply projection that matches the available 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 total costs per MWh are $92.12 and $71.04 for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, respectively. Costs to the LAPP participants vary due to each party’s load factors. The projected costs to the County per MWh are $86.43 and $72.88 for fiscal years 2026 and 2027...
Click here for full text