Many members value the ability to pay their bill or make account inquiries in person by visiting United Power’s Brighton office — and that is not changing. What is changing is how cash payments are processed.

Beginning May 4, cash payments will no longer be accepted at the front counter. Instead, cash payments will only be accepted at payment kiosks, including the kiosk located at the Brighton office. If you prefer to pay with cash, please have your account number ready and plan to make your next payment at this payment kiosk or one of the other three kiosks located across the cooperative’s service territory. 

This change allows us to serve members more efficiently while continuing to offer other in-person services at the cooperative’s headquarters in Brighton. The kiosks are easy to use, secure, and designed to get you in and out quickly. Payment kiosks accept whole dollars only and do not provide change. Any amount remaining after payment of the balance due is applied as a credit to your account.

Kiosks can be found at United Power’s Brighton, Carbon Valley, and Coal Creek offices, and in the Bank of Colorado Operations Center in Fort Lupton. In addition to cash, payment kiosks also accept check and card payments. Find more information about kiosk location and hours, and other convenient payment options.

Electronic Balloting Now Open; Paper Ballots Mailed March 13

Brighton, CO – Balloting in United Power’s 2026 Director Election is open. Members of the cooperative have the option to cast their ballots electronically through their online account or via paper ballot, mailed to members on March 13. Electronic and mail ballots must be received by 11:59 a.m. on April 14. Members may also vote in person at the cooperative’s Annual Meeting on April 15, where votes will be cast using a streamlined digital voting system.

United Power encourages all members to cast their votes in the annual Director Election. Voting allows members to have a voice in their board representation and helps the cooperative better serve its members. Members may return their mail ballot via the postage-paid envelope included in the ballot packet, or they can log into their online account to cast an electronic ballot. Members voting online can access the ballot by clicking the “Vote Now” button.

This year, one seat is up for election in each of United Power’s four director districts, and six candidates are running for election. The director candidates are Phil Tiffany and Virginia A. “Ginny” Buczek (incumbent) in the North District; Vicki Erickson and Lisa Hough in the Central District; Steven Douglas (incumbent) in the South District; and Tamra K. Waltemath (incumbent) in the Mountain District. Candidate statements are available online. 

Proposed amendments to the cooperative’s Articles of Incorporation will also appear on the ballot for approval by the membership. These amendments will ensure the articles are clear, transparent, and consistent with current state laws and the co-op’s bylaws. Specifically, the proposed amendments remove duplicative and outdated language and add clarifying language where necessary. The proposed amendments can be viewed in full online.

Directors represent all members and are elected on an “at-large” basis to four-year terms. This means members may cast a vote for a director in each district and not just their own. Directors serve in geographic districts to ensure equitable representation of United Power’s member base in the cooperative’s governing body.

Director Election results will be announced at the 2026 Annual Meeting, held at the Riverdale Regional Park & Fairgrounds in Brighton on April 15. Registration for the meeting opens at 4:30 p.m. and balloting closes at the beginning of the official business meeting at 6:30 p.m. A livestream of the meeting will be hosted on the cooperative’s website at www.unitedpower.com/annual-meeting. 

About United Power

United Power is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative, delivering electricity to homes, farms, and businesses throughout Colorado’s northern front range. The cooperative is one of the fastest-growing electric co-ops in the nation, serving more than 117,000 meters. Its 900-square mile service territory extends from the mountains of Coal Creek and Golden Gate Canyon, along the I-25 corridor and Carbon Valley region, to the farmlands of Brighton, Hudson, and Keenesburg. For more information about United Power, visit www.unitedpower.com or follow the cooperative on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.

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The Roman poet Virgil famously wrote, “time flies, never to be recalled.” But I am not so sure. We can look back and see the road United Power has traveled, even before my arrival five years ago.

When I joined the cooperative in March of 2021, it was a very different time in many ways. Society was in the throes of a global pandemic and the economy was stalled due to uncertainty. And yet, the co-op was seeing some of the same conditions present today — continued growth in members and load, more variety in generation, more residential solar on homes, more electric vehicles on the roads, and the need for highly reliable electric service.

The need for electricity was never greater than when we were all working from home instead of the office. United Power, a summer peaking utility, hit a peak of 520 megawatts (MW) in 2021 and a winter peak just below 400 MW. Last July, we set a peak of 680 MW. Even a warm winter day can now exceed 420 MW. 

Our business model has also changed drastically. We had a single power supplier, and indirectly a single transmission provider, before our wholesale power supply contract exit in May 2024. Now we have 27 different power suppliers and three transmission providers. And critically, as required by Colorado law, we have dramatically reduced our carbon output with a blend of hydropower, renewable energy, battery storage, and natural gas.

The number of members we serve is increasing, too. We had not yet hit 100,000 meters when I joined the cooperative, but as of this January we now have more than 117,000. United Power is serving a variety of residential, commercial, and industrial members, as well as oil and gas sites, all of which are growing in number and load. We are looking forward to BNSF Railway and Bandimere Speedway moving into our territory and, like many cooperatives across the country, are preparing for the coming of data centers. We have also added millions of square feet of warehousing and other industrial infrastructure.

United Power is not growing in a vacuum. The rules under which we operate are changing. Discussions about bringing a regional transmission organization (RTO), commonly referred to as a market, to Colorado began in 2021. Now, this has become a reality. The cooperative will join the market in April. Participation in the RTO will not only help the 350,000 people we serve, but will also help nearly 2 million Coloradoans meet the state’s growing energy needs. It is critical that the legislation requiring all utilities to participate in the market by 2030 is enforced so that all residents receive the benefits. 

We have moved forward with creative and valuable technologies in the last five years, and we are acting on the vision outlined in Our Cooperative Roadmap, now on version 2.0. United Power is a leader in distributed battery storage and opened Mountain Peak Power, a new natural gas plant in Keenesburg, in a record 20 months. We added a new outage management system and are preparing to deploy a new distributed energy resource management system that is a key pillar to making our distribution system operator vision a reality.

These advances are built on a foundation the cooperative has established over its 87-year history of pioneering innovation and never being afraid to push the organization to new heights — advancing its supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system in the late 1980s, energizing the state’s first community solar project in 2009, becoming an early adopter of advanced meters in 2012, and connecting its first battery storage system in 2018.

The Power of Local is at the heart of our actions here at United Power as we localize power options, system controls, and work with our communities.

I am proud of the team I lead at United Power. They have made these accomplishments and many others possible with the support of your tremendous Board of Directors, that has not shied away from the challenge of positioning United Power for today and the future.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or comments.