We are finally nearing the end of the beginning — United Power’s journey toward operating as an independent cooperative, focusing on the growing needs of our members.

This journey began many years ago when it became apparent our power supplier was not keeping up with the times and our members were paying a disproportionately large part of the power supplier’s overhead. Additionally, we were being throttled by a rule limiting the freedom our members had to increase their share of power supply alternatives. Despite United Power’s numerous attempts to resolve these issues outside of the legal arenas, the courts and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ultimately proved the place for our relief. The freedom to make decisions based on what is best for United Power members is at the heart of this years-long effort. 

A few short months before United Power officially celebrates its 85th anniversary, the cooperative will embark on the beginning of operations that take advantage of the variety of available power suppliers while also engaging members who want a more active role in their power decisions. The benefit over time will be lower costs and reduced carbon emissions, as dictated by state and federal regulations. 

United Power continues to see significant growth in all sectors — residential, commercial, and industrial. We have many new businesses moving into our great communities, including high-tech battery and solar panel manufacturing, data centers, and a railroad logistics center and intermodal shipping facility. In addition, we are working cooperatively with our oil and gas members to help them electrify their operations. 

Our future includes new wholesale power contracts that will stabilize costs and immediately reduce our carbon footprint, the utilization of localized battery arrays to control peak power periods, an increasing number of distributed energy resource projects with member partners, and the movement to become a distribution system operator — all while remaining responsive and nimble.

As part of this new beginning, we are buying back our substations, land, and other equipment to ensure local control and decision making. The tremendous engineers and planners at United Power will be better able to plan for growth to support our members when they need it rather than having to wait for a third party to make those planning decisions. Our power supply team has secured sufficient capacity to meet immediate needs with longer term contracts reflecting even lower costs.

The investments made by United Power — and strongly encouraged by the Board of Directors — have made us one of the top-performing utilities of any type in the country. This is reflected in engineering measurements as well as member satisfaction. United Power’s outage rate, for example, is in the top quartile in the entire nation. Local control will allow continued focus on making the right infrastructure investments at the right time.

“Here for Good” is our 85th anniversary message, reflecting our commitment to the communities we serve. We will maintain our commitment to supporting members and meeting the growing needs for electrification. Our members are making investments every day at the edge of the grid, and United Power will be there to ensure the system is strong, robust, and reliable.

Every day the women and men of United Power work to follow the plan laid out in Our Cooperative Roadmap. We always remember our efforts are there to support our members. This new beginning shows we are here for good.

As always, please feel free to reach out with your questions, comments, or concerns. I enjoy hearing from our members and commit to responding personally. Thank you for your continued support.
 

United Power is committed to providing members with tools and resources to take control of their energy use. This new year it is easier to become more energy efficient. 

Rates that Work for You

Changes in work life over the past few years have made many members more aware of the ways they use energy. Now is a good time to review your rate options and choose one that works for you and your family. United Power’s residential rates are designed to fit a variety of lifestyles and enable members to select a rate that fits their usage patterns. 

For more information about United Power’s rates, visit our Residential Rates page, or to have a member services representative review your history and recommend a rate option, call 303-637-1300.

Free Member Resources

United Power’s website and online account portal are rich resources to help members understand and manage their energy usage. Through the online account portal, available on the web or via the United Power mobile app, members can see detailed energy data and historical comparisons. Learn more here.

The cooperative also has an online calculator to help members understand what drives their demand. More tools and resources are available for members on our My Energy page.

‘Smart’ Way to Save on Heating & Cooling

Heating and cooling accounts for approximately half your annual energy usage on average, making it the most expensive part of your energy costs. The most efficient way to manage your heating and cooling is installing a smart thermostat, which gives you control even when you are not home. A simple adjustment to your thermostat could save you as much as 10% annually, according to the Department of Energy, which recommends adjusting your temperature a couple degrees when you are home and a couple more when you are away. Many smart thermostats can learn your schedule and make these adjustments automatically. 

Click here to learn more about United Power’s Smart Rewards program and smart thermostat rebates.

Talk to an Energy Management Specialist

A United Power energy management specialist is available to walk through your energy concerns, analyze your usage, and provide you with practical information you can use to control your energy usage. They can walk you through available rates, programs, and rebates to ensure you are maximizing your energy usage. 

Schedule an Assessment

Along with the honor of operating an electric cooperative on behalf of you, our members, comes the accountability of being prepared for the changing future in energy. Two recent, recurrent themes have emerged that emphasize the need for United Power to work diligently to make Our Cooperative Roadmap a reality.

The first is the need to continue investing in the grid, and the second is an ongoing concern that the need for capacity — the backbone of reliable power — is getting perilously close to a crisis. Both issues tend to focus on the problem. United Power is actively seeking solutions.

There has been a lot of talk recently about investing significant financial resources in the grid. The Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law include funding to target large-scale projects over the next decade. These investments are needed and welcomed, but the completion estimates are measured in years or even decades. Meeting the needs of a growing enterprise like United Power is at least four to five years away, even with aggressive siting and execution.

People tend to think of the grid as the large power lines that deliver electricity from power plants miles away. Much of the energy transition challenge is that a lot of low or non-carbon generation is located far from population centers. Coupled with permitting challenges, supply chain constraints, and a confusing financing model, large-scale projects just take time.

But the grid also includes distribution systems, operated by utilities like United Power. It is the main conduit to our members and requires as much — or more — investment as its larger cousins. Your Board of Directors has continuously supported budgets to upgrade and expand critical infrastructure, and these investments have paid off. United Power has one of the best distribution networks in the country, evidenced by high reliability numbers, rapid outage response, and data-driven system management.

A robust distribution grid is also critical to the second issue — the potential for seasonal power shortages.

The North American Reliability Corporation (NERC), responsible for assessing and enforcing reliability standards, recently found the country is at an elevated risk of having insufficient energy supplies to meet demand in extreme conditions. The reasons for this potential shortfall range from coal and nuclear plant closures and an expanded reliance on natural gas to the increased electrification of everything. 

“Extreme cold weather events can cause electricity demand to deviate significantly from historical forecasts. Electricity demand in winter is closely tied to outside temperature. As electric heat pumps and heating systems become more prevalent, their combined effect on system demand is even more pronounced,” NERC stated.

The industry has tried to slow the energy transition and continue operating money-losing coal plants instead of proposing solutions. And, importantly, there are solutions. This is where United Power’s strategy of hyper-localizing generation and storage comes into play. 

As we prepare for our upcoming power supply transition, United Power is adding significant amounts of battery storage, spread across our system. We are locating natural gas peaking units tied in to the distribution — versus transmission — networks and contracting with power supplies closer to the communities we serve. This reduces line losses, improves reliability, and keeps tax dollars local. We will couple this with efficiency programs, support any members who want to generate part of their own power through solar, and expand demand response options now that we will have a realistic peak window. 

Of course, we will continue to get power from generation plants and support efforts to build out the transmission grid as it will continue to have a role in a modern electric enterprise. But, we will focus on what we can do locally.

As always, please feel free to reach out with your questions, comments, or concerns. United Power welcomes the opportunity to meet with your community groups and discuss the cooperative’s response to the changing industry.