As your cooperative, we want to provide you with the most useful information and applicable resources to help you save on bills. To help you make more informed decisions, we tackle some common energy efficiency myths in this column.

Reducing Energy Use is Too Expensive

A common and enduring myth about energy efficiency is cost. The stigma associated with it assumes it’s too expensive and not worth it. While costly energy efficiency upgrades are possible, many immediate steps you can take are simple behavioral and habitual changes. These include turning off lights in unused rooms, unplugging or shutting down unused electronics, closing doors to empty rooms while heating/cooling systems are running, limiting use of vents in the kitchen or bathroom and remembering to close your curtains in the summer – and conversely open them in the winter – to keep sunlight from affecting the temperature inside your home.

Setting Thermostat Higher Heats Home Faster

No matter what temperature you set your thermostat, your furnace will work equally as hard and fast to meet that goal. The only difference achieved by setting the temperature to a higher degree is that the system will work for a longer period of time, therefore using more energy. The same applies to air conditioners when set to a lower temperature than necessary. Although blasting your heater or air conditioning does not heat or cool your home more quickly, adjusting your thermostat up or down a few degrees, depending on the season, can help you save energy.

Closing Vents in Unused Rooms Saves Energy

Shutting vents in empty or unused rooms may seem logical to save energy. Heating or cooling an empty space does appear to waste energy. However, your system cannot detect closed vents and will continue trying to push air to them. When the air cannot escape, it reverses and can cause damage to your system. Instead of closing vents, practice closing doors to rooms that are not in use. When doors are open, it allows the hot or cold air from inside the room to escape and the air from outside the room to enter, which can force your system to work harder to maintain thermostat settings. Closed doors prevent air from entering or exiting so the system can properly heat or cool the room and maintain it more easily.

Using energy more efficiently isn’t as difficult as you may believe. Small behavioral changes make a big difference. To review more ways to save, check out our website at www.unitedpower.com/energy-tips or contact an Energy Management Specialist at 303-637-1300.

How to Monitor Your Energy Usage

United Power members looking for ways to use energy more efficiently this year and save on their energy bills can utilize free resources available exclusively to the cooperative’s members.

View Usage With Power Portal

Power Portal was launched as an ancillary feature of the cooperative’s online account tool for members to view advanced data on their energy use over the course of days, weeks, months and more. The software breaks your energy usage down into 15-minute segments to provide you with a detailed picture of what activities or habits are controlling your energy usage. Members can even use the tool to evaluate on- and off-peak energy usage.

Armed with the ability to diagnose behaviors that lead to excess energy usage, members can begin taking real steps toward using energy more efficiently. Members can even use this tool to gauge the effectiveness of energy efficient updates to their home.

For more information, go to the Power Portal page. 

Demand Calculator

Adding or upgrading an appliance in your home? United Power recently debuted its new demand calculator, which allows members to toggle different appliances on and off to see what demand they could require in your home. To use the calculator or learn more about the demand rate, go to the Understanding Demand page.

United Power Consistently, Significantly Better than National Average

United Power understands the most important thing its members want is consistently reliable power. Being able to deliver uninterrupted power is prominently weighed in how the cooperative defines success each year. Since altering its maintenance practices a few years ago, United Power’s reliability has significantly improved, as have its outage numbers. Already an industry leader in automated field devices and other innovative projects, the cooperative is also trending well below the national average in utility outage times, setting yet another standard for others to emulate.

The national average for outage duration among electric utilities in the United States has consistently hovered around 120 minutes per meter. This means the average electric consumer can expect to experience approximately two hours of outage time at their home over the course of a year. When United Power’s operations team instituted a new data-driven maintenance plan in 2017, its average outage times resembled the national averages. In the four years following the plan’s launch, the cooperative’s outage times per meter have dropped below 70 minutes.

The new maintenance practice focuses on analyzing data collected across thousands of miles of line to isolate the worst performing segments. With these segments identified, targeted maintenance projects can be scheduled to improve their performance.

“When you target maintenance efforts at the worst performing parts of the system it improves reliability for members served off of it,” said Bryant Robbins, United Power’s Chief Operating Officer. “Maintenance is an ongoing process, but as long as we continue analyzing the data, isolating problem sections and targeting our maintenance efforts to improve them, it improves the whole system’s reliability and resilience.”

Devices on the system, such as enhanced technology in substations and advanced metering equipment, collect data and transfer it back to system operators. In the event of an outage, these devices can capture important information, such as time, location and sequence-of-events. Armed with this, lineworkers in the field can use the information to restore power to members more quickly, which also contributes to decreased outage times. Without this information, not only would identifying problematic areas be difficult, or even impossible, it would also create additional delays in power restoration as lineworkers inspect miles of line to find the cause.

Some system improvements have served dual functions. United Power recently published its comprehensive fire mitigation plan, which includes new standards and program initiatives primarily focused on areas of the territory that are particularly at risk of wildfires, such as Coal Creek and Golden Gate Canyons. In December, storms blew through the territory with wind speeds in excess of 115 mph, including the storm that ultimately fueled the Marshall Fire. The cooperative activated its fire mitigation protocols during these windstorms, and due to proactive upgrades only experienced a few small outages.

“Our maintenance and system improvement efforts are already paying off for our members,” said Robbins. “Implementing this new maintenance plan has been effective and is proving its value. It’s hard to estimate how many outages you’ve prevented when you don’t have them, but our proactive efforts have gone a long way in helping prevent and/or quickly resolving outages.”

Regardless of the size or length of outage, United Power is continually investigating what causes them and how it can implement new practices to decrease their impact to members and duration. From system redundancies allowing the cooperative to restore power from a secondary location while repairs are being made to deploying an industry-leading number of automated devices, improving system reliability is one of United Power’s core goals.

UNITED POWER, INC.

OFFICIAL POSTING OF NOMINATIONS
FOR DIRECTOR BY PETITION

The following persons have been nominated by petition to run for Director of United Power, Inc., in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of Members scheduled April 13, 2022. Districts East, South and West are up for three-year terms. 2022 Director Candidates are as follows:

District E (East)

Steven "Steve" Douglas
Naptali A. Lucks
Elizabeth "Beth" A. Martin

District S (South)

Keith Alquist

District W (West)

Ursula J. Morgan

This notice is posted pursuant to Section 4.06 of the Bylaws of United Power, Inc.

Posted: 2-11-2022
Cooperative Website
Brighton Headquarters
Carbon Valley Service Center
Coal Creek Office

Learn more about the 2022 Annual Meeting & Director Election here:

Annual Meeting

Disclaimer Date: 4/25/2022
In compliance with a recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruling, United Power will file an unconditional, binding notice to leave our power supplier in the next few months. This will change our previously announced exit date of Jan. 1, 2024. In the same ruling, FERC reaffirmed that a two-year notice period was appropriate. Once determined, the final exit date will be communicated to our members.

100,000 Meter Milestone, Wholesale Power Announcement Highlight 2021

Year after year, United Power works toward an unmatched excellence in the level of service it provides for its members, the support it demonstrates in its communities and its exceedingly high standard for delivering continuously reliable power. Endless unpredictability over the past two years, caused by the ongoing pandemic and unproductive negotiations with its wholesale power supplier, has not inhibited the cooperative from pursuing these goals. Instead, its leadership has elevated its expectations, building on all United Power has accomplished over the past year.

Crossing A Meter Milestone

United Power experienced record levels of growth throughout its service territory in 2021, resulting in it surging past a significant meter milestone this past summer. The cooperative energized its 100,000th meter connection in Commerce City’s fast-growing Reunion community in June, becoming just the second Colorado cooperative – and 31st nationwide – to surpass the meter milestone and highlighting a period of sustained growth for the cooperative that failed to slow even during the pandemic. It joins CORE Electric Cooperative, formerly Intermountain REA, as the only other cooperative serving more than 100,000 meters in Colorado.

Leadership Shift at the Top

The cooperative welcomed Mark A. Gabriel as its new President and Chief Executive Officer in March after a months-long nationwide search. A 25-year veteran in the electric utility business, Gabriel transitioned immediately to lead ongoing contract negotiations with Tri-State and to help position United Power for future success as a cooperative and industry leader in the changing energy landscape. Prior to joining United Power, Gabriel served eight years as CEO of the Western Area Power Administration.

“I am extremely honored to have been selected to lead such an amazing organization as we approach a transformational time in the electricity business,” Gabriel said. “United Power is uniquely positioned to be engaged in the decarbonization of the grid and to take advantage of the introduction of new technologies as we move to a cleaner energy future.”

Reunited & Ready

United Power was able to resume normal activities this past summer after more than a year of altering its practices for the health and safety of members and employees. The Brighton office location was opened to members again in June. While office locations were closed, the cooperative also installed several payment kiosks around its service territory to allow members to continue accessing convenient payment centers.

A gradual return to normal activities also meant the return of community functions and events. From summer fairs and festivals to holiday parades, United Power was a pivotal partner in helping make many of them possible. The cooperative is a proud sponsor of community events throughout its service territory.

Supporting Members & Causes They Care About

Cooperative leadership approved a support fund to provide relief to members struggling with the pandemic in 2020 called the Co-op Cares Fund. As pandemic concerns continued for many United Power members, the Board allocated another $250,000 to the fund for 2021. Throughout the year, approximately $212,000 in assistance was applied to 1,300 member accounts through Co-op Cares.

United Power also renewed its Member Choice Grant program in 2021. These grants allowed members to nominate local nonprofits to receive funds from the cooperative, ensuring our continued support for causes you care about. Six $1,000 grants were distributed to nonprofit organizations that received nominations from members throughout the year.

No Rate Increase for 2022

Rates are the single greatest concern for United Power members. Proactive efforts to reduce spending and control costs as a direct result of the pandemic allowed the cooperative to avoid a rate increase for members in 2021. Continued cost-control measures, coupled with significant meter and load growth throughout the service territory this past year, allowed United Power to announce in December there would be no residential or business rate increases for the second consecutive year in 2022. The lack of a rate increase should provide a little relief to members who continue to feel the effects of the ongoing pandemic.

Intent to Leave Wholesale Power Supplier

United Power’s ongoing negotiations with its wholesale power supplier reached a defining point at the end of 2021. After more than three years of unsuccessful attempts to modify its all-requirements contract, the cooperative officially filed its intent to leave, effective January 1, 2024. As a member of the wholesale power supplier, United Power was saddled with some of the highest cost, carbon-intensive power in Colorado. The cooperative pursued contract alterations that would allow it to lower costs and expand member options, which its wholesale supplier was unresponsive to. Exiting the contract will allow United Power to deploy more renewable resources on its grid or source more renewable options from new suppliers and provide more competitive rates for its members.

United Power President and Chief Executive Officer, Mark A. Gabriel, recently joined co-op CEOs Brian Heithoff, of Trico Electric Cooperative, and Eric Hobbie of Prairie Power, Inc. in a panel discussion about electric cooperatives’ role as Distribution System Operators (DSO) at the NRECA CEO Close-Up Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. The conference is attended by hundreds of cooperative CEOs and General Managers and held annually to provide CEOs with insight into industry trends and best practices for managing key challenges. 

A growing number of electric cooperatives, including United Power, are moving toward a DSO model, which allows the utility to enhance its relationships with members, provide added services and proactively manage the grid with automation and smart technology. At United Power, continued projected growth and an opportunity to purchase cleaner and more affordable power from a variety of resources combined with the desire for more member-owned and locally generated renewable energy puts the cooperative in a position to take a more integrated and dynamic approach to delivering electricity.

“The energy landscape is undergoing a dramatic shift and the relationship that cooperatives like United Power already have with their member communities has us primed to lead this energy transition,” said Mark A. Gabriel, United Power President & CEO. “A locally-owned cooperative is nimble, innovative and responsive—and is exactly how utilities will need to operate in order to manage a resilient distribution system, efficiently integrate local micro-grids and facilitate the local exchange of energy.”

Gabriel discussed United Power’s 10 Year Working Plan and the strategic considerations the cooperative is undertaking as they move toward a DSO model. The working plan was developed by key staff at the cooperative and it serves as a comprehensive guide to align the board, employees, and members through this dramatic operational shift. By leveraging new technology, expansive energy resources, and updated operations, and new technology, United Power is actively advancing the local distribution system to adapt to the new ways it will provide value and reliable power for members.

“The 10 Year Plan is our playbook outlining the allocation of people, resources, and leadership attention as we drive toward an increasingly dynamic, sustainable, and complex energy future,” said Gabriel. “While we are working to deliver reliable power today, we are planning for the utility of tomorrow. We have started the conversations with our board and our members about what the future of energy will look like and the opportunities that lie ahead.”

Slidedeck from 2022 CEO Close-Up by Mark A. Gabriel