Increase Offsets 4.23 percent Wholesale Power Increase from Tri-State

United Power’s Board of Directors approved a rate increase of 2.79 percent for residential and commercial members in 2017. The rate increase, coupled with cost containment efforts, will offset the 4.23 percent increase in wholesale power from Tri-State Generation and Transmission, United Power’s wholesale power supplier.

The average residential member will see an increase of less than $3 a month in their bill, while commercial members will see just under a $13 increase. The rate increase would become effective for usage beginning February 1st, so members will not see the increase until their March, 2017 bill.

“The board and staff worked hard looking at the ways we could contain operating costs to lessen the impact of this increase on our members,” said Darryl Schriver, CEO. “This modest increase will help the cooperative remain financially healthy, and should make a minimal impact on most members’ electric bills.”

Tri-State Generation and Transmission, a generation cooperative headquartered in Westminster, provides wholesale power to 43 distribution cooperatives in a four state region, including United Power. Tri-State indicated that both increased expenses and lower revenues have made the increase necessary.

An unexpected mid-year increase in power costs from one of their larger suppliers, coupled with increased costs of producing power is stated to be key drivers of their expense increases. Tri-State states that cost increases are being driven by regulatory compliance, additional environmental controls and increases to basic fuel and production costs.

Tri-State is also forecasting a reduction in revenue, due in part to lagging oil and gas production, slow growth, and closure of several large manufacturing and energy production facilities throughout their territory.

In 2014, United Power absorbed most of a 1.6 percent wholesale power cost increase by adjusting rates to a handful of rate classes, and reducing some operational costs. In 2015 only one industrial rate was adjusted even though many costs continued to increase for the cooperative.

“I am pleased with the effort both the board and staff made to find a rate solution that balanced the cooperative’s financial health and the well-being of our members,” Schriver said. “We remain committed to looking out for all our members, while continuing to build a system that delivers safe and reliable power.”

The drop in price of solar panels has created fertile ground for do-it-yourself power generators. While it’s not widespread, we have seen an increase in electric systems being installed that have not been planned and installed by a certified installation company or with the coordination of the utility.

United Power will be actively looking for these systems and requiring that the installations meet all required permitting processes. To keep everyone safe, the cooperative is even prepared to disconnect service to members who are operating a system without proper permitting until all requirements are met. This is necessary to help keep all our members and our employees safe. While it looks simple to throw some panels up on the roof and hook them up, there are a lot of risks involved with the process – let’s look at some of them:

Installation of a solar photovoltaic system is like any other electric installation in your home – it can be dangerous if not installed correctly. Make a mistake and you can suffer an injury – nasty things like burns, falls and electric shocks. There is also the risk of a fire if the unit is poorly installed. Like any electrical work in your home, your homeowners insurance will want to know that the unit it properly installed before paying any claim for damage. Also, if the utility doesn’t know you’ve put the system in it poses a real risk to lineworkers during maintenance work or during outage restoration. Not having an appropriate inverter would make your system into a mini power plant, that wouldn’t shut down during a power outage. Your system could feed energy back onto a line and injure or kill a worker if the utility doesn’t know it’s in operation.

Solar installations are subject to federal, state and local permit requirements, along with an interconnect agreement with the utility. Just as you would need permits to complete work on a basement finish or bathroom remodel, a solar system requires multiple permits. The permitting process makes certain your system is installed correctly, meeting all the electrical and/or plumbing requirements for the state and local municipalities. Electricity production is a regulated industry, so you’re not legally allowed to connect your system to an existing grid without appropriate inspections. The interconnection agreement with the utility helps to clarify your relationship with the utility – it makes you eligible to apply for rebates and allows you to take advantage of United Power’s net metering program.

If you have a generating system that you installed without securing the necessary permits, or are operating without an interconnection agreement with United Power, we are looking for you. Give us a call at 303-659-0551 to find out how we can help you get your system in compliance, and help you avoid injuring or killing one of our United Power line workers or someone in your neighborhood.