After deliberating for about 8 hours a jury in Sandoval District Court declared the Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative (JMEC) to be the most negligent of the parties accused of causing the Las Conchas fire in July 2011, assigning JMEC 75% responsibility. The fire, caused by a 60 foot aspen tree growing on private land off NM Highway 4, just south of the Valle Grande, that fell on power lines, burned 150,000 acres (240 square miles), destroyed 63 homes and caused an estimated $200 million worth of damage. Claims by the parties seeking compensation could steer the already financially troubled Coop into bankruptcy.
The damage amounts will be determined at a later trial.
The plaintiffs claimed that the Coop failed to properly maintain the trees growing alongside the easement by the power lines, that it was not following industry standards and did not have properly trained inspectors. The Forest Service was also found to be partly responsible, a mere 5% worth of guilt, by not granting the Coop a wide enough easement. Tri-State Generation and Transmission, the power company that supplies JMEC with electricity, and is owned by member cooperatives including our own JMEC, was held responsible by 20%.
JMEC is deliberating whether or not to appeal the sentencing that could force them into bankruptcy. Currently the Coop has only $21 million stashed away to face hundreds of millions in claims, so it is already considering filing Chapter 11 which would allow it to reorganize, overseen by a federal bankruptcy court.
The chances are that whatever settlements are reached, it will affect the electric bills in the Jemez area. Cooperatives are owned by the members who pay for electric service. Anything that affects the cooperative’s costs is ultimately paid for by the members. Additionally, this verdict could set a precedent affecting the way JMEC and other electric coops operate, requiring them to maintain wider easements; that cost would also be passed on to customers.
The Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative serves 31,220 consumers living in Sandoval, McKinley, Río Arriba, San Juan and Santa Fe counties and is the largest electric cooperative in New Mexico.