No one dislikes power outages more than those of us in the electric utility business. In a world of increasing dependence on quality electric power, the task of keeping the lights on is more critical — and challenging — every day.

Coupled with the dramatic increase in electrification across dozens of industries and businesses, our members’ requirements for reliable supply increases with each passing day. More people working from home, spurred by the pandemic, has only exacerbated the need for greater reliability — and its cousin, resiliency. 

The only business I know that measures as many statistical categories as the electric industry is baseball, where every play is broken down into records dating back decades. Balls, strikes, batting percentages, hits with runners in scoring position — even the number of strikes versus balls — are all analyzed and used to change the game. 

Our “batting averages” in the electric industry are things like SAIDI* (the duration of outages), SAIFI* (frequency of outages), and MAIFI* (momentary average interruption frequency). We measure and report on dozens of indices and make investments to continuously improve. We call balls and strikes on ourselves as we get better. It is also why we keep investing in new technologies, such as our outage management system, and have expanded how we use data from our advanced metering infrastructure and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. We mine the alphabet soup of technologies in the never-ending pursuit to keep the lights on. 

However, even with our efforts, any outage or momentary blip can cause headaches. That is why we work so diligently to manage our system to avoid such incidents.

Why do the lights “go out” unexpectedly? United Power’s leading causes of outages are critters and crashes, followed by weather and equipment failure. Sometimes our transmission providers have incidents. There are also certain times we must take outages to upgrade equipment. Much of our system is underground — a tremendous investment, but one that pays dividends over time. But even undergrounding electrical service does not make the system immune from outages. In fact, underground faults can be more difficult to find and take more time to repair.

Digitalization of our lives has also made the quality of power more challenging. Older lights, motors, and machinery had a wide range of electric tolerance. This was as true in the home as it was in industry. Today’s digitalized equipment means the tolerance of even a temporary dip in power can make a difference. Some additional sensitivity comes from things like new refrigerators which try to match the motor size to load for energy efficiency, but also tolerates less voltage fluctuations. Think back to refrigerators that last 20 years or more versus today.

United Power operates at the distribution level, or the wires that bring electricity directly to homes and businesses. We strive to keep the lights on. In the past, 99.99% of ASAI* (average system “up time”) was sufficient. That meant, on average, just eight minutes of outage time per year, which was acceptable in the past but challenging in today’s digital environment. While 99.99% is good for many things, 99.999% is even better, meaning just eight seconds of outage time. Even that, however, is not fault tolerant enough in some situations. There is a very real limitation to what is possible across a large distribution network serving a significant number of varying electric loads. 

It is therefore important to understand that while we do everything possible to keep the electrons flowing, there are limitations across this broad system. It is why even in our cooperative offices every computer has a backup power supply, and our building has a backup generator.

Winter weather is upon us, and we will work to keep the lights on. This is only possible due to the brave women and men of United Power who work diligently though snow, sleet, and freezing rain to restore power. As always, please feel free to reach out to me with your questions, comments, and concerns.

Engaging with our members and communities is the highest privilege of running an electric cooperative. Understanding our members’ needs and goals allows us to meet — and often exceed — their expectations for providing electricity.

I had the pleasure of visiting two of our business members this past month — Meati Foods, the manufacturer of a “superfood” meat substitute made from mycelium, and several Chevron-owned sites. Although the two businesses could not be more different, they are similar in their visions for the energy future.

Their corporate visions include using electricity to improve operations and reduce their carbon footprint. This strategy aligns with Our Cooperative Roadmap. We have made significant progress in reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions — down 26% since May 1 — and further reductions are planned.

The value of reliable and resilient electric power is core to the business success of both Meati Foods and Chevron. The Rockies Business Unit of Chevron has pioneered the electrification of oil and gas sites, which eliminates the use of diesel generators. The benefits of this solution are a cost-effective alternative to operating and maintaining large generators and a smaller, cleaner, and quieter footprint. One site supervisor told me, “We love [electrification] because it is quiet, does not smell, and we can count on it to work.” Reliable power is also critical for Meati Food’s process, which turns a small handful of mycelium into the meat equivalent of 350 head of cattle in just over three days. Even brief power interruptions create challenges.

In both cases, there is a desire to develop on-site generation and storage that aligns perfectly with United Power’s vision of hyper-localized power, keeping power supply close at hand in a world where transmission congestion is increasing and costs are rising. Keeping generation and storage in our communities has the added benefit of bringing additional tax revenue and jobs. It also bolsters reliability and grid resilience.

As part of our energy transition and the expansion of our power supply portfolio, we broke ground on a unique 162 MW natural gas project in September that exemplifies our hyper-localization strategy. The Mountain Peak Power plant, developed in partnership with Kindle Energy, sits adjacent to one of our rural substations. The site borders a natural gas line and hosts one of our 11 MW battery energy storage systems. Since it all resides on the distribution system, it negates the need for costly transmission. It will help ensure reliability and resource adequacy at times when renewable generation is underproducing. Combined with the on-site battery, it provides a closed loop for power to support our system. 

United Power will also open the state’s largest and the West’s longest duration battery on the distribution system in December. The 33 MW, six-hour battery will be located in Brighton. Further, New ERA funds will be used to offset the cost of solar generation produced in a disadvantaged community in Alamosa County, owned by the same company that will operate the Brighton battery facility. It marks continued progress in expanding resources close to home and means we have nearly 115 MW of critical storage, allowing us to buy low-cost energy to discharge during our peak.

On a final note, we are moving into the “shoulder” months when electric usage is typically lower. It is also when work gets done on generators, substations, and related equipment. There are times when that means we have to take outages for work to be completed safely — especially by our transmission providers. We understand these outages can be inconvenient and will work diligently to communicate when they may occur. I ask you to make sure the contact information on your account is up-to-date so that you do not miss alerts.

A great thank you to your Board of Directors for their vision and support, and to the amazing women and men of United Power, whom I have the honor to serve. As always, please feel free to reach out to me with your questions, comments and concerns.
 

Fall is rapidly upon us, and we have successfully managed our first summer as an independent electric cooperative. It has been a hot summer and despite naysayers, the amazingly dedicated women and men of United Power have led us through this significant transition.

United Power’s loads continue to grow. Combining new sources of power and innovative technology, we have managed the system in a new and exciting way. As of May 1, we immediately reduced our carbon intensity by 26%, all while setting new peak loads, month over month. Our investment in nearly 80 MW of battery energy storage systems paid for itself just two weeks after the official ribbon cutting in July. On Aug. 2, we hit an all-time historical peak of nearly 650 MW. The true load had we not deployed battery storage — and initiated demand response — would have been 719 MW! This is up from the 2023 peak of 634 MW. The batteries meant we were able to buy lower cost and lower carbon power at night and use it during peak hours from 4–8 p.m. instead of purchasing expensive fossil fuel alternatives.

There is tremendous value in having a diverse portfolio of generation and large-scale storage resources. As United Power members, you do not have to wait until the end of the decade for the energy transition, as other cooperatives are doing. We are living it now with a wide range of power suppliers — 26 at last count — bringing a lower carbon and more flexible energy supply. Hydropower, wind, solar, storage, and gas allow us to have a balanced energy portfolio.

An increasing number of our members are adding solar, storage, and electric vehicles to their lives, and we support these efforts, happily providing critical analytical tools to make sure these decisions are being made with the best and most neutral information possible. United Power fully supports an “all of the above” strategy whether we provide the resource or not. One of United Power’s critical goals, as outlined in Our Cooperative Roadmap, is to continually optimize our electric system enabling all technologies to operate seamlessly.  For help in these and other energy savings opportunities, click here.

In addition to the change in power suppliers, United Power is adding intelligence to how we operate and monitor the grid through advanced systems, including:

• A new outage management system, giving us visibility and insight into our operations,
• Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI),
• Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), the system our operators use to monitor real time performance,
• and a distributed energy resource management system (DERMS).

These tools are all part of our drive to become a Distribution System Operator as we prepare for the evolving energy enterprise. In recognition of our commitment to innovation, knowledge sharing, and moving the industry forward, United Power was just honored with the Survalent Industry Innovation Award.

I am particularly excited about several developments that support our members and critical community resources thanks to the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act and Empower Rural America (New ERA) Program.

• United Power has been awarded $700,000 to place batteries in four fire stations across the service territory to improve reliability.
• We will receive $6.4 million to supply Fort Lupton’s Water Treatment Facility with floating solar and storage.
• Golden Aluminum is receiving $22.5 million to convert some of their equipment from natural gas to electric power.

We are also in the final stages of seeking a large New ERA grant that can help in our transition to lower carbon resources.

All of these exciting changes happen thanks to the dedication of our employees and support from your Board of Directors. As always, I welcome your questions, comments and concerns.