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Open House Celebrated Co-op Surpassing 100,000 Meters in June
Brighton, CO – United Power joined a small group of elite cooperatives in June when it surpassed 100,000 meters served off its lines. It became just the second Colorado co-op, and 31st nationally, to cross the meter milestone. To commemorate the achievement, the co-op hosted an Open House Celebration for members at its Carbon Valley Service Center, located off the I-25 Frontage Road just west of Firestone and Frederick, on August 28.
Several hundred members attended the Open House Celebration, which featured a variety of family-friendly activities, educational opportunities and prize giveaways. It was the first in-person member event the cooperative has hosted since the pandemic began in March 2020. The come-and-go structure of the event enabled members to maintain social distancing by discouraging crowds and allowing attendees to walk through at their own leisure. Breakfast and refreshments were also provided as attendees made their way through the exhibits.
“It is important that we as a cooperative get back to our roots of engaging and interacting with our members,” said Mark A. Gabriel, United Power’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This was the perfect platform to showcase our newest facility and celebrate our historic meter accomplishment with our members while also accounting for their health and safety.”
United Power packed its garage with interactive exhibits to give members a hands-on experience with everything from electrical safety to electric vehicle ownership. The cooperative’s well-known safety demonstration team kicked things off near the event entrance before a series of large equipment and bucket trucks funneled attendees toward an EV demonstration at the garage’s northeast doors. Northern Colorado Clean Cities provided several EVs available for short test drives with attendees. Outside, attendees were offered a brief informational presentation about the cooperative’s battery storage facility followed by a tour. Originally energized in 2019, the battery storage facility remains the largest in Colorado.
Inside the Carbon Valley Service Center, the community room was transformed into a series of educational booths where attendees could enter to win prizes, learn more about member-exclusive programs and engage with United Power experts on things like energy efficiency. Attendees could also present questions and win prizes from the cooperative’s board of directors.
“We are so excited and thankful to be able to celebrate 100,000 meters with our members in person,” said Ursula Morgan, United Power’s Board Chairman. “After more than a year away, we could not have been happier to see and interact with them again, especially for such a big occasion. Without our members, there is no cooperative. There is no United Power.”
United Power members who attended the event were eligible to win one of ten $100 bill credit prizes, announced following the event’s conclusion. Members also donated canned and packaged food for to the Carbon Valley Help Center, which provides food and clothing to those in need in and around the Carbon Valley area.
Earlier this summer, United Power honored its 100,000 meter family, John and Hailey Takacs and their son Drake, at their new home in Commerce City’s fast-growing Reunion community. Cooperative board members and cooperative leadership, along with Commerce City Mayor Ben Huseman and Tri Pointe homes representative Mariel Schlander, presented the Takacs’ with a prize package containing home essentials, such as a variety of tools and home equipment, including an electric lawn mower.
“We are adding meters at an unprecedented rate,” Gabriel said. “But more importantly, we are adding members. Each new meter represents a new family on our lines or a new business helping shape the economy of the communities we serve. Our members make us stronger, and they make our communities stronger. As your cooperative, it is our privilege to be able to serve each one of our members.”
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 cooperatives in the nation, and in June joined the elite ranks of cooperatives serving more than 100,000 meters. The 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 the cooperative, visit www.unitedpower.com or follow them on social media Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.
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