Partners to collaborate on fifth joint energy project since 2014

Brighton, CO – United Power, Inc. (United Power), an electric cooperative serving Colorado’s northern front range, announces the signing of a power purchase agreement for its latest solar resource, the 150-megawatt (MW) Byers Solar Farm. Located in Adams County, 10 miles northeast of Byers, the new solar installation is being developed in partnership with Silicon Ranch, one of the nation’s largest independent power producers and a community-focused renewable energy company.

“As United Power continues to add to its diverse power portfolio, the Byers Solar Farm illustrates the best-case scenario for local production,” said Mark A. Gabriel, President and CEO of United Power. “Our partnership with Silicon Ranch allows us to build this project with the latest technology and development techniques to optimize the use of the site. Additionally, there are strong financial and environmental incentives for generating and delivering clean, renewable electricity locally.”

The solar farm will be built, owned, and operated by Silicon Ranch, who will also be responsible for its operation and maintenance, with United Power purchasing all the power it produces. As the long-term owner of both the facility and the underlying property, Silicon Ranch is taking a thoughtful approach to stewardship of the land, with plans to establish short grass prairie at the site by pre-seeding ahead of construction. In addition, the company is exploring opportunities to employ managed sheep grazing on the site, through its Regenerative Energy® platform of land stewardship that it deploys at sites across the country, including the Mavericks Solar Farm that serves United Power. 

“Silicon Ranch is honored by the trust and confidence that United Power and its members continue to place in our company to deliver value on their behalf, and we are grateful for the opportunity to expand our relationship and the positive impact we can have together,” said Silicon Ranch Co-Founder and CEO Reagan Farr. “As we enter our second decade of partnership with United Power, Silicon Ranch looks forward to continuing our meaningful work together by collaborating to help make communities stronger, healthier, and more resilient here in northern Colorado.”

United Power has partnered with Silicon Ranch on four other energy infrastructure projects since 2014 – Fort Lupton Solar (13 MW), Mavericks Solar (6.5 MW), Platteville Solar (16 MW), and Rattlesnake Solar (6 MW). Each of these installations, located within the cooperative’s service territory, was developed working closely with local governments and neighboring landowners to make sure the projects fulfilled the needs of each community and United Power.

“Byers Solar Farm continues United Power’s march toward energy independence,” said Gabriel. “Since leaving our wholesale power contract on May 1, 2024, United Power has worked to build a power portfolio that both reduces our carbon emissions and stabilizes our costs. Our vision to diversify and hyper-localize power production will pay dividends to cooperative members in an increasingly volatile energy market.”

Learn more about United Power and its ongoing energy transition plans in Our Cooperative Roadmap.

About United Power:

United Power is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative, delivering electricity to homes, farms, and businesses throughout Colorado’s northern front range. The cooperative is one of the fastest-growing electric co-ops in the nation, serving nearly 114,000 meters. Its 900-square mile service territory extends from the mountains of Coal Creek and Golden Gate Canyon, along the I-25 corridor and Carbon Valley region, to the farmlands of Brighton, Hudson, and Keenesburg. For more information about United Power, visit www.unitedpower.com or follow the cooperative on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.

About Silicon Ranch:

Founded in 2011, Silicon Ranch is a fully integrated provider of customized solar energy, battery storage, and carbon solutions. The company is one of the largest independent power producers in the U.S., with a portfolio that includes more than seven gigawatts of solar and battery storage systems that are contracted, under construction, or operating across the U.S. and Canada. Silicon Ranch owns and operates every project in its portfolio and has maintained an unrivaled track record of project execution. Silicon Ranch has the largest wholly owned agrivoltaics portfolio in the country under Regenerative Energy®, its nationally recognized holistic approach to project design, construction, and land stewardship. This model incorporates regenerative ranching and other regenerative land stewardship practices to restore soil health, promote biodiversity, and improve water quality. Silicon Ranch’s carbon solutions platform, Clearloop, helps businesses of all sizes reclaim their carbon footprint by commissioning new solar projects in American communities where significant economic and environmental benefits can be achieved. To learn more, visit siliconranch.com and clearloop.us. Follow Silicon Ranch on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. 
 

Recipients Received $7,500 for Enrollment Costs at a Dedicated Power Line Program

Keeping the lights on is difficult and requires a detailed understanding of how electrical systems work. Without proper training and instruction, however, it can also be incredibly dangerous. Power line programs prepare individuals with the skills and safety awareness necessary for their future careers as lineworkers. As beneficial electrification accelerates across the country, it is also a field that is in high demand. Lineworkers often have access to excellent opportunities including job security, high pay, and exceptional benefits.

United Power awarded four lineworker scholarships to Colorado residents pursuing a career in the profession as part of its Community Benefit Plan through the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program. 

Parker Horton, Divide, CO
Trinidad State Rocky Mountain Lineman School

Horton became interested in a professional career as a lineworker after a conversation with a close family friend, mentor, and retired lineworker. Horton found the career pathway compelling because of its vital role in providing access to electricity, and is eager to contribute to an essential service. 

Zackery Johnson, Thornton, CO
Trinidad State Rocky Mountain Lineman School

Johnson is pursuing a career as a lineworker because he wants to provide power for the community and provide help after natural disasters. Johnson said enrolling in a power line program interested him because he would like to learn more about the electrical system that powers the country. 

Katie Killinen, Bayfield, CO
Colorado Mesa University Tech, Electrical Lineworker Program

Killinen was an intern for La Plata Electric Association over the summer in 2024. She is pursuing line work as a career because it is challenging and rewarding and also enables her to work outside and problem solve with other people. She finds the concepts and theories in electrical work interesting. 

Griffin Steele, Fort Collins, CO
Trinidad State Rocky Mountain Lineman School

Steele has been working with Fort Collins Water for a year, but has been looking for an opportunity to pursue line work. His favorite part of working in utilities is the sense of purpose it provides. Line work would add a challenge to that sense of purpose and provide a stable long-term career. 

Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” 

This quote from Alice and the Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is often paraphrased, “If you don’t know where you are going, then any road will get you there.” It speaks to the fact that a lack of direction can create challenges instead of opportunities and simply reinforces the status quo.

Having strategic direction, especially in times of significant societal and technological change, is critical. That is why the amazing team at United Power, supported by your Board of Directors, has unveiled the second version of Our Cooperative Roadmap (Roadmap). This document gives the co-op its direction and helps us screen activities in — as well as out.

The Roadmap v1.0 led us to where we are today. We have reduced our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 26% since May 1 and successfully raised $700 million to evolve as an independent utility and meet the needs of our communities and more than 113,000 members. The Roadmap helped us obtain $261 million through the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program to support the transition to a cleaner energy supply and hyper-localize our resources. It clarified our technology investments, how we interact with members, and our role in supporting our communities.

Much has changed nearly three years after we unveiled the initial Roadmap. The western United States is edging closer to a power market and new power sources have come online. More members are adding solar panels and purchasing electric vehicles. But much has also remained the same, such as Colorado’s goal of 80% reduction in GHG emissions over 2005 levels by 2030 — a goal we will meet or exceed by helping members such as those in the oil and gas industry achieve their targets simply by electrifying the production facilities.

The Roadmap v2.0 maintains its focus on four critical areas that lie at the heart of what we do as a member-owned electric cooperative:

• Empower and Engage with Members and Communities. This critical element ties directly to United Power’s Community Benefit Plan through New ERA. Our dedicated focus on supporting communities and members made creating the benefit plan a simple task for our team.
• Provide Flexible, Affordable, Responsible Power and Services. United Power’s hyperlocalization strategy has resulted in significant deployment of battery energy storage systems, with more than 110 MWs spread across nine substations. It already proved valuable during last summer’s peak. This industry-leading deployment means we can benefit from times when power prices are low, using the stored energy when demand (and prices) are high.
• Continuously Optimize the Electric Distribution System. As we move toward becoming a distribution system operator (DSO), focusing on local generation and control, our system investments are made with your future needs in mind. We installed a new outage management system in 2024 that, coupled with our advanced metering infrastructure, gives us better real-time operational data.
• Achieve and Maintain Business Agility and Resilience. We will be replacing our distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) in 2025 to better manage system operations, and are rolling out a new asset management tool to improve our response times and better manage material and projects.

Underpinning Our Cooperative Roadmap are the amazing women and men of United Power and the foundational responsibilities they bring to running your cooperative every day.

Lewis Carroll’s words resonate for me when he said, “One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others.” It sure sounds so to me.

As always, feel free to reach out to me with your questions, comments, and concerns.