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07/29/2019 - 06:00 AM
Title Lineman Going Back to Guatemala /sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/JulyAug2019_NL_Guatemala.jpg?itok=oP6BY7ff Tuesday | July 23, 2019 Card Teaser Kelly Snow has been selected to return later this summer as part of a crew of to provide power to the village of Sillab. For the second time in as many years, United Power lineman Kelly Snow will represent the cooperative in Guatemala. Snow has been selected to return later this summer as part of a crew of 20 linemen from Colorado and Oklahoma to provide power to yet another isolated jungle village. This past summer, Snow spent three weeks near Playa Grande setting poles, stringing line and hanging transformers to provide power to residents in two remote jungle villages for the first time. “It’s really an honor to be invited back,” Snow said. “Most of us have never had to go more than a day without electricity and the benefits it provides. These villages have never had that experience.” Sillab, the village they’ll be energizing in October, is located in the mountainous jungles of north central Guatemala. Sillab is home to approximately 60 households, one elementary school and four churches, none of which have known the benefits of reliable and affordable electricity. While much of the work will be the same, the terrain presents a new difficulty for Snow and his fellow linemen. Crews will have to overcome harsh conditions in order to string electric line more than six miles to Sillab, including dense jungle foliage, mountainous terrain, frequent rain and high humidity. Harsh conditions and grueling manual labor contributed to fatigue and dehydration in the relatively flatter areas of Playa Grande. “You don’t quickly forget the experience of working in the rain and humidity,” Snow said. “But steep inclines add another level of safety we’ll have to prepare for and pay careful attention to during the project.” In Playa Grande, long days seemed longer without access to major equipment, a condition that will also worsen in Sillab. With a few spare linemen and some light equipment, the utility near Playa Grande was able to provide a little help. The utility and power supplier near Sillab have only one lineman each and no equipment. “It will be tough, physical labor,” Snow said, “but I’m proud to be a part of it. At the end of the day, if you can be proud of what you did, the pain and the challenge is worth it.” For more than 80 years, electric cooperatives have been helping small, rural communities across the country thrive. It’s one of the seven cooperative principles: concern for community. With the help of NRECA International, cooperatives have been able to take that mission global, providing millions of small communities with the gift of electricity. “This is why we were founded – bringing power to rural America,” Snow said. “The impact electricity makes on one of these villages is tangible and opens up doors to future possibilities.”01/24/2019 - 09:32 AM
Title Linemen Provide Opportunity to Guatemalan Villages /sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/Dec2018_NL_Guatemala.png?itok=JuLGbFMN Monday | December 3, 2018 Card Teaser In October, lights went on for the first time in two villages nestled deep in the jungles of northwest Guatemala. In October, lights went on for the first time in two villages nestled deep in the jungles of northwest Guatemala. After weeks of grueling manual labor in adverse conditions far from home, line crews from Oklahoma and Colorado completed work on a project to provide the villages of Pie del Cerro and Tierra Blanca Salinas the gift of electricity. Between long days caused by the lack of major equipment and staving off dehydration brought on by dense jungle humidity, crews often returned to their rooms late in the evening exhausted – ready to do it again the next day. “Nothing came easy,” United Power lineman Kelly Snow said. “We had to gut it out each and every day. But even on the worst days, everyone showed up and gave it their all. We came to accomplish something, and we did.” Line crews were stationed in the small city of Playa Grande, located roughly 300 miles from Guatemala City. Each morning, crews loaded into trucks and traversed dirt-packed and often jarring roads to the villages they’d be powering nearly an hour away. Once there, work had to be completed without the use of specialized tools or mechanical equipment, and vehicles were to be used for transportation only. Snow, who’s experienced the worst working conditions as a lineman in Colorado’s Front Range, said it’s hard to prepare for the difficulties of working in a third world country. “It’s like stepping back in time,” he said. “We talked to others who were on projects before us and looked at all the photos, but there are still elements of the unknown. It’s hot and humid the whole time; hard to stay hydrated.” Despite the harsh working conditions, crews were able to complete the first half of the project in just over a week – providing power to the first of the two villages – and the whole project on time. “I’m proud to have been a part of this project to provide power to these families and kids,” Snow said. “It gives these kids the chance to continue their studies, and maybe even opens the door for computers or cell phones one day.” Brief reprieves gave Snow and other linemen an opportunity to spend some time building relationships with villagers, playing games with the children and exploring the nearby jungle and lakes. Above and beyond providing electricity, the crews were also able to gift each household with two-year water filters and each school with a laptop and wheelchair. “The Rural Electric Association was founded on the principal of bringing electricity to rural America,” Snow said just before the project. “It’s an inspiration to be a part of that foundation and spreading it to other countries.”05/11/2020 - 11:09 AM
Local Food Banks Receive Member Choice Grants Monday | May 11, 2020 Nominations quickly began arriving, and it was clear members saw an immediate need to provide basic food supplies for their neighbors at this time. Read more >05/30/2018 - 03:30 PM
Title Looking for Kids to Help Spread Electrical Safety Messages /sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/2018_02_14_KidsSpreadSafetyMessages.jpg?itok=bupRuTbS Wednesday | February 14, 2018 Card Teaser United Power is enlisting the help of local children to create electrical safety posters that will be displayed for National Electrical Safety Month in May. United Power is enlisting the help of local children to create electrical safety posters that will be displayed for National Electrical Safety Month in May. Kids in grades kindergarten through fifth are invited to submit their creative ideas that incorporate electrical safety concepts or safety tips for the community. Winning posters will be used in May to commemorate National Electrical Safety Month—an annual, nationwide campaign to raise awareness about electrical hazards. Six winning designs will be selected, one from each grade. Winning posters will be displayed throughout the United Power service territory—in print, online and on select bus benches. The winner from each grade will also be awarded a $50 cash prize. The deadline for Electrical Safety Poster Contest entries is Wednesday, March 21, 2018. Posters must be submitted on the official coloring contest entry form, which is available at any United Power office, our website, and will be included in the February & March United Newsline, United Power’s monthly newsletter mailed directly to members. United Power employees will judge posters based on creativity and illustration of a key electrical safety concept. Winners will be announced by Friday, March 30, 2018. Contest Details- Child must be a dependent of a United Power member.
- Winners will receive $50 cash awards.
- Six winners will be chosen. One from each grade K-5.
- Winning posters will appear online, in print and on bus benches for the month May.
- Entries must be submitted on the official contest entry form.
- DEADLINE: MARCH 21, 2018
- Stay away from powerlines & electrical equipment.
- Use care when plugging & unplugging.
- Never mix electricity & water.
- Never stick toys or other objects into electrical outlets.
- Don’t overload outlets.
- Ask an adult for help ‑ you can never be too safe!
03/05/2025 - 02:01 PM
March Message from Mark A. Gabriel Wednesday | March 5, 2025 A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer. Read more >02/29/2024 - 10:14 AM
Title March Message from Mark A. Gabriel /sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/CEO_Message.jpg?h=45932144&itok=pNegmSzP Thursday | February 29, 2024 Card Teaser A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer. I have spent much of my 30+ year career in the utility industry. Through the years, people have often asked me what the “best” business model is to provide electricity. There are basically three choices: investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, and cooperatives like United Power. I try to reflect on the various pluses and minuses of each business model when answering the question, but always come back to the same conclusion — cooperatives are the closest to their member-owners, focus clearly on the communities being served, and can make changes quickly as technology transforms the energy enterprise. Commitment to our member-owners is deeply embedded in the cooperative mindset. Our employees work diligently each day to meet the needs of United Power members, while also anticipating future needs. This is why we have been able to handle the tremendous growth in our service territory across all the sectors we are proud to serve: residential, small commercial, and large commercial/industrial. Our attitude and culture is to meet needs when and where they arise, based on the members’ time frame. Members have an active voice in the utility’s future direction through the annual Director Election. The dedicated women and men on United Power’s Board of Directors spend many hours alongside management preparing for what is to come. This is particularly important with the rapidly changing environment we find ourselves in today. The Board had the foresight to pilot the largest battery storage facility in the West in 2018. It provided understanding and experience in operating battery storage systems, and paved the way for the cooperative to add another 115 megawatts of battery storage to our system this spring and summer. This battery deployment ensures reliability and allows us to manage the system locally. We will be one of the first utilities in the nation to energize utility-scale batteries at our substations. Moving quickly and taking advantage of innovative technologies is a hallmark of the cooperative world, and certainly at United Power. Our theme for this year — United Power’s 85th anniversary — is Here for Good. This captures our belief in building a reliable and resilient distribution system and our enduring presence in the communities we serve. United Power fosters local relationships and partners on economic development to support community growth. The cooperative also partners with members who want to give back to those less fortunate through Operation Round Up. More than 25,000 of you participate in the program, which has distributed more than $3 million since 1995. This is why the cooperative business model is so strong — the proximity to the people we serve as “members” and not just “customers.” As a member, you are also an owner with a vested economic interest in United Power. A part of every monthly statement is an investment in your utility — a key difference in the three business models. Every year, the Board of Directors evaluates our financial condition and determines if we can return margins to members. In the last five years alone, we have returned more than $25 million to members. This only happens in the cooperative world (unless you own stock in an investor-owned utility, of course). Electric cooperatives are based on seven principles: open and voluntary membership; democratic member control; members economic participation; autonomy and independence; education, training, and information; cooperation among cooperatives; and concern for community. We take these principle to heart in everything we do at United Power. My third anniversary at the helm of United Power is March 15. I am thankful every day to live and work in a community powered by an electric cooperative, and to work with the amazing women and men of this utility. As always, please feel free to reach out with your questions, comments, or concerns. I enjoy hearing from our members and appreciate your continued support.03/01/2022 - 03:31 PM
Title March/April Message from Mark A. Gabriel /sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/CEO_Message.jpg?h=45932144&itok=pNegmSzP Tuesday | March 1, 2022 Card Teaser A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer. Looking ahead while focusing on the present is a challenge in today’s electric power industry. Whether it is changing regulations; the desire of more members to engage with us as their electric cooperative in new ways; the advancement of technologies; or simply the expectations of high quality, always on, reliable power, being prepared is key. Thanks to the hard work of staff at United Power, supported by our Board of Directors, we have created “Our Cooperative Roadmap,” or Roadmap, to document both where we are today and how we are looking toward the future. The Roadmap has four Guiding Principles: Reliability, Affordability, Flexibility, and Responsibility. Each of these principles embodies the elements most critical to us as we seek to prepare for the future while building and maintaining the important investments we have made on behalf of our members over the decades. These are the lenses through which we evaluate options such as reimagining our power supply, integrating new technologies, preparing for future markets, and supporting the needs of the workforce. Reliability Strive to deliver high-quality, uninterrupted service to our members through the design, operation, protection, and maintenance of a failure-resistant and resilient electric distribution system. Affordability Continually seek fair and equitable wholesale rates, manage distribution costs in a highly efficient manner, and responsibly allocate those costs across our membership with stable and transparent rate options. Flexibility Demonstrate maximum agility and adaptiveness through forward-looking plans; versatile, innovative programs and business models; and diverse power supply options as we respond to changes in our environment and the needs of our members and community. Responsibility Act honestly, ethically, sustainably, and in the best interest of our members and communities as we manage operations and secure resources. The Roadmap defines the working plan priorities for your cooperative and aligns the work of employees at United Power. The document will ensure continuity in our thinking and guide us as we make important resource decisions. The Roadmap also keeps us looking at the immediate opportunities and challenges we face. The criticality of electricity has never been more evident as a growing number of our members work from home. The advances of technology require high quality, reliable power. And, as our communities grow, so too do the demands for more power. A good example in planning ahead and working for today lies in the investments your cooperative made in our fire mitigation plan. Several years ago, we began switching to covered cable in the mountains, undergrounded critical lines, and moved to an advanced breaker. While no plan can perfectly protect us from the unpredictability of wildfires, we were ready to respond during the recent events here in Colorado. Fortunately, our system was not impacted. The same is true as we ready our technologies to accept more distributed energy resources, storage, and solar on our system while preparing for the advent of a power market here in the west. We encourage members to read Our Cooperative Roadmap and engage in future discussions about it. The senior team and I welcome the opportunity to come and speak to community groups and will be posting several videos online that cover the Roadmap’s key elements. Our Cooperative Roadmap covers a wide range of areas – all designed with you, our member, in mind. Importantly, it helps define the cooperative’s future and keeps us on track today. As always, I welcome your comments, questions, and feedback on any topic, including the Roadmap. Please contact me here.12/06/2022 - 11:21 AM
Mark A. Gabriel Announced as New GridWise Alliance Board Member Tuesday | December 6, 2022 The GridWise Alliance announced nine new members to its Board of Directors, all strongly committed to advancing the organization's mission to articulate the benefits of grid modernization. Read more >06/05/2019 - 12:19 PM
May is National Electrical Safety Month Thursday | May 2, 2019 May is National Electrical Safety Month, and United Power is joining with the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI)to raise awareness about potential home electrical hazards and the importance of electrical safety. Read more >05/01/2025 - 12:03 PM
May Message from Mark A. Gabriel Thursday | May 1, 2025 A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer. Read more >05/01/2024 - 08:21 AM
Title May Message from Mark A. Gabriel /sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/CEO_Message_85.jpg?h=45932144&itok=fpbFupeq Wednesday | May 1, 2024 Card Teaser A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer. There is never a good time to raise rates, but there is always a good reason. Raising rates ensures the financial stability of the utility, keeps borrowing costs low, and allows for continued investment in facilities. Sometimes there is a great reason to raise rates. For United Power, that great reason is freedom to do the right thing for our members and a restoration of local control. More than 85 years ago, United Power’s founding board members decided electrification was in the best interest of their communities. Their goal required bold thinking and a bit of moxie. It took them two years to bring their idea of electrification to life but resulted in the lights going on for 110 homes and businesses in 1940. It introduced a vision for the future that is still being expanded today. The cooperative is now more than 100 times larger – far larger than those original founders could have ever imagined. Two years ago, your intrepid Board of Directors began the initial steps to take our cooperative back, advocating for a new direction untethered to an organization that was not operating in our members’ best interests. The Board’s belief is bringing a new vision of the future, and we are expanding on that every day. Operating as an independent entity allows United Power to manage its own destiny and focus on locally controlled generation and assets, while protecting members from costs that do not bring them value. Exiting our power contract prevents the cooperative from carrying a disproportionate burden of the supplier’s costs and investments and subsidizing others. Additionally, we want to incentivize generation and storage within our communities and increase reliability. Local generation contributes tax revenue that benefits our communities. Our new power supply will also immediately reduce our carbon intensity, helping us meet regulatory mandates. The cost of this freedom is $627 million, broken down into an exit fee of roughly $450 million and a 40-year prepayment of approximately $180 million for the use of transmission facilities. This prepayment is a loan from United Power that will earn interest to the tune of more than $250 million, and it is for service that we would have needed to buy anyway. Most importantly, the cooperative will be free from debts and obligations over which we have no management or control. The key question, of course, is what this exit will do to bills. There will be a small rate increase to pay for our freedom. Raising rates is never pleasant, and we understand this will be challenging for some. We are working on programs to minimize the impact, and we are committed to rate stabilization and potential answers for lowering them as we pay off our exit fees. This resolution is really the end of the beginning for United Power’s exciting and bold vision for the future. This was outlined three years ago in Our Cooperative Roadmap, which envisioned a new set of power supplies, the move into power markets, increased levels of energy storage, and continuing our industry-leading innovation. Innovation is not new at United Power. We were one of the first to have community solar, generate power from methane waste gas, and pioneer battery storage. Further, our rates and programs support members who add solar and storage, and electric vehicles are revolutionizing our backyard with more than 6,000 in our territory. United Power received a grant to combine floating solar with storage in Fort Lupton to produce low-cost power and reduce water loss through evaporation. Golden Aluminum, one of the co-op’s largest industrial members, received $22.3 million to electrify their processes. And, we have been selected to apply for New ERA grant funding. If the application is successful, those funds will help stabilize and lower the cost of lower carbon resources. Being an independent entity means we get to pick the right generating resources for our members, and help electrification efforts without constraints or paying for things that do not benefit the co-op. There is a cost to our freedom, but operating independently is priceless. Bold thinking and a bit of moxie are making this happen. I am proud of the women and men of United Power. We are, and will remain, Here for Good.05/11/2023 - 03:19 PM
Title May Message from Mark. A. Gabriel /sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/CEO_Message.jpg?h=45932144&itok=pNegmSzP Monday | May 8, 2023 Card Teaser A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer. My old boss used to have a saying, “Predicting rain is one thing, building the ark is another.” I am proud to say that your cooperative, with support from the Board of Directors, developed and is following Our Cooperative Roadmap — the ark for success now and into the future. This journey will continue the evolution of the electric business as we work to meet the needs of you, our members, wherever you are. There continues to be a lot of talk about the energy transition — how the future will look, the challenges of changing power suppliers, and the issues with more people and businesses seeking alternative generation sources. Many of these conversations in the industry revolve around concerns for reliability, resilience, and of course affordability, three watchwords for all of us operating your cooperative. A distribution cooperative like United Power stands at the crossroads of a changing energy industry. It needs to transition from a simple distribution operator to managing a system that is agnostic to inputs and flexible enough to handle both centralized power and local generation. Very few central power stations are being built today, more fossil fuel generation facilities are closing, and transmission projects lag needs. A distribution system operator (DSO) will be counted on to manage a more complex, yet interlocked, system. This will empower you as members and monetize investments in a shared energy economy. We are focused on staying closely tied to the economic drivers of the communities we serve to bring tax dollars, revenue, and well-paying job opportunities. We must be good stewards of our resources and build on the solid partnerships with our local businesses. I am proud to say that these partnerships are the cornerstone of the cooperative business model. Providing high quality and reliable service is crucial because businesses matter. We are restructuring some staff to focus on business and community partnerships — our key accounts. This will allow us to be more responsive, anticipate needs in areas such as power quality, and leverage available grant dollars and tax incentives. Another benefit in controlling our power supply will allow us to craft rates that work for these members. As a member-owned cooperative, the concept of “meeting you where you are,” aligns with our goal of delivering mutual value. It has the added benefit of keeping investments in the communities we serve while ensuring the reliability and resiliency required in today’s environment. The quiet transition to localized grids, combined with the advancements in management tools and software, returns to continue the electricity enterprises’ original intent of bringing light, motive power, and comfort to the communities being served. Our Cooperative Roadmap makes sure we are invested in the technological changes our members are navigating in our industry. More members want to self-generate or make energy efficient upgrades to their homes. Others are investing in technologies that will change the way we interface with members. United Power must continue supporting technologies that reduce costs for all members. Programs such as United EV, Smart Rewards for thermostats, energy efficiency rebates, and solar interconnections give members control over how they use power. We are here to support members who want to produce their own power and provide financial incentives that align with our goals of affordability and system control. These programs are aimed at sharing savings with our members when they participate in programs that can reduce our costs. What does this mean in practice? United Power provides the people and tools to help members make decisions about their own energy use, power generation, use of technologies, and safe integration of batteries and solar panels. It means we are continuously scanning the horizon to make sure our distribution system is ready for tomorrow and safe for today. We are not just predicting the rain of change but building the ark to ensure we sail into this bright new future.