2025Celebrating 80 Years
Eighty years! That’s how long the Colorado Rural Electric Association has been advocating for and providing services to Colorado’s electric cooperatives. Founded in 1945, our trade association has partnered with our member co-ops for decades to support their mission of providing reliable and affordable electricity to all corners of Colorado. We celebrated our 80th anniversary during the recent annual meeting of our members in Denver; here are some highlights.
Industry Updates
In addition to full-day education sessions focused on cooperative governance and power supply issues, we hosted an amazing group of speakers on a wide variety of topics: an economic update from CFC; an update on activities in the U.S. Congress from CoBank; a state political update from our CREA government relations team; a panel discussing data centers and their potential impacts on co-ops, and a co-op power supplier conversation.
The meeting was an opportunity for co-op directors and CEOs to hear the latest on what’s happening in the fast-moving electric industry.
Light Up Navajo
Attendees also heard from Walter Haas, the head of the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority. We have worked with NTUA for the last couple of years to send co-op lineworkers to the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona to help build electric lines to homes without access to power. Last year, line crews from seven Colorado electric co-ops worked with employees of NTUA to construct distribution lines to serve dozens of families. Haas made a special trip to Denver to thank our co-ops and CREA for their contribution to this work. We look forward to continuing our support of NTUA to help power the lives of the many Navajo citizens who are still living without electricity.
Legislative Reception and Breakfast
Our annual meeting is always scheduled when the Colorado General Assembly is in session so that we can meet with legislators and talk about issues that concern electric co-ops. We had great participation by the members of our legislature again this year and we had a chance to talk about the many issues facing our members, including the risks posed by wildfires on rural communities.
Our 80th annual meeting was a huge success due to the engagement of our members and the excellent work of the entire CREA team. We look forward to another 80 years protecting the interests of Colorado’s electric cooperatives!
Kent Singer is the executive director of CREA and offers a statewide perspective on issues affecting electric cooperatives. CREA is the trade association for 21 Colorado electric distribution co-ops and one power supply co-op.
