United Power was forced to shift gears while planning its annual meeting in March as heightened concerns over the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of the Riverdale Regional Park & Fairgrounds and many other local businesses. While many maintained hopeful expectations that the pandemic would begin to play itself out as summer weather faded, a third wave has instead continued the halt to in-person community activities and organizational fundraisers.

Reaching members via virtual format is hardly a new concept, but until this year it has never been the preferred method for encouraging community members to participate with one another. For United Power, that meant turning around months of planning to offer members a virtual annual meeting that still drew their interest and encouraged participation. The cooperative wasn’t alone in navigating this journey, and often supported others holding similar events.

Joining the Virtual Classroom

United Power electrical engineer Tyler Bain joined a Brighton High School engineering class in September via Zoom live from one of the cooperative’s substations to talk about where electricity comes from, how it is generated and what kind of schooling it takes to become an electrical engineer. He also discussed renewable energy with the students.

Decorating Virtual Ducks

United Power has long participated in and supported the annual Duck Derby hosted by the Rotary Club of Northglenn-Thornton. The duck race helps raise money for the Rotary Club to support scholarships, food banks and other local projects. This year, due to COVID-19, the club hosted its first virtual Duck Derby with an online “Best Dressed Duck” contest, which United Power entered, of course. Although our authentic, one-of-a-kind cow duck did not win, we are still proud to be a supporter of all the work the Rotary Club does.

Scarecrows in Fort Lupton

Thinking creatively for ways to entertain and engage businesses and residents this Halloween season while maintaining safe social distancing, the City of Fort Lupton and Fort Lupton Chamber of Commerce sponsored a unique scarecrow contest throughout the community. United Power introduced the first-ever lineman made of hay into the contest. Early thoughts on the new lineman include the suggestion that he stay clear of energized line.

Assisting the Career Path

Each year, the Adams County Education Consortium hosts its career expo for middle school students. This year’s virtual event will feature 2-hour sessions over the course of two days in late November where students can learn more about potential career paths. United Power will both sponsor and participate in the annual event in its new first-ever virtual event.

United Power Files Complaint Against Tri-State In District Court Alleging They Violated Their Bylaws and State Statute to Admit Non-Utility Members

Brighton, CO – Today United Power filed a complaint in Adams County District Court, alleging that Tri-State Generation and Transmission violated Colorado State Statutes and their own Articles of Incorporation and bylaws to add a greenhouse, a cattle ranch, and a natural gas supplier to their membership. The addition of these non-utility entities allowed the power cooperative to seek oversight from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), temporarily suspending a year-long effort by United Power to establish a reasonable buyout cost to leave the cooperative. United Power has been battling their power supplier to receive a buyout number with the goal of providing lower cost power to its membership.

“It is our belief that a favorable ruling in District Court would force FERC to reconsider their decision to allow Tri-State to be FERC jurisdictional,” stated Bryant Robbins, acting CEO at United Power. “This would allow the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CoPUC) to affirm the decision of Administrative Law Judge Robert Garvey who, on July 10, 2020, ruled that Tri-State had discriminated against United Power and adopted United Power’s approach for calculating a fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory exit fee.”

Tri-State’s questionable legal maneuvers opened the door for it to bypass the CoPUC and brought the organization under regulation from FERC. Tri-State is anticipating that the move will allow it to avoid the buyout methodology that was initially accepted by the CoPUC. In a hearing last month, the CoPUC found that it did not have jurisdiction to decide whether Tri-State’s corporate maneuvers were legal, but it invited United Power to return once the issue had been decided.

“This announcement should come as no surprise to anyone, especially Tri-State. This filing and subsequent ruling should determine, once and for all, whether Tri-State is lawfully FERC regulated. We feel strongly that it will be determined that they are not,” stated Robbins. “It is our hope that the District Court will recognize the importance of a quick decision on this matter. We also remain hopeful that ongoing discussions with Tri-State on possible solutions to our issues will be productive.”

United Power is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative delivering electricity to more than 95,000 meters at homes, business, and farms in Colorado's north central front range. For more information about the cooperative, visit www.unitedpower.com or follow them on social media at facebook.com/unitedpower or twitter.com/unitedpowercoop.

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United Power Board of Directors Allocates an Additional $300,000 to Co-op Cares Fund to Support Members Economically Affected by the COVID 19 Pandemic

Brighton, CO – United Power’s Board of Directors approved an additional $50,000 to add to the $250,000 allocated earlier in the year to be earmarked for members financially impacted by COVID 19 through the remainder of 2020. The board has also generously authorized another $250,000 to help members in 2021. The money for this fund is allocated from the cooperative’s unclaimed capital credits. The Co-op Cares Fund is designed to assist members who have been directly impacted by COVID 19 – particularly those who have been affected by illness and job losses.

“The Co-op Cares Fund has been an important pillar in our strategy to provide support to our members during this difficult time and complements the many other ways United Power is helping our members weather this situation,” stated Bryant Robbins, interim CEO. “Through this program, United Power is providing $550,000 in direct assistance to our members who are being financially impacted by COVID-19. We are proud to have already provided more than $270,000 in assistance to more than 1,500 members so far this year.”

In addition to the Co-op Cares Fund, United Power has various means of helping members stay on top of their electric bills including payment arrangements, extensions, prepay, budget billing, and assistance from local agencies. United Power encourages members to contact us so we can connect them with the most appropriate assistance program for their situation.

“United Power has several ways to help members when they are having difficulty paying their electric bills,” stated Robbins. “All we are asking our members to do is pick up the phone and call us if they are having difficulty paying their bill. We can’t help you if we don’t know you are struggling.”

The Co-op Cares Fund will be available for assistance through the end of 2021, or when the fund is depleted. United Power members who are impacted by the current health emergency or any other situation can reach our Member Services department at 303-637-1300.

United Power is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative delivering electricity to nearly 95,000 meters at homes, businesses, and farms in Colorado's north-central front range. For more information about the cooperative, visit www.unitedpower.com or follow them on social media at facebook.com/unitedpower or twitter.com/unitedpowercoop.

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United Power dispatched a crew to Granby to assist Mountain Parks Electric in its rebuild effort after receiving significant damage from the East Troublesome Fire in late October. United Power joins four other cooperatives as part of the rebuild in coordination with the Colorado Rural Electric Association.

The East Troublesome Fire erupted north of Granby and west of Grand Lake on October 14. Fueled by strong winds and beetle kill, the fire quickly turned into a blaze that consumed more than 100,000 acres overnight. As a result of the fire and winds, Mountain Parks Electric, the cooperative serving residents in the area, reported nearly 500 damaged or destroyed poles, not including damage to other critical infrastructure, miles of line and meters.

Mechanics crews at United Power helped put together a fleet including many essential pieces of equipment to make the rebuild as quick and safe as possible. Crews are expected to spend the next two weeks helping rebuild the most critical elements of Mountain Parks’ infrastructure.

Other cooperatives assisting in the rebuild are Gunnison County Electric, Highline Electric, Southeast Colorado Power and White River Electric. Cooperatives work together to strengthen one another and more effectively serve our members.

Brighton, CO - Yesterday the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CoPUC) dismissed without prejudice United Power and La Plata Electric’s complaint against Tri-State. The Commission acknowledged that the decision on whether Tri-State lawfully admitted the three non-utility partners, an action that allowed them to claim that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had exclusive jurisdiction over their rates, was a corporate law matter and should be decided by the courts. In May United Power filed a case against Tri-State in Adams County courts asserting that Tri-State fraudulently induced United Power to champion a 2019 Bylaw amendment to permit partial requirement membership. The admission of three non-utility members allowed Tri-State to apply for oversight with FERC, effectively setting aside the months of work by the CoPUC and suspending the administrative law judge’s ruling that favored a buyout methodology developed by United Power.

“We know the PUC was put in an awkward position of having to rule on a corporate law decision,” stated interim CEO, Bryant Robbins. “We greatly appreciate the hard work of both the Commission and their staff. The need of having the District Court hear the case was not unexpected. We will continue to move forward in our efforts to lower the rates of the 97,000 meters that we serve.”

In November of 2019, United Power filed a complaint with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) seeking a fair buyout charge. This summer, United Power received a favorable ruling from the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) assigned by the PUC to hear the case. Then on August 28th, FERC reversed an earlier decision and determined they have sole jurisdiction over the exit fee matter, even while acknowledging that they have not determined that Tri-State’s proposed methodology represented a “just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory exit charge”.

“While we are disappointed that the commission is unable to rule on this issue, we believe our case in Adams County will show that the non-utility members were unlawfully added according to both State Statutes and their own bylaws,” stated Robbins.

United Power is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative delivering electricity to nearly 97,000 meters at homes, business, and farms in Colorado's north central front range. For more information about the cooperative, visit www.unitedpower.com or follow them on social media at facebook.com/unitedpower or twitter.com/unitedpowercoop.

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