United Power members will soon share territory with one of Colorado’s most beloved invertebrates. Butterfly Pavilion, home to Rosie the tarantula, recently announced its plans to construct a new facility in Broomfield, just off Interstate 25 and Highway 7. The new facility will house a world-class research lab to serve as the hub for invertebrate knowledge, conservation, inspiration and connection. 

As the hub for invertebrate research, the new facility will offer an opportunity for new discoveries to reach the public more quickly and help contribute to the conservation of pollinators. 

“Butterfly Pavilion is launching this expansion to confront and solve global challenges in environmental conservation today and in the future,” said President and CEO Patrick Tennyson in a press release.

Butterfly Pavilion’s new facility will anchor Broomfield’s larger 900-acre science district in the Baseline neighborhood, which will include a linear park, a K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) school, and a “pollinator district,” with pollinator-friendly parks and open spaces. 

The new facility expects to open in 2021. In the meantime, Butterfly Pavilion will continue operating at its current location. 

In anticipation of this exciting move, United Power has partnered with Butterfly Pavilion to offer its members an exclusive opportunity to visit the current facility in Westminster at a discounted rate. Bring the coupon below in May, August or September between Monday and Thursday to receive $2 off general admission for guests of any age. 

Butterfly Pavilion was founded in 1995 as the first stand-alone, nonprofit invertebrate zoo in the nation. Its mission is to foster an appreciation of invertebrates by educating the public about the need to protect and care for threatened habitats globally, while conducting research for solutions in invertebrate conservation. 
 

United Power has spent the past year engaging in innovative solutions to bring members more reliable and efficient energy with an eye toward “Powering the Future,” the theme of the 79th Annual Meeting and Director Election held on April 18th. More than 700 people were represented at the annual member event held at the Adams County Fairgrounds in Brighton, Colo. With seats up for election in each of United Power’s four districts, members were asked to cast ballots to decide who would represent them in those seats for the next three years. For the first time since 2005, however, each of the incumbent directors ran for re-election unopposed. In a cost-saving decision, the cooperative’s board voted to have an onsite election instead of mailing ballots to members.  

Members cast more than 300 votes in the election, and results were announced during the course of the business meeting. South District incumbent, Susan Petrocco, received 321 votes to retain her seat for another term. Rick Newman, Mountain District, and Brian A. McCormick, West District, retained their seats with 311 votes each. In the East District, Tim Erickson also retained his seat with 310 votes.

Balloting began shortly after member registration at 4:30 p.m. in the Exhibit Hall. Members were then able to enjoy a Three Tomatoes catered dinner, visit informational exhibit booths and enjoy live entertainment. The business meeting began at approximately 6:30 p.m. in the Waymire Dome and was streamed to overflow seating in the Exhibit Hall.

Once the meeting was called to order, Board President James Vigesaa discussed some of the exciting new projects, developments and initiatives United Power has pursued over the past year.

United Power has been making moves in renewable energy generation and energy efficiency over the course of the past year with several exciting projects and programs on the horizon. The evening’s highlight came when Vigesaa announced United Power had reached an agreement with officials from the Town of Frederick to purchase the municipal electric utility, Frederick Power & Light, serving approximately 2,400 customers. Those customers will become members of the cooperative in the coming months. 

The addition of these new members comes at an exciting time for United Power. In October, the cooperative announced plans to construct a battery storage system at its new western facility located along Interstate 25. Developed in collaboration with SoCore Energy, the battery storage system would become the largest such system in Colorado and one of the largest systems owned and operated by a cooperative in the country. 

In the previous year, the board named a new Chief Executive Officer, John Parker, and appointed Keith Alquist II to fill the seat left vacant when Bob Grant resigned in August. United Power also completed construction on its third solar farm. The Platte Solar Farm, energized in November, adds 16 additional megawatts of energy to United Power’s renewable energy portfolio and joins existing farms in Ft. Lupton and Mead. 

Through developments and initiatives like these, United Power continues to aim high and set the standard for others to follow, and has been rewarded with continued economic stability. The cooperative’s operating expenses totaled $226 million in 2017, an increase of nearly $14 million from 2016, nearly all due to higher purchased power costs, Board Secretary/Treasurer Beth Martin reported. Purchased power represents more than 76 percent of operating costs. 

The strong financial standing allowed United Power to retire more than $5 million in capital credits this past year compared to $4 million the previous year. In the past five years, United Power has retired nearly $24 million in capital credits.

The Annual Meeting continued with the CEO’s Report, including two special video presentations. The first demonstrated some of the ways United Power has innovatively restructured departments to make processes more efficient. The second video detailed the use of UAVs (or drones) to inspect power lines and poles in our mountain territory in a way that makes identifying issues quicker, safer and cheaper. The program will soon launch in the plains territory. 

“Our Annual Meeting is more than an event to inform our members,” Parker said. “It’s a chance for them to celebrate our accomplishments with us. Everything we’re doing is an effort to bring them safe, reliable and sustainable power.”

For members who were unable to attend but are still interested in how United Power continues to serve them, these videos are available on the cooperative’s website, social media and YouTube channel.

The evening also included a special check presentation to 2018 scholarship winners. United Power is proud to provide more than $18,000 in scholarships to deserving high school seniors within our service territory who are intent on pursing postsecondary education. 

The meeting concluded with a member forum and drawing for door prizes. United Power looks forward to monitoring trends and innovations that allow us to best serve our members as we also look forward to celebrating our 80th anniversary in the coming year.

2018 Director Election Results

United Power members cast more than 300 ballots, and the following results were certified by the Election and Credentials Committee at the 2018 Annual Meeting:

South District
Susan Petrocco, 321

West District
Brian A. McCormick, 311

East District
Tim Erickson, 310

Mountain District
Rick Newman, 311
 

When darkness befalls a city, superheroes lace up their boots, throw on their capes and race into danger without a moment’s hesitation. Everyone knows the classic Spider-Man quote, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Every day heroes may not wear capes and fly around the city, but they know when the going gets tough, it’s time for them to get going. 

The Denver area is synonymous with winter storms, and when the metro last experienced the most trying pitfalls of living at the base of the Rocky Mountains in October 2009, United Power linemen were prepped and ready to go as snow blanketed the metro area. Schools and businesses took preemptive action, closing before the storm hit. By the time the last snowflake nestled in with its brethren, snow had been falling for more than 24 hours. 

While area youth enjoyed a day away from the classroom, a different picture unfolded in the Front Range. Coal Creek Canyon, a community within United Power’s mountain service area, had accumulated nearly four feet of snow. 

To put that number into perspective, Chicago’s average annual snowfall is around three feet.  

Calm winds allowed the snow to gingerly build on tree branches, poles, yard ornaments and fences, bringing with it a massive burden. Each new snowflake resting precariously on unsuspecting surfaces brought weight inching toward disaster, like the dastardly plan of a supervillain. Before the storm faded, thousands of Coal Creek residents were without power as tree branches, cross arms and power lines succumbed to the weight of the snow. 

Within moments of the outage, United Power had begun mobilizing crews to diagnose the situation and restore power. Operations Superintendent Mike Lanckriet, a lineman of 32 years, and his crew were among the first to respond. 

“We took careful steps to monitor the storm as it moved into our territory, but we never expected the amount of snow we got,” Lanckriet said. “At times the snow was deeper than our linemen were tall. But we didn’t think of it in terms of challenges. When we arrived, our first focus was what needed to be done to get the power back on.”

United Power linemen wouldn’t let the enormity of the task ahead deter them from accomplishing their goal. They laced up their boots, threw on their tools and raced headfirst into our worst winter storm in more than 12 years.

Crews spent nearly a week battling dense snow, bitter cold and physical and mental fatigue while alternating 14 hour shifts to restore power to Coal Creek. Final repairs, however, took more than two weeks to complete. 

“You try to be as prepared as possible before a large storm, but there’s always a level of unpredictability,” said Kurt Eisenbarth, another United Power superintendent and former lineman. “It takes a different mentality to thrive on that in the most critical situations.”

Living along the Front Range means each winter brings the possibility of another debilitating winter storm, but in reality critical situations come few and far between. Most of the time, linemen are working when the weather’s calm and the sun is shining. It’s easy to forget the service they provide when the situation isn’t seen as “critical,” easy to divorce their role from the danger linemen face each day. 

“It doesn’t take lightning or snow for our job to be dangerous,” said Operations Manager Brent Sydow. “The most routine task requires a high level of care and safety.”

Being a lineman requires hard work, dedication and commitment – to their crew and their work – to doing dangerous work, knowing the fruits of their labor are often misunderstood or unrecognized. 

Residents in a comic book rest easy knowing a superhero is there to save the day when danger rears its head, much like we confidently trust in the unimpeded flow of electricity to power our lives. But when the power fails, our linemen spring into action. 

We invite our members to join us in celebrating National Lineman Appreciation Day on April 18th. Use #ThankALineman on social media to show your support, or take a moment to drop a kind note in the mail. 

Outages can come without warning, from a variety of different situations, but one thing you can count on: when the power goes out, a United Power line crew is already on its way. 

“When the power goes out, it’s about a brotherhood coming together to accomplish a goal, working shoulder to shoulder through blood, sweat and tears,” Eisenbarth said. “At night, they get to be the superheroes.”  
 

Electricity is something many don’t think about until it’s not working. For some, backup plans are already in place to ensure a continual flow of power when storms or high winds threaten to disrupt service. 

The use of portable generators is commonplace during power outages, but you may not know they can potentially create one of the more dangerous situations for the linemen trying to restore power to you and your neighbors. When a generator is plugged into a wall outlet, service panel or breaker box, it produces a “backfeed,” which happens when electrical energy flows in the reverse direction from its normal flow. A backfeed reenergizes the transformer closest to your house, and puts linemen at risk of electrocution. 

Think of a transformer as a funnel. As electricity enters the transformer from the powerlines, it is funneled out at a lower voltage sufficient to provide power to a household. When it enters from the reverse direction, it has the opposite effect, returning the voltage to a higher level. Linemen who are caught unaware of a backfeed could risk serious injury, or even death. 

It is never recommended to plug a generator into a wall outlet, service panel or breaker box; instead, plug appliances and other electrical devices directly into the generator as specified in the product’s operating instructions. In the event you find it necessary to plug the generator into a wall outlet, flipping your property’s main breaker to the “off” position may provide protection to linemen working in the area. This position prevents electricity from flowing into or out of the breaker. Remember to disconnect your generator from the wall outlet prior to turning the breaker back on.

Linemen spend countless hours in dangerous situations making sure power continues to flow to every member in our service area. Help us take the necessary steps to keep them safe.