Will Pursue Renewable Energy Agenda

TELLURIDE —When former Mountain Village Mayor Rube Felicelli takes his place representing District 5 on the San Miguel Power Association’s Board of Directors in July, the first thing he plans to do is his homework.

“I’ll have to spend a lot of time listening and talking to people,” he said, estimating that it could take somewhere from six months to a year to fully understand the complexities of the region’s electric cooperative.

Felicelli, who ran for the seat unopposed, decided to pursue it after learning that the incumbent, Tony Forrest, would not. District 5 represents Mountain Village, Lake Fork, Trout Lake, Ophir, and Ski Ranches, and includes among it some of the region’s largest energy consumers including the Telluride Ski and Golf Company and The Peaks hotel, he said.

“I thought it was a golden opportunity to get on board…to work for renewable energy use,” he explained.

With that, Felicelli, who holds a BA in political science from Wheeling Jesuit University in W. Va. and did some graduate work in political science from West Virginia University, is optimistic about the role he can play to forward a renewable energy agenda for the region.

“I’m pretty confident I can achieve results,” he said.

The Brooklyn, N.Y. native attributed his optimism to a skill honed from sitting on the Mountain Village Town Council where, before reaching his term limit, he served as mayor pro-tem for five years and took over the helm for four months following the resignation of former Mayor Davis Fansler.

During that time he learned to get people with diverse backgrounds and interests working together to build consensus.

“It’s just a lot of work and listening to people,” he said. “You have to try to find common ground.”

What is more, recently Telluride Mayor Stu Fraser and Mountain Village Mayor Bob Delves announced a challenge to the communities they represent to have 100 percent of the electricity used in the Telluride/Mountain Village region provided by renewable energy sources by 2020.

Together the two towns represent about 29 percent of the SMPA’s membership, but use 50 percent of the kilowatt hours distributed by the cooperative.

“The mayors have come out with a directive,” said Felicelli. “That’s given our board a mandate to move.”

Helping guide the region in a move away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy sources like wind, solar or biomass will be a formidable task.

The SMPA, Felicelli said, is contractually obligated to obtain the majority of its power from the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, whose current portfolio of electric energy is derived mainly from coal, natural gas and oil-fired and combustion turbine generation facilities, according to the company’s website.

But, “We can do some things locally” to forward the effort he said, describing a three-pronged approach to help move the region away from fossil fuels.

Starting with what is perhaps the most obvious tactic, “We need to help people do a better job conserving energy,” he began.

Next, Felicelli said that the SMPA should be helping its members learn how to tap into the various state and federal incentives that are available to entice people toward generating their own power from clean, green sources.

“The beauty of renewable energy is that the major cost is upfront,” he explained. “Once it’s built and in place, generating power is very cheap.”

Finally, the SMPA board will need to work to pursue policy-level changes by lobbying state and federal officials.

“It’s going to take a lot of work to convince some people to buy into renewable energy,” he said.

Nevertheless, “This is exciting,” he said. “It’s going to be a challenge and I like challenges.”