Many of our customers know that Wheat Belt is under contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission out of Westminster, CO. This contract is considered an all-requirements contract, meaning that Wheat Belt will purchase all our power (demand and energy or kW and kWh) from Tri-State. In return Tri-State is contracted for the generation and transmission reliability side of the equation. Wholesale power contracts are multi-decade contracts to support the construction of power generating plants that have a useful life of over 30 years. Wheat Belt has been contracted with Tri-State since the inception of Tri-State in 1952. (Fun fact: Wheat Belt’s first General Manager, Charles Ham was the first President of Tri-State’s Board and later served as the Vice President). 

Our current contract with Tri-State was signed in 2006 and currently is set to expire in 2050. Tri-State is actively going through a process to seek contract extensions through 2066. I have sat on Tri-State’s Contract Committee for the past year as Wheat Belt’s representative. 

Wheat Belt’s Board of Directors has been deliberating the issue of extending our contract with Tri-State until 2066 or remain with a current contract end date of 2050. Each month the Board is provided with additional information to help them reach a decision by mid to late May of 2025. Our Board was recently at Tri-State’s office in Colorado where discussion was held about the pros and cons of signing a contract extension. And just last week (March 7) Tri-State hosted a regional meeting to discuss contract extension where some of our board was present to help inform their decision making.

Our Board works diligently to make the best business decisions for Wheat Belt (company, customers and employees). And as always, Wheat Belt PPD is committed to delivering electricity safely, reliably and efficiently focusing on respecting individuals, producing quality work and valuing integrity for the greater good of the customers and employees.