Title
How to Use New Payment Kiosks
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/Dec2019_NL_Kiosk.jpg?h=45932144&itok=jg74aqOV
Tuesday | December 10, 2019
Card Teaser
United Power has placed payment kiosks at two office locations this year.
United Power has payment kiosks at our Brighton, Coal Creek and Carbon Valley office locations. These easy-to-use and hassle-free kiosks accept cash, credit card or check payments. Cash and credit card payments made using a kiosk are applied to your account immediately, and accounts subject to disconnection are restored immediately upon payment.
To make a payment at one of these kiosks, bring your United Power account number and a form of payment.
Set Up Your Fast Pass for Quick Access
To make your transactions faster, there is an option to set up a “Fast Pass,” which will be prompted once you complete a successful transaction. You’ll create a 4-digit PIN and receive a printed barcode.
The next time you visit a United Power payment kiosk, select “Fast Pass” and quickly find your account with the barcode/PIN or the phone number you used when setting up your Fast Pass.
Please be careful to enter the correct phone and account numbers when making a payment because your Fast Pass will reflect these numbers exactly as you input them.
Title
Industry Standard in System Reliability
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/Nov2021_NL_SystemReliability.jpg?h=45932144&itok=twbW3RYA
Monday | February 14, 2022
Card Teaser
Since altering its maintenance practices a few years ago, United Power’s reliability has significantly improved, as have its outage numbers.
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.
Title
Is Your Contact Info Up to Date?
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/Jan2020_NL_ContactInfo.jpg?itok=RMmrwr-P
Thursday | January 16, 2020
Card Teaser
Check your information to make sure you're getting important updates from your co-op.
United Power has been using recorded phone messages to let members know when a preplanned outage has been scheduled in their area for maintenance work. As new software becomes available, the cooperative may have more options to send important communications to members electronically.
Electronic communications are tied to individual member accounts and use the phone numbers and/or email addresses the cooperative has on record. If the contact information on record isn’t up-to-date or is entered incorrectly, you may be missing out on important notifications from United Power.
You can check your contact information and make necessary updates using the free online payment portal, SmartHub. To set up an online account, go to www.unitedpower.com and click on Online Account Services under My Account. Contact information can also be updated by calling the Member Services Team at 303-637-1300.
Title
It Pays to Be a Member – Capital Credit Refunds Issued to Members in August
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/2017_07_17_PaysToBeMember.jpg?itok=psAlv8eY
Monday | July 17, 2017
Card Teaser
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.
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.
Title
January Message from Mark A. Gabriel
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/CEO_Message.jpg?h=45932144&itok=pNegmSzP
Tuesday | January 2, 2024
Card Teaser
A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer.
Along with the honor of operating an electric cooperative on behalf of you, our members, comes the accountability of being prepared for the changing future in energy. Two recent, recurrent themes have emerged that emphasize the need for United Power to work diligently to make Our Cooperative Roadmap a reality.
The first is the need to continue investing in the grid, and the second is an ongoing concern that the need for capacity — the backbone of reliable power — is getting perilously close to a crisis. Both issues tend to focus on the problem. United Power is actively seeking solutions.
There has been a lot of talk recently about investing significant financial resources in the grid. The Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law include funding to target large-scale projects over the next decade. These investments are needed and welcomed, but the completion estimates are measured in years or even decades. Meeting the needs of a growing enterprise like United Power is at least four to five years away, even with aggressive siting and execution.
People tend to think of the grid as the large power lines that deliver electricity from power plants miles away. Much of the energy transition challenge is that a lot of low or non-carbon generation is located far from population centers. Coupled with permitting challenges, supply chain constraints, and a confusing financing model, large-scale projects just take time.
But the grid also includes distribution systems, operated by utilities like United Power. It is the main conduit to our members and requires as much — or more — investment as its larger cousins. Your Board of Directors has continuously supported budgets to upgrade and expand critical infrastructure, and these investments have paid off. United Power has one of the best distribution networks in the country, evidenced by high reliability numbers, rapid outage response, and data-driven system management.
A robust distribution grid is also critical to the second issue — the potential for seasonal power shortages.
The North American Reliability Corporation (NERC), responsible for assessing and enforcing reliability standards, recently found the country is at an elevated risk of having insufficient energy supplies to meet demand in extreme conditions. The reasons for this potential shortfall range from coal and nuclear plant closures and an expanded reliance on natural gas to the increased electrification of everything.
“Extreme cold weather events can cause electricity demand to deviate significantly from historical forecasts. Electricity demand in winter is closely tied to outside temperature. As electric heat pumps and heating systems become more prevalent, their combined effect on system demand is even more pronounced,” NERC stated.
The industry has tried to slow the energy transition and continue operating money-losing coal plants instead of proposing solutions. And, importantly, there are solutions. This is where United Power’s strategy of hyper-localizing generation and storage comes into play.
As we prepare for our upcoming power supply transition, United Power is adding significant amounts of battery storage, spread across our system. We are locating natural gas peaking units tied in to the distribution — versus transmission — networks and contracting with power supplies closer to the communities we serve. This reduces line losses, improves reliability, and keeps tax dollars local. We will couple this with efficiency programs, support any members who want to generate part of their own power through solar, and expand demand response options now that we will have a realistic peak window.
Of course, we will continue to get power from generation plants and support efforts to build out the transmission grid as it will continue to have a role in a modern electric enterprise. But, we will focus on what we can do locally.
As always, please feel free to reach out with your questions, comments, or concerns. United Power welcomes the opportunity to meet with your community groups and discuss the cooperative’s response to the changing industry.
Title
January Message from Mark A. Gabriel
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/CEO_Message.jpg?h=45932144&itok=pNegmSzP
Saturday | January 1, 2022
Card Teaser
A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer.
Date: 4/29/2022
United Power filed a non-conditional Notice of Intent to Withdraw from our power supplier in compliance with a recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruling. This changes our previously announced Tri-State exit date of Jan. 1, 2024 to May 1, 2024.
At United Power we continue with our sole focus of bringing power to our members at the greatest value.
During the past several years we have attempted to work with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, our power supplier, toward this end. Unfortunately, our G&T has been unwilling to make any changes in the pursuit of this goal, saddling United Power with some of the highest cost, carbon intensive power in the State of Colorado.
We have been unsuccessful in negotiating a revised contract with our G&T that would have allowed us to lower costs, expand member options, bring lower carbon generation and provide for a new future. Therefore, as of December 14, 2021 we have formally filed at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) our intent to withdraw from Tri-State effective January 1, 2024. The Board of Directors is strongly in the support of this action.
During my nine months as your President and Chief Executive Officer, I have presented our power supplier with numerous offers of settlement that would have continued our membership relationship while also allowing us to procure lower cost, cleaner power options. Despite many meetings and requests, the G&T has been mute on our offers and instead reacted through the legal system. I have agreed on at least two occasions to mediation with no response.
Instead of working with us in the pursuit of lower-cost, cleaner options, Tri-State has resisted these developments. Tri-State recently purchased additional coal generation, is limiting our members’ ability to add more carbon free generation and is penalizing additional storage on our system. Tri- State also offers non-members preferable transmission rates over those of us who have invested in their system for decades.
United Power has been a leader in the deployment of innovative new technologies and in the integration of renewable energy resources. Currently United Power has 84 megawatts of renewable generation on its system including 46 megawatts of utility scale solar, Colorado’s largest battery storage project, and more than 6,800 rooftop systems. Tri-State’s policies include penalties if a utility exceeds 5% of generation other than from the G&T.
United Power represents nearly 20% of the G&T’s annual revenue and is more than twice the size of the next largest cooperative. United Power joins Delta Montrose Electric Association and Kit Carson who have exited the G&T in the last five years. At least six other cooperatives are currently considering a potential exit.
United Power will be seeking alternative power supply and the use of transmission as outlined by FERC as part of Open Access Transmission Tariffs. Prior to January 1, 2024, United Power will work with other power suppliers and prepare for the transition from our G&T.
We do not take this decision lightly. Please feel free to reach out to me and other members of the United Power staff with any questions.
Join Us Online or In-Person for the 2022 Annual Meeting
Friday | March 11, 2022
For the past two years, United Power has hosted its Annual Meeting virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to protect the health and safety of members and employees. The 2022 Annual Meeting will be hosted in a hybrid format on April 13, meaning members may also participate online via a livestream hosted on the cooperative’s website.
Read more >
Title
July Message from Mark. A. Gabriel
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/CEO_Message.jpg?h=45932144&itok=pNegmSzP
Thursday | July 13, 2023
Card Teaser
A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer.
These are interesting — and exciting — times in the electricity industry. At United Power, we are fortunate to be at the forefront of these changes, and we welcome the opportunities they bring our members and our communities.
As technology advances and the needs of our members change, it is important that we keep in mind the four guiding principles laid out in Our Cooperative Roadmap: Reliability, Affordability, Flexibility, and Responsibility. The Roadmap’s framework allows us to focus on key objectives as we operate a forward-thinking distribution utility.
United Power is one of the fastest growing utilities of any kind in the nation. Our residential membership continues to expand rapidly. Large commercial and industrial businesses are finding a home in our service territory, such as a recently announced solar manufacturing facility — coming in 2024 — and a planned battery manufacturer in Brighton. Dozens of similar facilities have sprung up in just the last two years. The landscape of our service territory has shifted considerably.
Meeting the needs of our residential, commercial, and industrial members will require a combination of operational excellence, the deployment of new technologies, and joining a power market. As more members equip their homes and businesses with solar panels and batteries or drive electric vehicles, it will require United Power to think in new ways and adjust how we manage the cooperative. I am proud of the women and men who work diligently every day to make this happen.
During the next several months, we will select new power suppliers to ensure our members receive lower cost energy from a diverse and carbon-reduced portfolio. Instead of relying on a single power supplier with huge overhead expenses and limited choices, our goal is to have multiple alternatives and increased flexibility. We want to ensure United Power has robust resources and sufficient power supply to meet current and growing demand.
In June, we signed an agreement to work with TEA Solutions, a sister company of The Energy Authority (TEA). TEA Solutions is a not-for-profit marketing organization that provides support for cooperatives like United Power in obtaining electric resources. The organization has decades of experience across the United States, which will be a critical advantage as we make the transition to new power suppliers and energy sources.
We continue to support our oil and gas members, who are trying to meet emissions-reduction requirements. These industries account for 30% of United Power revenue and many of our communities rely on them for jobs and tax revenue. Electrifying oil fields connects them to the cooperative’s distribution system, alleviating on-site emissions production. However, this requires close coordination and planning between these members, United Power, and the State of Colorado. We are committed to working together to facilitate this transition.
Meeting the opportunities presented by our growth and the change in technology requires a different way of thinking, planning, and operating. At United Power, we are continually working to improve our processes and embrace new technologies. By every measure, we have been successful — reliability is at a record high and resiliency is improving across the system. The women and men of United Power, who have support from the Board of Directors, have been doing this for many years. I am honored to work for every one of them.
The electric industry is not standing still, and neither is United Power. We are blessed every day with the opportunity to embrace change in the nation’s most critical infrastructure.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me or anyone else on the executive leadership team with your questions, comments, or concerns.
Title
How to Use New Payment Kiosks
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/Dec2019_NL_Kiosk.jpg?h=45932144&itok=jg74aqOV
Tuesday | December 10, 2019
Card Teaser
United Power has placed payment kiosks at two office locations this year.
United Power has payment kiosks at our Brighton, Coal Creek and Carbon Valley office locations. These easy-to-use and hassle-free kiosks accept cash, credit card or check payments. Cash and credit card payments made using a kiosk are applied to your account immediately, and accounts subject to disconnection are restored immediately upon payment.
To make a payment at one of these kiosks, bring your United Power account number and a form of payment.
Set Up Your Fast Pass for Quick Access
To make your transactions faster, there is an option to set up a “Fast Pass,” which will be prompted once you complete a successful transaction. You’ll create a 4-digit PIN and receive a printed barcode.
The next time you visit a United Power payment kiosk, select “Fast Pass” and quickly find your account with the barcode/PIN or the phone number you used when setting up your Fast Pass.
Please be careful to enter the correct phone and account numbers when making a payment because your Fast Pass will reflect these numbers exactly as you input them.
Title
Industry Standard in System Reliability
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/Nov2021_NL_SystemReliability.jpg?h=45932144&itok=twbW3RYA
Monday | February 14, 2022
Card Teaser
Since altering its maintenance practices a few years ago, United Power’s reliability has significantly improved, as have its outage numbers.
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.
Title
Is Your Contact Info Up to Date?
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/Jan2020_NL_ContactInfo.jpg?itok=RMmrwr-P
Thursday | January 16, 2020
Card Teaser
Check your information to make sure you're getting important updates from your co-op.
United Power has been using recorded phone messages to let members know when a preplanned outage has been scheduled in their area for maintenance work. As new software becomes available, the cooperative may have more options to send important communications to members electronically.
Electronic communications are tied to individual member accounts and use the phone numbers and/or email addresses the cooperative has on record. If the contact information on record isn’t up-to-date or is entered incorrectly, you may be missing out on important notifications from United Power.
You can check your contact information and make necessary updates using the free online payment portal, SmartHub. To set up an online account, go to www.unitedpower.com and click on Online Account Services under My Account. Contact information can also be updated by calling the Member Services Team at 303-637-1300.
Title
It Pays to Be a Member – Capital Credit Refunds Issued to Members in August
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/2017_07_17_PaysToBeMember.jpg?itok=psAlv8eY
Monday | July 17, 2017
Card Teaser
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.
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.
Title
January Message from Mark A. Gabriel
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/CEO_Message.jpg?h=45932144&itok=pNegmSzP
Tuesday | January 2, 2024
Card Teaser
A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer.
Along with the honor of operating an electric cooperative on behalf of you, our members, comes the accountability of being prepared for the changing future in energy. Two recent, recurrent themes have emerged that emphasize the need for United Power to work diligently to make Our Cooperative Roadmap a reality.
The first is the need to continue investing in the grid, and the second is an ongoing concern that the need for capacity — the backbone of reliable power — is getting perilously close to a crisis. Both issues tend to focus on the problem. United Power is actively seeking solutions.
There has been a lot of talk recently about investing significant financial resources in the grid. The Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law include funding to target large-scale projects over the next decade. These investments are needed and welcomed, but the completion estimates are measured in years or even decades. Meeting the needs of a growing enterprise like United Power is at least four to five years away, even with aggressive siting and execution.
People tend to think of the grid as the large power lines that deliver electricity from power plants miles away. Much of the energy transition challenge is that a lot of low or non-carbon generation is located far from population centers. Coupled with permitting challenges, supply chain constraints, and a confusing financing model, large-scale projects just take time.
But the grid also includes distribution systems, operated by utilities like United Power. It is the main conduit to our members and requires as much — or more — investment as its larger cousins. Your Board of Directors has continuously supported budgets to upgrade and expand critical infrastructure, and these investments have paid off. United Power has one of the best distribution networks in the country, evidenced by high reliability numbers, rapid outage response, and data-driven system management.
A robust distribution grid is also critical to the second issue — the potential for seasonal power shortages.
The North American Reliability Corporation (NERC), responsible for assessing and enforcing reliability standards, recently found the country is at an elevated risk of having insufficient energy supplies to meet demand in extreme conditions. The reasons for this potential shortfall range from coal and nuclear plant closures and an expanded reliance on natural gas to the increased electrification of everything.
“Extreme cold weather events can cause electricity demand to deviate significantly from historical forecasts. Electricity demand in winter is closely tied to outside temperature. As electric heat pumps and heating systems become more prevalent, their combined effect on system demand is even more pronounced,” NERC stated.
The industry has tried to slow the energy transition and continue operating money-losing coal plants instead of proposing solutions. And, importantly, there are solutions. This is where United Power’s strategy of hyper-localizing generation and storage comes into play.
As we prepare for our upcoming power supply transition, United Power is adding significant amounts of battery storage, spread across our system. We are locating natural gas peaking units tied in to the distribution — versus transmission — networks and contracting with power supplies closer to the communities we serve. This reduces line losses, improves reliability, and keeps tax dollars local. We will couple this with efficiency programs, support any members who want to generate part of their own power through solar, and expand demand response options now that we will have a realistic peak window.
Of course, we will continue to get power from generation plants and support efforts to build out the transmission grid as it will continue to have a role in a modern electric enterprise. But, we will focus on what we can do locally.
As always, please feel free to reach out with your questions, comments, or concerns. United Power welcomes the opportunity to meet with your community groups and discuss the cooperative’s response to the changing industry.
Title
January Message from Mark A. Gabriel
/sites/default/files/styles/news_card_553x430_/public/news/CEO_Message.jpg?h=45932144&itok=pNegmSzP
Saturday | January 1, 2022
Card Teaser
A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer.
Date: 4/29/2022
United Power filed a non-conditional Notice of Intent to Withdraw from our power supplier in compliance with a recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruling. This changes our previously announced Tri-State exit date of Jan. 1, 2024 to May 1, 2024.
At United Power we continue with our sole focus of bringing power to our members at the greatest value.
During the past several years we have attempted to work with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, our power supplier, toward this end. Unfortunately, our G&T has been unwilling to make any changes in the pursuit of this goal, saddling United Power with some of the highest cost, carbon intensive power in the State of Colorado.
We have been unsuccessful in negotiating a revised contract with our G&T that would have allowed us to lower costs, expand member options, bring lower carbon generation and provide for a new future. Therefore, as of December 14, 2021 we have formally filed at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) our intent to withdraw from Tri-State effective January 1, 2024. The Board of Directors is strongly in the support of this action.
During my nine months as your President and Chief Executive Officer, I have presented our power supplier with numerous offers of settlement that would have continued our membership relationship while also allowing us to procure lower cost, cleaner power options. Despite many meetings and requests, the G&T has been mute on our offers and instead reacted through the legal system. I have agreed on at least two occasions to mediation with no response.
Instead of working with us in the pursuit of lower-cost, cleaner options, Tri-State has resisted these developments. Tri-State recently purchased additional coal generation, is limiting our members’ ability to add more carbon free generation and is penalizing additional storage on our system. Tri- State also offers non-members preferable transmission rates over those of us who have invested in their system for decades.
United Power has been a leader in the deployment of innovative new technologies and in the integration of renewable energy resources. Currently United Power has 84 megawatts of renewable generation on its system including 46 megawatts of utility scale solar, Colorado’s largest battery storage project, and more than 6,800 rooftop systems. Tri-State’s policies include penalties if a utility exceeds 5% of generation other than from the G&T.
United Power represents nearly 20% of the G&T’s annual revenue and is more than twice the size of the next largest cooperative. United Power joins Delta Montrose Electric Association and Kit Carson who have exited the G&T in the last five years. At least six other cooperatives are currently considering a potential exit.
United Power will be seeking alternative power supply and the use of transmission as outlined by FERC as part of Open Access Transmission Tariffs. Prior to January 1, 2024, United Power will work with other power suppliers and prepare for the transition from our G&T.
We do not take this decision lightly. Please feel free to reach out to me and other members of the United Power staff with any questions.
Join Us Online or In-Person for the 2022 Annual Meeting
Friday | March 11, 2022
For the past two years, United Power has hosted its Annual Meeting virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to protect the health and safety of members and employees. The 2022 Annual Meeting will be hosted in a hybrid format on April 13, meaning members may also participate online via a livestream hosted on the cooperative’s website.
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July Message from Mark. A. Gabriel
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Thursday | July 13, 2023
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A message to United Power members from the cooperative's President & Chief Executive Officer.
These are interesting — and exciting — times in the electricity industry. At United Power, we are fortunate to be at the forefront of these changes, and we welcome the opportunities they bring our members and our communities.
As technology advances and the needs of our members change, it is important that we keep in mind the four guiding principles laid out in Our Cooperative Roadmap: Reliability, Affordability, Flexibility, and Responsibility. The Roadmap’s framework allows us to focus on key objectives as we operate a forward-thinking distribution utility.
United Power is one of the fastest growing utilities of any kind in the nation. Our residential membership continues to expand rapidly. Large commercial and industrial businesses are finding a home in our service territory, such as a recently announced solar manufacturing facility — coming in 2024 — and a planned battery manufacturer in Brighton. Dozens of similar facilities have sprung up in just the last two years. The landscape of our service territory has shifted considerably.
Meeting the needs of our residential, commercial, and industrial members will require a combination of operational excellence, the deployment of new technologies, and joining a power market. As more members equip their homes and businesses with solar panels and batteries or drive electric vehicles, it will require United Power to think in new ways and adjust how we manage the cooperative. I am proud of the women and men who work diligently every day to make this happen.
During the next several months, we will select new power suppliers to ensure our members receive lower cost energy from a diverse and carbon-reduced portfolio. Instead of relying on a single power supplier with huge overhead expenses and limited choices, our goal is to have multiple alternatives and increased flexibility. We want to ensure United Power has robust resources and sufficient power supply to meet current and growing demand.
In June, we signed an agreement to work with TEA Solutions, a sister company of The Energy Authority (TEA). TEA Solutions is a not-for-profit marketing organization that provides support for cooperatives like United Power in obtaining electric resources. The organization has decades of experience across the United States, which will be a critical advantage as we make the transition to new power suppliers and energy sources.
We continue to support our oil and gas members, who are trying to meet emissions-reduction requirements. These industries account for 30% of United Power revenue and many of our communities rely on them for jobs and tax revenue. Electrifying oil fields connects them to the cooperative’s distribution system, alleviating on-site emissions production. However, this requires close coordination and planning between these members, United Power, and the State of Colorado. We are committed to working together to facilitate this transition.
Meeting the opportunities presented by our growth and the change in technology requires a different way of thinking, planning, and operating. At United Power, we are continually working to improve our processes and embrace new technologies. By every measure, we have been successful — reliability is at a record high and resiliency is improving across the system. The women and men of United Power, who have support from the Board of Directors, have been doing this for many years. I am honored to work for every one of them.
The electric industry is not standing still, and neither is United Power. We are blessed every day with the opportunity to embrace change in the nation’s most critical infrastructure.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me or anyone else on the executive leadership team with your questions, comments, or concerns.
