With the merger of Empire Electric and La Plata Electric Association now on hold, officials of the two utilities have the time to rethink both the proposed deal and the role of their leadership. It is an opportunity they should not squander.

LPEA in particular needs to put its house in order. The troubles facing the rural cooperative are largely a matter of perception, but when an organization is in the process of reinventing itself — and attempting to lead the community in a new direction as well — perceptions are important.

Empire called off the merger for exactly those reasons. It is not controversial. It provides good service, stays out of the headlines and its boss is known to be at his desk during working hours — not out on the golf course. Montezuma County electric users are right to wonder what they stand to gain from combining their utility with one that at least appears to be mired in disputes and contention.

Of course, if Cortez businesses see customers and jobs moving to Durango in the future because of better access to telecommunication services and watch their local utility get devoured by some conglomerate after deregulation, they will know what they missed.

There are some mighty big "ifs" in that scenario, but that is the future for which LPEA’s leadership is trying to prepare. And, the co-op gets high marks for its vision and its efforts to adapt.

Where it has failed, both with Empire and with some of its members, is in conveying the urgency inherent in that vision to people accustomed to the friendly, steady, atmosphere of rural electric associations.

What LPEA is trying to do is laudable. It wants to remain an independent, locally owned utility and to assume the same kind of economic development role that rural electric associations performed in the past — adjusted to fit the needs of the 21st century.

For anyone used to the relative calm and noncontroversial nature of REA business in the past, however, those changes can be unnerving.

To address those concerns, and the critics that inevitably come with any public dispute, LPEA needs to adopt an organizational culture befitting its high-tech aspirations. The laid-back atmosphere of a rural co-op does not work for its new role. What was neighborly now looks secretive; what was stable now appears unresponsive.

Above all, LPEA needs to realize that technology and vision — both greatly needed and appreciated — are not enough. To succeed it must enlist the support of its members and its potential partners.