United Power is joining 30,000 cooperatives nationwide in October to celebrate National Co-op Month, which recognizes the many ways cooperatives are committed to strengthening the local communities they serve. “Co-ops Commit” is the theme for this year’s celebration, spotlighting the countless ways cooperatives meet the needs of their members and communities.

“Our cooperative delivers electricity to over 200,000 people in our six-county service area along the north central range of the Colorado Rockies,” said John Parker, CEO. “Delivering safe, reliable, affordable power is our top priority, but we are also invested in our communities because we are locally owned and operated. Revenue generated by United Power goes back to Main Street, not Wall Street.”

Rural America is served by a network of about 1,000 electric cooperatives, most of which were formed in the 1930s and 40s to bring electricity to farms and rural communities that large, investor-owned power companies had no interest in serving because of the higher costs involved in serving low-population and low-density areas. In addition to providing the vital power co-op members depend on, United Power supports our communities directly and indirectly. We provide educational opportunities for youth in our territory, visiting classrooms teaching students about electrical safety or talking to them about job opportunities.

We also educate our communities and members about the dangers of contact with electricity through our safety demonstration trailer. Not only does our presentation team, made up of knowledgeable linemen, teach people how to be safe around electricity, but they also inform people about the complex and dangerous tasks our linemen face each day and explain the importance of safety equipment, including personal protective equipment, rubber gloves, hard hats and cover ups.

United Power provides college scholarships and sponsors student representatives to youth camps in Colorado and Washington D.C. We are sponsors of dozens of community events including fairs, festivals and school fundraisers. United Power employees are active members of local Chambers of Commerce, Economic Development Councils and nonprofit organizations serving our membership.

United Power is proud to be part of America’s cooperative network and we are dedicated to bringing safe, reliable electricity to our members.

2017 Capital Credit Retirement to Distribute $5 Million

The United Power board approved a retirement this year of $5 million dollars, and that means that every member will get to share in the cooperative’s continuing good financial health. As the 11th consecutive year United Power has retired capital credits to its members, this $5 million dollar amount continues the commitment to sharing the performance of the cooperative with its members.

United Power, as a cooperative, is a not-for-profit operation. This means the co-op doesn’t work to earn margins for shareholders, but works for the members. Every year the United Power Board of Directors assesses the cooperative’s financial condition, and determines if and how much the cooperative can afford to return to the members.

Capital credits are based on two factors: how much electricity members use, and how long members have been a cooperative member. Essentially, the more power a member uses and the longer the member is part of the cooperative, the larger the share of each capital retirement. Each capital credit account represents a member’s investment into the cooperative, and those investment dollars are used over time to make capital improvements to the electric system.

“Capital credits illustrate one of the ways that cooperatives are very different from other utilities,” said John Parker, Interim CEO. “Our goal is to provide reliable electricity at economical rates, and with our members providing the support for our growing system we can meet the need for new service and keep rates economical. Every time a member receives a capital credit retirement from the cooperative, they receive a tangible benefit from their membership.”

Anyone who had service in 2016 or earlier will receive either a check or a bill credit as part of this year’s capital credit retirement. Any member who has a retirement of $10 or more will receive a check and anyone under that amount will receive a credit on their bill in August or September.

“We will be issuing more than 79,000 checks to our members this year, and many of those checks will be substantial,” Parker said. “Consider some of our largest users like local businesses, school districts, municipalities and farms and you can understand the impact United Power’s cooperative model has on the communities we serve. Large checks to a school district or for town facilities can really help with operational costs.”

Capital credit retirements have returned a steady stream of money back to members in recent years. In the past 11 years, United Power has retired $41 million in capital credits to our members.

To learn more about Capital Credits visit our Capital Credits page,  or call a Member Services Representative at 303-637-1300.

More Hours to Serve You!
United Power’s Brighton and Ft. Lupton offices will offer expanded hours beginning on May 1st. Both offices will now be open from 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Monday–Friday to serve walk-in members with account changes and in-person payments. United Power’s Brighton office is located at 500 Cooperative Way along the I-76 frontage road in Brighton, and the Ft. Lupton office is located at 1200 Dexter Street in the Safeway shopping center in Ft. Lupton. United Power’s Coal Creek office hours will stay the same, offering walk-in services and payments from 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday–Friday and we will continue to offer 24 hour dispatch for outages and emergencies.

Walk-in payment locations are one of many convenient options for United Power members to make a payment and access account information. Members can pay 24 hours per day over the phone and online through SmartHub. In addition, United Power members can also make cash payments at any MoneyGram location. Check out all of our payment and billing options here.