Cooperative Board of Directors Approves 2021 Budget at November Meeting

United Power is pleased to announce there will be no rate increase in 2021. The decision from the cooperative’s Board of Directors was made in November upon approval of the 2021 budget and rate structure. For many members, who have had to endure a tumultuous past few months or have been impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the news could not have come at a better time.

Rates were able to remain steady thanks to the forethought of cooperative leadership, who recognized the potential financial impact the pandemic could have and took immediate action to reduce spending in various departments. Just as businesses and homeowners adjusted spending, each team at United Power was tasked with evaluating initiatives that could either save money or be delayed without impacting service.

“United Power has been fortunate during this time,” said Laurie Burkhart, the cooperative’s chief financial officer. “We haven’t seen the same level of impact as many other cooperatives, and that’s due in large part to the actions our teams have taken, as well as continued growth we’ve seen. It’s allowed us to keep our rates from increasing and provide some small relief to our members.”

A variety of factors allowed the cooperative to keep rates steady, but perhaps chief among them has been the amount of growth seen throughout the service area, despite the pandemic. The slowdown United Power anticipated on its system never materialized. Instead, another strong year in residential and business growth, as well as load growth, helped fuel its ability to weather the storm. Other shifts in the ways our members interacted with us this year made small, but noticeable, changes to costs. Member enrollment in services like online account management and paperless billing was also a factor, which helped the cooperative improve efficiencies and provided real savings.

While keeping the current rate structures may ease the burden for many residential members, it could be especially impactful for local organizations like school districts and businesses that may be facing tough budget years ahead as a result of slower sales or state budget cuts. Steady electric rates are one less thing for larger members to plan for when making end of year budget adjustments.

Many members may realize some small benefit from stable rates in the coming year, but United Power has also prioritized the pursuit of more affordable and competitive rates for several years. The cooperative has had ongoing discussions with its wholesale power provider, Tri-State Generation & Transmission, that would allow it to eventually lower rates as much as 15% to 25% in the next few years.

“United Power has worked closely with Tri-State for several years to provide reliable and affordable rates to our members,” said acting CEO Bryant Robbins. “Efforts continue to be made in looking at all of our options with Tri-State to reach our rate reduction goals. We are also looking at other power supply options should we not be able to come to an acceptable agreement. My hope is to provide our Board with a couple of great options so that they can make the decision that they feel is in the best interest of our membership.”

In a cooperative, we all share in the expense and prosperity, and members who were able to continue paying bills helped United Power maintain its positive financial condition. For those who were impacted by job loss or illness and unable to pay their bills, the cooperative established the Co-op Cares Fund to provide financial assistance and ease the burden on both members and the co-op. This year $300,000 was allocated to the fund from unclaimed capital credits. In October, the Board approved an additional allocation of $250,000 for members in 2021.

United Power understands our members have different needs and use electricity in vastly different ways. United Power’s residential rates are designed so members have the option to choose one that most closely fits how they use energy. When the cooperative’s demand rate debuted in January 2019, it separated the energy and demand components and allowed the cooperative to more fairly charge members for both their energy use and impact on the grid. Along with it, the cooperative also rolled out the Smart Choice Rate, which provided two different peak demand charges and a much lower energy charge. Earlier this year, United Power added a Peak Time of Day rate, which encourages members to switch their usage to off-peak hours. The new rate charges a higher demand for on-peak usage, but does not charge for demand during off-peak hours. The cooperative’s standard and time of day rates also remain options for members.

However you use your energy, the flexibility of the cooperative’s residential rates should meet most members’ needs. You can compare the demand and energy charges of each rate and choose the one that most closely fits how you and your family use energy on the Residential Rates page.

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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