These days it is easy for national headlines and political turmoil to distract us from the prime directive of electric cooperatives like United Power, which is to safely keep the lights on in the most cost effective and sustainable way possible.
Every day and night the women and men of United Power are clearly focused on our mission. There is an old saying, loosely adopted by the U.S. Postal Service, from the translation of Herodotus’ Histories that says, “It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.” This is more appropriately the mantra of the people at United Power who work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year in some of the most challenging weather conditions to ensure the lights stay on.
We have a tremendous team — from the dispatchers working around the clock to the crews who build the system to the engineers planning the system to the member services representatives answering your questions. Every one of our 200+ employees does their part. They are dedicated to your cooperative with the support of our visionary Board of Directors who spend countless hours guiding the execution of Our Cooperative Roadmap.
Federal funding cancellations affecting projects are indeed disappointing — and confusing as the entire industry faces challenges brought on by significant increases in electric demand. Our actions are focused on physics, not politics, and we will continue to make sure we have a diverse portfolio of hyper-localized resources, coupled with power from a variety of transmission-delivered electricity.
We recently contracted for the Fortress Project, a 200 megawatt (MW) solar project supported by 150 MW of battery storage. Combined with our existing 119 MW of batteries, United Power leads the way in the West.
Data centers receive a lot of blame for increasing energy costs, but that is only a fraction of the pressure on rates. While there is a narrative that data centers support the artificial intelligence invading our lives, many of us believe requiring these companies to invest in upgrades and support of renewable energy mandates will actually help lower rates. United Power’s LIT (location, investment, and timing) process requires developers of large projects to pay for the costs of infrastructure. This process, once further utilized and refined, is expected to be a model for other utilities.
There are other realities we are facing. The inflationary pressures on equipment are dramatic. We see this in our everyday lives at the grocery store but certainly in the materials we need to purchase to keep the lights on. Over the past several years the cost of things as simple as a basic work truck have gone up more than 30%, steel and aluminum have increased significantly due to tariffs, and health care costs continue to climb beyond the rate of inflation.
At United Power we have moved ahead on a new asset management system that will allow us to focus on replacing equipment at the right time, manage inventory more efficiently, and understand problems before they spread widely. Additionally, the partnership with all of you, our members, as we move toward becoming a distribution system operator (DSO) means we will be able to aggregate local generation in support of the market when it comes in April 2026.
We do have some additional challenges that must be addressed. The lack of transmission — which is exacerbated by local utilities trying to control the lines for their own benefit — is one of the critical issues we are attacking. Meeting the state’s 2030 emissions requirements is harder because of this situation, but I am confident in the great team at United Power and their ability to find a solution.
As always, please feel free to reach out with any comments or questions. It is my honor to serve as your President and CEO and to lead this team of amazing people.