United Power’s members elect their board by secret ballot at the Annual Meeting of Members held each spring. United Power’s board members, elected at-large, serve three-year, staggered terms, and serve from specific geographic districts within the United Power service area. There are currently four director districts: West, East, South and Mountain. Your district appears in the top box on the right hand side of your bill.  View the director district map.

Unlike governmental elections, not all registered voters in the household can vote in the United Power elections. Members have one vote for each membership (account) with United Power. Only the person whose name is on the United Power account is eligible to vote. Members who are unclear of their membership or account status are urged to call United Power’s Member Services department at 303-637-1300 for verification.

To be eligible to become or remain a director, a person must be a United Power member and receive electric service from United Power at the member’s primary residence in the district he or she represents. A director cannot be engaged in a competing enterprise or in other businesses involving a conflict of interest. United Power’s bylaws provide in-depth information on director districts, qualifications, terms, elections, meetings and officers.

Nominations by written petition must state the name and district of the nominee and must be signed by 15 or more United Power members. Petitions are available at United Power’s headquarters office in Brighton. Additional information may be obtained by calling United Power’s Executive Department at 303-659-0551. We ask any member interested in nomination to complete a biographical request form, available through the Executive Department.

It is important to note that United Power directors are elected on an ‘at-large’ basis, meaning that members should cast a vote for one director in each district, regardless of where the member lives. This election policy is in place because directors represent all members, as well as the overall welfare of the cooperative. Directors serve from geographic districts to ensure adequate accessibility for members and a representative cross-section of the membership on the board.

Voting Your Ballot

1. Vote your ballot ensuring you have selected one candidate in each district.

2. Place your ballot in the secret ballot envelope (optional).

3. Place your ballot in the business reply envelope.

4. Sign the back of the business reply envelope (State law requires the member’s signature for the ballot to be valid).

5. Mail your ballot postpaid, or drop in a ballot drop box located at any United Power office. Members can also vote in person by attending the Annual Meeting.

Signing Your Ballot

When signing your ballot envelope, please follow these instructions carefully:

• If the membership is owned by a human being, that person should sign his or her name on the top line as it appears on the label.

• If the membership is owned jointly, only one of the joint owners needs to sign.

• If the membership is owned by a corporation, partnership, or other legal entity, including the estate of a deceased person, the person signing must place his or her signature on the first line and indicate his or her title or lawful representative capacity on the second line. For example:
  • A person signing for a partnership should sign “John Doe” on the top line and “Partner” on the second line.

  • A person signing for a corporation should sign “John Doe” on the top line and “President” (or other office) on the second line;

  • A person signing for a trade name should sign “John Doe” on the top line, and “owner” on the second line;

  • If the member is deceased, the personal representative of the estate should sign their name on the top line, and state “Jane Doe, Personal Representative of the estate of John Doe,” on the second line;

  • If a person is unable to write a signature, his or her mark will be accepted if a witness is present and signs “John Doe is unable to sign, but made his or her mark as his or her intended signature in my presence. Jane Doe, witness.

Ballot Counting

Survey and Ballot Systems, a reputable election organization and verification service, will be tabulating all ballots. Ballots are mailed directly to Survey and Ballot Systems’ post office box. To be valid, mail ballots must be received at the post office box by the deadline listed in the ballot packet. Proxy voting is not permitted by state law. 

To protect the confidentiality of your vote, the business reply envelope will remain sealed until the Annual Meeting when it will be opened and counted by the Election/Credentials Committee. Tabulated ballots and return envelopes will remain sealed thereafter. 

Check back later for 2021 Director Election balloting deadlines. 

Attend a Meet the Candidate Forum

Each year, United Power hosts candidate forums for members who wish to hear from director candidates in person. All United Power members are welcome to attend Meet the Candidates events held throughout the service territory. Meet the Candidate events are free, and light refreshments are served. RSVPs are not required.

Check back later for 2021 Meet the Candidate event dates and times. 

United Power Holds First-Ever Virtual Annual Meeting Amid COVID-19 Concerns

Brighton, CO – In response to growing concerns over the rapid spread of COVID-19 and for the health and safety of its members, United Power offered an alternate option to its traditional Annual Meeting format this year. The result was the co-op’s first-ever virtual “telephone town hall” style Annual Meeting held April 15, 2020.

The Annual Meeting, which had been previously scheduled at the Riverdale Regional Park, had a record participation of 569 members who pre-registered for the over-the-phone event. The virtual format offered United Power an optimal platform to educate members about the co-op’s activity over the past year and thank them for their hand in its success.

Since an in-person meeting could not be hosted, voting in this year’s director election was conducted via mail-in ballot only. Incumbents in United Power’s South and West Districts each won reelection in contested races. David E. Rose, South District, received 2,335 votes to retain his seat on the board. Stan Martin also received 1,833 votes in the South District. Greg Campbell and Phil Noble received 1,244 and 926 votes, respectively. In the West District, Virginia “Ginny” A. Buczek retained her seat after receiving 4,499 votes. James P. Menghi received 1,774 votes. Tamra K. Waltemath, Mountain District, and James Vigesaa, East District, who ran unopposed in this year’s election, received 5,770 and 5,741 votes.

“One of our biggest challenges is the affordability of our power supply,” said United Power Board Chairman James Vigesaa. “We’re trying to obtain the most affordable power for our members by looking at all our options, including our wholesale power costs and what other opportunities exist to offer a better value to our members.”The cooperative focused on innovations and improvements this past year that centered on driving member satisfaction through increased reliability and pursuing more affordable power. Upgrades to the cooperative’s system, including the installation of an industry-leading “smart grid,” reduced outage times and placed the cooperative among the top 10 percent of utilities nationwide in reliability. Meanwhile, the cooperative has made headlines for ongoing negotiations with its wholesale power provider, Tri State Generation & Transmission, that would allow it to pursue more affordable energy options.

One project that did highlight another strong year for the cooperative was staffing the Carbon Valley Service Center, located just off I-25 near Firestone in the western part of its service territory. Crews began the transition over to the new facility in early 2019 and were quickly able to prove the facility’s worth during March’s bomb cyclone weather event.

“We’ve got what I consider a world-class dispatch center over there,” said Chief Executive Officer Bryant Robbins. “If we hadn’t had those things in place, the members we got back on in two hours might have taken three days.”

Even in this time of uncertainty, United Power continues to put its members first, looking for the best way to provide the same reliable power its members have come to expect

“The most important thing to all of us, board members and employees, is that our focus needs to be on that member out there at the end of the line,” said Vigesaa. “Everything we do needs to enhance the safety, affordability and reliability for that member.”

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