In June 2016 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a two-part decision in which they determined (1) that Tri-State Power and Generation obligation to purchase power from Qualified Facilities (QF) under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURRA) supersedes any power purchase supply agreement they may currently have with a wholesale power provider, and (2) that Tri-Sate cannot impose cost recovery mechanisms on users that would, in effect, limit members utilities like Sangre De Cristo REA's ability to procure power at negotiated rates. This ruling obviates Tri-State's current agreement with Sangre De Cristo to purchase 95% of their power from Tri-State, further invalidating the requirement that Sangre De Cristo purchase no more than 5% from outside purchases. It also means that Tri-State cannot charge users any additional fees for losses they may sustain from buying electricity from a QF at prices lower than that previously contracted for under typical 50-year long term supply contracts between Sangre De Cristo and Tri-State.
