The state of Colorado is approaching a deficit that is not directly tied to money. The deficit is electrical energy.

In a Colorado Energy Forum held Monday night at the Ramada Inn, industry officials and state legislators discussed what needs to be done to keep up with energy needs in the coming years. At issue is how to move electricity produced in the northeast corner of Colorado to areas it is needed, and how to do it efficiently.

Geoff Hier, of the Colorado Rural Electric Association, noted that the REA associations and major companies like Xcel Energy are facing similar issues; it is just that the REAs look at issues differently. One of the differences is that companies like Xcel are profit-driven, working for shareholders and directorships. REAs are in place for one reason: to provide electricity to consumers as inexpensively and efficiently as possible. They typically operate on a margin thinner than an energy company would accept because the goal is affordable energy for its customers, who are also the stockholders.

"We cover 70 percent of the land area (in Colorado), and 30 percent of the population," Hier said.

Among the speakers at Monday's meeting, Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg addressed the energy needs of the state and what will need to be done in the future to meet that need. He said a study done by R.W. Beck, a consulting firm, indicates the state needs to come up with nearly 5,000 megawatts of electricity to satisfy the needs of the state by 2025, even if consumption stays at the current level.

"We're going to fall way short by 2025," Sonnenberg said. He added that the addition of the Camanche power plant near Pueblo helps, but it will not satisfy the need.

Northeast Colorado has been rightly billed as a wind energy mecca. The problem is wind energy cannot be the end-all, according to Sonnenberg. Supporting a statement made earlier by CREA Executive Director Ray Clifton, Sonnenberg said wind energy resources are available only 10 to 35 percent of the time.

"Even if we estimate liberally, we still will not meet the 4,500 megawatts by 2025," he said.

Sonnenberg said the state needs to strengthen its energy infrastructure without penalizing business.

"As you know, any time we have higher prices, business will look somewhere else. As long as we sit on our hands, the problem will only get worse," he said.

Lee Boughey, senior manager of communication and public affairs for Tri-State Generation and Transmission, said his company has plans to build new upgrades to the electricity transportation system. Among the plans is a "backbone" transmission system that will parallel eastern Colorado north to south from Wray to Lamar, then west to near Pueblo.

State legislator Cory Gardner said the state needs to consider nuclear energy production.

"If we're serious about energy independence, we have to look at nuclear," he said.

Sonnenberg added that the best thing the legislature can do is let the rural electric associations do what they must in order to produce the energy their customers need.

"If we can free them up, and untie their hands, I think they will do it," Sonnenberg said of REA companies trying to meet the energy needs of the state.