Our Cooperative Roadmap leads a list of amazing accomplishments in 2021. United Power took a different, and slightly longer, view of our actions and investments over the next decade. This was essential as we embrace the dramatic changes and tremendous opportunities taking place in the most critical infrastructure of all – electricity.

It is important to put the Roadmap in the context of our innovative history and community involvement. United Power pioneered technologies, installing the first cooperative community solar project, capturing methane gas from the Erie landfill to generate electricity, and installing the largest battery storage project in Colorado. We have expanded our electric vehicle (EV) charging network, examined how blockchain can facilitate member-to-member transactions, and partnered on a geothermal project with oil and gas operators to generate power in the field for use on site. 

Our Roadmap has four priorities: empower and engage our membership and communities; provide flexible, affordable, sustainable power and services; continuously optimize our electric distribution system; and achieve and maintain business agility and resilience through information technology and operational technology (IT/OT) and system operations. 

Engaging our members and communities means making programs available so you have a more active role in managing your electric bills while helping us manage the system more efficiently. What does this look like? Simply put, managing connected energy resources to avoid peaks, lower demand, and provide a benefit for all members. 

We want to help our member communities grow into their vision of an ideal town or city. We want to be the power behind the spaces you call home. But with all our growth, it is important we also continue to perform well as a business.  Optimizing our system promotes more efficiency, shorter outages, and better wildfire protection. 

And what about your power? Should it be less expensive? Should it be generated closer to home? How can we be an active voice in the discussion about where energy is going in the next decade? 

Flexibility in our power supply has many layers. First and foremost, United Power is seeking a new source for wholesale power. We can no longer live in an expensive, constrained generation environment. We must be in position to take full advantage of coming power markets. This is truly about economics – keeping dollars in our communities, lowering rates, and being able to work with members and others who want to generate more cost-effective electricity. If you want to learn more about how we are planning for these future changes, join us for our Power Supply Forum on June 7 (Details here). 

Underlying all these initiatives is the need for technology that will allow us to move to the next level. We need to collect and analyze information about our system and provide automated solutions that give members control over their energy usage. Events of the past couple years have tested and confirmed our ability to deliver these solutions to people working beyond the office. 

There are other utilities fighting the future and trying to keep inefficient generation on the market, failing to embrace technology, markets, and member engagement opportunities. Holding onto the past, be it business models or technologies, has never worked. 

What does the future look like for United Power? Abraham Lincoln is to have said, “the best way to predict the future is to create it.” We are doing just that thanks to the tremendous support of your Board of Directors and the employees who work with phenomenal dedication every day. Bottom line: we must continue providing a robust network so that every member behind every meter has every option to engage in the way they desire. 

We need to do this while ensuring high quality, high reliability, and reasonably priced power. Engagement is key, and I encourage all members to reach out to me as we execute Our Cooperative Roadmap.   

Retirement of $4.5 Million on its way to Members Beginning in Late May

United Power is more than your local electric utility and you are more than a consumer. Over the past two years, we have had to navigate pandemic restrictions, making provisions for the health of the cooperative and also to support our members. The decisions we made were not to satisfy invisible investors or generate profits, but to serve our members and our communities. It is just part of what makes cooperative membership different.

Another member benefit that sets us apart is the retirement of capital credits. This year, our members will be part of United Power’s 16th consecutive retirement. If you are new to the cooperative or unfamiliar with this process, capital credits represent your investment in the co-op. Here’s how it works:

Becoming a Member

The moment you start receiving electric service from United Power, you become a member and an owner of the cooperative. As a member, you have unique privileges, one of which is economic participation. A portion of each electric bill you pay goes toward the cooperative’s operation and infrastructure, which you have an ownership stake in. Members may also vote annually in board elections or run for a seat on the Board to make their voices heard. (A full recap of the 2022 Annual Meeting is available on page 10.) By actively engaging and participating with the cooperative, you will always have a voice in our operation.

Allocation of Capital Credits

Every spring, United Power looks at the prior year and any funds remaining after all expenses have been paid are allocated to members based on the prior year’s electric consumption – the more power you use, the larger your allocation will be.

The allocation is not a check, but a representation of your ownership in the cooperative, i.e. the amount of money you have invested into the electric system based on your electric consumption. The funds are tracked, but not accessible in the form of cash. You are notified of your allocation amount on your bill in May each year.

Retirement of Capital Credits

Annually, the Board of Directors carefully assesses the financial condition of the cooperative and determines what amount of capital credits are eligible for retirement. If the Board decides a retirement is feasible, the money is paid out, or “retired,” from each member’s account. This year, the Board approved a $4.5 million retirement. Those retirements will be distributed beginning in late May.

Anyone who had service in 2021 or earlier will be eligible to receive a refund. Refunds more than $50 will arrive as a check, and members who receive a refund less than $50 will see it reflected on their billing statement as a credit. Look for this credit on your bill in May or June.

“There isn’t a more tangible benefit of cooperative membership than receiving money back on your investment in the utility itself,” said Mark A. Gabriel, United Power’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Your investment not only makes you an owner, but helps ensure the resiliency of our system, the reliability of your power, and the affordability of our rates. It is a tangible representation of your value as both a member and an owner.”

Capital credit retirements have returned a steady stream of money back to members in recent years. During the last 15 years, the cooperative has been able to retire millions of dollars back to its members.

Want to learn more about capital credits? Frequently asked questions can be found at www.unitedpower.com or you can call a member services representative at 303-637-1300.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

If you move, please be sure to leave your new address with us so we can continue to refund any capital credits you are eligible to receive in the future.

Upon death, the deceased member’s capital credit account is available for estate retirement. The representative of the estate should contact United Power to settle the capital credit account.