Electronic Balloting Now Open; Paper Ballots Mailed March 15

Brighton, CO – Balloting in United Power’s 2024 Director Election is open. Members of the cooperative have the option to cast their ballots electronically through their online account or via paper ballot, mailed to members on Friday, March 15. Electronic and mail ballots must be received by 11:59 a.m. on April 16. Members may also vote in person at the cooperative’s Annual Meeting on April 17.

United Power encourages all members to cast their votes in the annual Director Election. Voting allows members to have a voice in their board representation and helps the cooperative better serve its members. Members can log into their online account or the United Power mobile app to cast an electronic ballot. Click the “Vote Now” button to access the ballot. Mail ballots should be returned via the postage-paid envelope included in the ballot package.

Four positions on United Power’s Board are up for election this year – one seat in the Mountain, North, Central, and South Districts. The director candidates are Stephen Whiteside (incumbent) in the Mountain District; Brian A. McCormick (incumbent) in the North District; Tim Erickson (incumbent) and Paige Wagner-Maul in the Central District; and Brad Case (incumbent) in the South District. Candidate statements are available here.

Directors represent all members and are elected on an “at-large” basis. This means members may cast a vote for a director in each district and not just their own. Directors serve in geographic districts to ensure United Power’s Board adequately represents members throughout the service territory and provides accessibility to cooperative leadership.

A bylaw amendment is included on this year’s ballot regarding the length of a director’s term. Members will be asked whether director terms should be lengthened from three years to four years.

Director Election and bylaw amendment results will be announced at the 2024 Annual Meeting, held at the Riverdale Regional Park & Fairgrounds in Brighton on April 17. Registration for the meeting opens at 4:30 p.m. and balloting closes at the beginning of the official business meeting at 6:30 p.m. A livestream of the meeting will be hosted on the cooperative’s website at www.unitedpower.com/annual-meeting.

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, and in June 2021 joined the elite ranks of cooperatives serving more than 100,000 meters. The 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. United Power is also a founding member of the NextGen Cooperative Alliance, which is dedicated to expanding the power supply and procurement options available to distribution co-ops and reforming the traditional generation and transmission business model. For more information about United Power, visit www.unitedpower.com or follow the cooperative on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.

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I have spent much of my 30+ year career in the utility industry. Through the years, people have often asked me what the “best” business model is to provide electricity. There are basically three choices: investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, and cooperatives like United Power.

I try to reflect on the various pluses and minuses of each business model when answering the question, but always come back to the same conclusion — cooperatives are the closest to their member-owners, focus clearly on the communities being served, and can make changes quickly as technology transforms the energy enterprise.

Commitment to our member-owners is deeply embedded in the cooperative mindset. Our employees work diligently each day to meet the needs of United Power members, while also anticipating future needs. This is why we have been able to handle the tremendous growth in our service territory across all the sectors we are proud to serve: residential, small commercial, and large commercial/industrial. Our attitude and culture is to meet needs when and where they arise, based on the members’ time frame.

Members have an active voice in the utility’s future direction through the annual Director Election. The dedicated women and men on United Power’s Board of Directors spend many hours alongside management preparing for what is to come. This is particularly important with the rapidly changing environment we find ourselves in today.

The Board had the foresight to pilot the largest battery storage facility in the West in 2018. It provided understanding and experience in operating battery storage systems, and paved the way for the cooperative to add another 115 megawatts of battery storage to our system this spring and summer. This battery deployment ensures reliability and allows us to manage the system locally. We will be one of the first utilities in the nation to energize utility-scale batteries at our substations. Moving quickly and taking advantage of innovative technologies is a hallmark of the cooperative world, and certainly at United Power.

Our theme for this year — United Power’s 85th anniversary — is Here for Good. This captures our belief in building a reliable and resilient distribution system and our enduring presence in the communities we serve. United Power fosters local relationships and partners on economic development to support community growth. The cooperative also partners with members who want to give back to those less fortunate through Operation Round Up. More than 25,000 of you participate in the program, which has distributed more than $3 million since 1995. This is why the cooperative business model is so strong — the proximity to the people we serve as “members” and not just “customers.”

As a member, you are also an owner with a vested economic interest in United Power. A part of every monthly statement is an investment in your utility — a key difference in the three business models. Every year, the Board of Directors evaluates our financial condition and determines if we can return margins to members. In the last five years alone, we have returned more than $25 million to members. This only happens in the cooperative world (unless you own stock in an investor-owned utility, of course).

Electric cooperatives are based on seven principles: open and voluntary membership; democratic member control; members economic participation; autonomy and independence; education, training, and information; cooperation among cooperatives; and concern for community. We take these principle to heart in everything we do at United Power.

My third anniversary at the helm of United Power is March 15. I am thankful every day to live and work in a community powered by an electric cooperative, and to work with the amazing women and men of this utility.

As always, please feel free to reach out with your questions, comments, or concerns. I enjoy hearing from our members and appreciate your continued support.