A management system to achieve environmental goals

Tri-State’s commitment to environmental excellence begins with a clear commitment from its board of directors and management.  Tri-State recognizes the benefit of using a systematic approach to accomplish environmental and business goals, and therefore developed its own comprehensive Environmental Management System (EMS) in 2002.   Tri-State was the first utility in the state of Colorado and is one of few electric cooperatives in the nation to implement an EMS.

An EMS is a system of policies, procedures and plans to provide employees with a clear and readily accessibly direction for environmental compliance.  Our EMS captures all the essential elements of a compliance focused EMS including: strategic planning, individual roles and responsibilities, a self-assessment program and continuous improvement in environmental performance.  The Tri-State EMS establishes environmental goals and objectives to continuously improve operations and reduce environmental risks.  The goals and objectives are continually evaluated in order to determine how well they are being achieved, as well as how environmental performance can be improved. 

One of the primary means of assessing environmental compliance within our operations is to conduct environmental self-evaluations. This involves an extensive review of power generation, transmission and support facilities to identify potential environmental concerns.  Another key component of the program is to conduct routine environmental, safety and health training.  All employees at Tri-State’s generation and transmission facilities are required to attend annual trainings to maintain and increase awareness of environmental compliance responsibilities.