United Power Journeyman Lineman, Kelly Snow, is among seven volunteer linemen selected by the Colorado Rural Electric Association to support a program to help electrify remote communities in northwestern Guatemala this fall.

The Colorado crew will join eight linemen from co-ops in Oklahoma on a joint project coordinated through the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s philanthropic NRECA International Foundation.

“We’re very excited about this inaugural CREA-sponsored project in Guatemala,” said CREA Executive Director Kent Singer. “Our group includes outstanding co-op linemen, who will volunteer their time and expertise to bring much needed electricity to people and communities who have never experienced it before.”

The volunteers will build power lines in the village of Pie del Cerro and, potentially, in neighboring Tierra Blanca Salinas. Both communities are located far from larger population areas near a rain forest in the Ixcan region, close to the Mexican border. Collectively, the communities have about 100 households, five churches, two elementary schools and two health centers — all without access to reliable and affordable electricity. The local residents live in small one or two room homes without running water, refrigeration or the use of electronic appliances for household chores or business services. Farming is the local industry; they produce corn, beans cardamom seeds, cocoa and vegetables.

A local utility, Empresa Municipal Rural de Electricidad (EMRE), based in Playa Grande, Ixcan, will maintain the power lines once they are built. The project will consist of 130 poles and two transformers on 4.34 miles of primary line and 3.86 miles of secondary line. Most of the terrain will be flat, but about 1 mile of line will be built through dense rain forest growth. Each home will receive at least two light bulbs and two electrical outlets.

“We’re proud to have Kelly representing United Power on this very worthy project,” said Bryant Robbins, Chief Operations Officer. “Electrifying rural communities is the foundation that electric cooperatives were formed, and it’s part of our ongoing commitment to communities around the world.”

A selection committee consisting of CREA staff members and two board members from CREA’s Colorado Electric Educational Institute interviewed applicants and selected six co-op linemen and two alternates for the trip. The seventh spot will be filled by CREA Director of Safety and Loss Control Dale Kishbaugh.

“Thanks to all of the linemen who were interested in participating in this trip,” Singer said. “It is great to see how many of our co-op family were willing to leave their homes for an extended period for such a grueling trip to help others in another country. This project will bring economic possibilities to these villages, as well as better access to education and enhanced safety and lifestyles.”

Volunteers selected for the project include: Christian Baker, Holy Cross Energy, Glenwood Springs,Springs; Kris Barbee, Southeast Colorado Power Association, La Junta; Ben Ludington, Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association, Fort Collins; Kelly Snow, United Power, Brighton; Chet Stickler, Holy Cross, Glenwood Springs; and Nate Towne, Mountain Parks Electric, Granby.

Alternates are Chris Stanworth, White River Electric; and Baker McKonly, La Plata Electric Association, Durango.

CREA is the statewide trade association for Colorado’s 22 electric cooperatives and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.

United Power members will soon share territory with one of Colorado’s most beloved invertebrates. Butterfly Pavilion, home to Rosie the tarantula, recently announced its plans to construct a new facility in Broomfield, just off Interstate 25 and Highway 7. The new facility will house a world-class research lab to serve as the hub for invertebrate knowledge, conservation, inspiration and connection. 

As the hub for invertebrate research, the new facility will offer an opportunity for new discoveries to reach the public more quickly and help contribute to the conservation of pollinators. 

“Butterfly Pavilion is launching this expansion to confront and solve global challenges in environmental conservation today and in the future,” said President and CEO Patrick Tennyson in a press release.

Butterfly Pavilion’s new facility will anchor Broomfield’s larger 900-acre science district in the Baseline neighborhood, which will include a linear park, a K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) school, and a “pollinator district,” with pollinator-friendly parks and open spaces. 

The new facility expects to open in 2021. In the meantime, Butterfly Pavilion will continue operating at its current location. 

In anticipation of this exciting move, United Power has partnered with Butterfly Pavilion to offer its members an exclusive opportunity to visit the current facility in Westminster at a discounted rate. Bring the coupon below in May, August or September between Monday and Thursday to receive $2 off general admission for guests of any age. 

Butterfly Pavilion was founded in 1995 as the first stand-alone, nonprofit invertebrate zoo in the nation. Its mission is to foster an appreciation of invertebrates by educating the public about the need to protect and care for threatened habitats globally, while conducting research for solutions in invertebrate conservation. 
 

United Power recently asked elementary students in its service territory to help demonstrate electrical safety in its annual Electrical Safety Poster Contest. Kids in grades kindergarten through fifth submitted creative and educational posters designed to teach family and friends how to stay safe around electricity. United Power will place winning poster designs on bus benches during the month of May, which is recognized as National Electrical Safety Month.

Employees at the member-owned cooperative voted to select the following winners from each grade for the 2018 Electrical Safety Poster Contest: Zariah McPherson from Reunion Elementary, Joey Seymour from Platteville Elementary, Maddilyn Griffis from Bromley East Charter School, Sofie Archer from Landmark Academy, Troy Wymer from Hoff Elementary, and Kaydence States from Bromley East Charter School.

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to all the students who entered their creative safety messages. Look for winning safety posters to appear through the cooperative service territory for the month of May.

United Power is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative serving more than 83,000 homes and busineses along Colorado’s northern front range. To learn more about United Power, visit www.unitedpower.com or follow the cooperative at Facebook.com/UnitedPower.

When darkness befalls a city, superheroes lace up their boots, throw on their capes and race into danger without a moment’s hesitation. Everyone knows the classic Spider-Man quote, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Every day heroes may not wear capes and fly around the city, but they know when the going gets tough, it’s time for them to get going. 

The Denver area is synonymous with winter storms, and when the metro last experienced the most trying pitfalls of living at the base of the Rocky Mountains in October 2009, United Power linemen were prepped and ready to go as snow blanketed the metro area. Schools and businesses took preemptive action, closing before the storm hit. By the time the last snowflake nestled in with its brethren, snow had been falling for more than 24 hours. 

While area youth enjoyed a day away from the classroom, a different picture unfolded in the Front Range. Coal Creek Canyon, a community within United Power’s mountain service area, had accumulated nearly four feet of snow. 

To put that number into perspective, Chicago’s average annual snowfall is around three feet.  

Calm winds allowed the snow to gingerly build on tree branches, poles, yard ornaments and fences, bringing with it a massive burden. Each new snowflake resting precariously on unsuspecting surfaces brought weight inching toward disaster, like the dastardly plan of a supervillain. Before the storm faded, thousands of Coal Creek residents were without power as tree branches, cross arms and power lines succumbed to the weight of the snow. 

Within moments of the outage, United Power had begun mobilizing crews to diagnose the situation and restore power. Operations Superintendent Mike Lanckriet, a lineman of 32 years, and his crew were among the first to respond. 

“We took careful steps to monitor the storm as it moved into our territory, but we never expected the amount of snow we got,” Lanckriet said. “At times the snow was deeper than our linemen were tall. But we didn’t think of it in terms of challenges. When we arrived, our first focus was what needed to be done to get the power back on.”

United Power linemen wouldn’t let the enormity of the task ahead deter them from accomplishing their goal. They laced up their boots, threw on their tools and raced headfirst into our worst winter storm in more than 12 years.

Crews spent nearly a week battling dense snow, bitter cold and physical and mental fatigue while alternating 14 hour shifts to restore power to Coal Creek. Final repairs, however, took more than two weeks to complete. 

“You try to be as prepared as possible before a large storm, but there’s always a level of unpredictability,” said Kurt Eisenbarth, another United Power superintendent and former lineman. “It takes a different mentality to thrive on that in the most critical situations.”

Living along the Front Range means each winter brings the possibility of another debilitating winter storm, but in reality critical situations come few and far between. Most of the time, linemen are working when the weather’s calm and the sun is shining. It’s easy to forget the service they provide when the situation isn’t seen as “critical,” easy to divorce their role from the danger linemen face each day. 

“It doesn’t take lightning or snow for our job to be dangerous,” said Operations Manager Brent Sydow. “The most routine task requires a high level of care and safety.”

Being a lineman requires hard work, dedication and commitment – to their crew and their work – to doing dangerous work, knowing the fruits of their labor are often misunderstood or unrecognized. 

Residents in a comic book rest easy knowing a superhero is there to save the day when danger rears its head, much like we confidently trust in the unimpeded flow of electricity to power our lives. But when the power fails, our linemen spring into action. 

We invite our members to join us in celebrating National Lineman Appreciation Day on April 18th. Use #ThankALineman on social media to show your support, or take a moment to drop a kind note in the mail. 

Outages can come without warning, from a variety of different situations, but one thing you can count on: when the power goes out, a United Power line crew is already on its way. 

“When the power goes out, it’s about a brotherhood coming together to accomplish a goal, working shoulder to shoulder through blood, sweat and tears,” Eisenbarth said. “At night, they get to be the superheroes.”