The Future is Electric!
Re-elect Joe Lewandowski for LPEA District 3
Moving forward to provide clean, reliable, sustainable power
As a board member for six years I’ve worked to keep our co-op’s vision focused on the future. We’re leaving Tri-State. We’re not looking back.
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Saving $7 million and our air
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Our transition away from Tri-State is already paying dividends! When we leave Tri-State on April 1, 2026, LPEA’s electric power costs will drop by 10%, a savings for the co-op of $7 million per year! Plus, our greenhouse gas emissions will drop significantly the moment we leave Tri-State.
Escaping Tri-State’s $3 billion debt load
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Another huge advantage for LPEA will result from being detached from Tri-State’s $3 billion debt load! Soon we’ll be using our co-op’s revenue to build our own “power house” — not paying rent to a financially strapped landlord.
Why I'm Running for a Third Term:
I’ve worked to keep our mission directed to the future. I want to continue my service to co-op members to help drive our co-op’s momentum toward independence, and to embrace new, clean-energy sources.
Keeping the power on 24-hours-a-day is no small task. Fortunately, LPEA’s talented staff is keeping the co-op on track, and moving ahead diligently to secure a variety of reliable power options.
LPEA’s move away from Tri-State brings new opportunities for local generation, and provides the path to plug into reliable regional non-polluting power sources. One of my favorite sayings is “Think Globally, Act Locally!” LPEA co-op members are on board with that message and have stated clearly that they want to do their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
A year from now, when LPEA’s contract with Tri-State ends, we’ll immediately and significantly reduce our carbon emissions. And we already know the cost to purchase new sources of power will be 10% lower than what we pay Tri-State now.
I am asking for your support. The future of our clean power supply lies in continual innovation. Now is the time to continue moving forward!
Keeping LPEA locally controlled, independent
La Plata Electric Association, like all electric co-ops, is owned and operated by its 40,000 members. LPEA does not answer to stockholders, to a profit motive, or to a political ideology — it answers only to co-op members. And in a year, LPEA will be fully independent of Tri-State and its restrictive 50-year, no-win contract.
I am on the LPEA board because I believe in the co-op’s philosophy of shared values — where the good of all is prized above the good of the individual. That is the co-op way, and the best way for Southwest Colorado.
The MAGA opponents are looking backward
The LPEA board has been discussing separating from Tri-State in numerous public forums and meetings for nearly a decade. Opponents to the move are falsely claiming that years of work by staff and the board has been done in the dark. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Opponents are looking backward and ignore Tri-State’s $3 billion debt load.
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MAGA supporters are coming after our co-op. We can’t allow a small group of naysayers take a chainsaw to our electric co-op.
With your support LPEA will stay focused on the future
My 40+year adventure in Colorado
Growing up in Michigan I spent every minute I could outdoors. But after a taste of Colorado on a ski trip during spring break from Michigan State University I quickly decided to return.
After graduating from MSU in 1977 with a degree in journalism and a natural resources minor, I outfitted a bicycle and pedaled to Colorado on a month-long trip.
I spent a couple of years ski-bumming which included strumming and singing in bars in Vail. Then I decided to put my degree to work and took my first job as a reporter at the local weekly newspaper. I followed up with reporter/editor jobs in Steamboat Springs, Fort Collins and the Durango Herald. Over the years I’ve also done some freelance writing, contributing to publications and websites nationwide.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, about 25 years ago, I took a year to travel around the world. I’ve written an e-book about that experience which you can find on Amazon - it’ll only set you back four bucks: “Bus Rides, Baguettes and Buddhas: One year, moment by moment. around the world.”
In 2005 I started working for the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife as the public information officer for the Southwest Region. I had great adventures with biologists working with numerous wildlife species: bears, elk, deer, mountain lions, lynx, bighorns, raptors, bats, native fish, pronghorns and more
I served for 15 years on the Durango City Planning Commission, and for the past 10 years I’ve been president of my townhouse homeowners’ association. I support the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, KSUT, KDUR, Music in the Mountains, New Horizon’s womens’ center, the San Juan Citizen’s Alliance, and national environmental and social-justice organizations.
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And yes, I do all the outdoor stuff that our region offers.
After 40-some years in a variety of jobs and positions, I retired in 2021.
