Brighton, CO – Fitch Ratings (Fitch), an international credit rating firm, recently reaffirmed United Power’s Issuer Default and 2024 First Mortgage Notes ratings each as ‘A,’ with a stable outlook. Fitch assesses the credit standing of businesses, communicating the credit worthiness and financial strength of the company to lenders.

United Power sought its first rating in March 2024 ahead of financing its departure from a long-term, all-requirements contract with regional power cooperative Tri-State Generation and Transmission. This contract termination provided United Power greater ability to integrate new energy resources and control a variety of expenses necessary to support the management and procurement of its energy portfolio.

“This rating review affirms the strength and solvency United Power has achieved and maintained in its first full year of power supply independence,” said Mark A. Gabriel, President and CEO of United Power. “After a dramatic shift in the business model, maintaining our credit rating reflects United Power's post-exit stability. The cooperative has greater control of its own future, resulting in greater flexibility and control over procuring and providing power for our members.”

Fitch closely evaluated United Power’s past financial performance and weighed the growth opportunities in the cooperative’s territory to reach its rating. United Power’s ‘A’ rating indicates the cooperative is at a low default risk, and its capacity for repayment of financial commitments is considered strong.

This rating further reflects United Power's very strong revenue defensibility assessment and strong operating risk profile.

You can find the press release from Fitch here.
 

No one likes rate increases. Full stop.

By the same token, maintaining a financially healthy cooperative is a critical part of United Power’s mission. Our staff — and your Board of Directors — work diligently to make sure rates are matched closely with the utility’s operating costs. It is those growing costs that require the Jan. 1 rate increase.

The supply chain for many products, including those we use at the cooperative, have still not recovered from the pandemic, even before tariffs began impacting costs. Power poles are up 25-40% since 2020, transformers have doubled in price, copper wire is up 50%, and construction labor has increased by nearly 40%. Uncertainty in power generation, and which resources will be in favor from one administration to the next, is making generators and power providers hesitant to commit to long-term pricing. And, to further complicate the issue, more large power generating stations are coming offline, forcing capacity prices upward. It is more difficult for companies to commit to pricing when tariffs are in flux and off-shore/near-shore manufacturers that make many of the products utilities use are not sure if they will be able to sell products in the U.S.

United Power has worked to build a portfolio of hyper-localized projects to manage our wholesale power costs, believing that is the most logical and efficient solution in an uncertain financial environment. We have one of the largest distributed battery systems in the nation and recently opened the newest, most efficient gas plant in the country. We continue to contract for low-cost solar energy. In October, we committed to an additional 200 megawatts of solar coupled with 150 megawatts of battery storage, and we look forward to a power market coming to Colorado in April.

We are also committed to helping our members better manage their usage and bills through a variety of programs. We have dramatically reduced our peak energy hours, the time of day when our wholesale energy costs are at their highest, allowing members to shift demand and save on bills. The peak window has shortened from 2-10 p.m. to 5-9 p.m., a more rational window that makes it easier for members to navigate. Rates before and after the new peak are approximately 6.7 cents. An analysis of 2024 aggregated usage data shows that many residential and commercial members could benefit by moving to a time of use rate. Click here for detailed information about the 2026 rate change. Members can also reach out to an energy management specialist for help analyzing their energy usage and selecting the best rate to save on costs. Additionally, tools to help improve your energy efficiency are available here.

The story is the same across Colorado and the rest of the country. Virtually every utility (electric, gas, and water) is facing the challenge of holding down costs as long as possible. United Power has only had one year of rate increases (2024) during my nearly five years as CEO. The Board intentionally held back on raising rates during COVID, understanding the impact on an already challenged local economy. We do not take the matter of raising rates lightly, and we commit to managing your investments well.

As your cooperative and a key member of the communities we serve, United Power works every day to keep the lights on and power flowing in the most reliable and cost competitive way possible. We realize even small increases are challenging for many of our members and stand ready to help people manage their energy wisely.

As always, please feel free to reach out with any comments or questions. It is my honor to serve as your President and CEO and to lead this team of amazing people.

NOTICE OF CHANGE IN THE RATE TARIFFS OF UNITED POWER, INC.

DATE OF NOTICE:  Nov. 7, 2025

United Power Inc.’s elected board of directors has approved changes to United Power’s rate tariff schedules for energy usage, including increases to both demand and fixed charges, to become effective on or after Jan. 1, 2026, as described on each applicable rate tariff posted on www.unitedpower.com. Additionally, the on-peak window for residential and commercial time of use rates will change from the current window of 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. to a shorter window of 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. These adjustments are necessary for all rate classes due to increased wholesale power and transmission costs, increased costs due to tariffs and continued inflationary pressures on the supply chain, and to keep United Power in compliance with its indenture, note purchase agreements, and financial goals. There will also be a new rate class labeled Municipal Owned Lighting Service (MOL).

The present and proposed tariff provisions are available for examination at the Coal Creek Branch Office, located at 5 Gross Dam Road, Golden, CO; the headquarters office located at 500 Cooperative Way, Brighton, CO; the Carbon Valley Branch Office at 9586 E. I-25 Frontage Road, Longmont, CO; and on the cooperative’s website at www.unitedpower.com.

Anyone who desires to file either an informal complaint or a formal complaint with United Power must do so in writing as required by United Power’s Rules and Regulations, accessible online at www.unitedpower.com/bylaws-rates-tariffs.

UNITED POWER, INC.

By: Mark A. Gabriel, President and Chief Executive Officer

MORE INFORMATION: United Power 2026 Rate Change Information

These days it is easy for national headlines and political turmoil to distract us from the prime directive of electric cooperatives like United Power, which is to safely keep the lights on in the most cost effective and sustainable way possible.

Every day and night the women and men of United Power are clearly focused on our mission. There is an old saying, loosely adopted by the U.S. Postal Service, from the translation of Herodotus’ Histories that says, “It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.” This is more appropriately the mantra of the people at United Power who work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year in some of the most challenging weather conditions to ensure the lights stay on.

We have a tremendous team — from the dispatchers working around the clock to the crews who build the system to the engineers planning the system to the member services representatives answering your questions. Every one of our 200+ employees does their part. They are dedicated to your cooperative with the support of our visionary Board of Directors who spend countless hours guiding the execution of Our Cooperative Roadmap.

Federal funding cancellations affecting projects are indeed disappointing — and confusing as the entire industry faces challenges brought on by significant increases in electric demand. Our actions are focused on physics, not politics, and we will continue to make sure we have a diverse portfolio of hyper-localized resources, coupled with power from a variety of transmission-delivered electricity. 

We recently contracted for the Fortress Project, a 200 megawatt (MW) solar project supported by 150 MW of battery storage. Combined with our existing 119 MW of batteries, United Power leads the way in the West.

Data centers receive a lot of blame for increasing energy costs, but that is only a fraction of the pressure on rates. While there is a narrative that data centers support the artificial intelligence invading our lives, many of us believe requiring these companies to invest in upgrades and support of renewable energy mandates will actually help lower rates. United Power’s LIT (location, investment, and timing) process requires developers of large projects to pay for the costs of infrastructure. This process, once further utilized and refined, is expected to be a model for other utilities.

There are other realities we are facing. The inflationary pressures on equipment are dramatic. We see this in our everyday lives at the grocery store but certainly in the materials we need to purchase to keep the lights on. Over the past several years the cost of things as simple as a basic work truck have gone up more than 30%, steel and aluminum have increased significantly due to tariffs, and health care costs continue to climb beyond the rate of inflation. 

At United Power we have moved ahead on a new asset management system that will allow us to focus on replacing equipment at the right time, manage inventory more efficiently, and understand problems before they spread widely. Additionally, the partnership with all of you, our members, as we move toward becoming a distribution system operator (DSO) means we will be able to aggregate local generation in support of the market when it comes in April 2026.

We do have some additional challenges that must be addressed. The lack of transmission — which is exacerbated by local utilities trying to control the lines for their own benefit — is one of the critical issues we are attacking. Meeting the state’s 2030 emissions requirements is harder because of this situation, but I am confident in the great team at United Power and their ability to find a solution.

As always, please feel free to reach out with any comments or questions. It is my honor to serve as your President and CEO and to lead this team of amazing people.