By Paul Wesslund Ted Case spent the past several years diving deeply into unexplored parts of electric co-op history. He described how co-ops have affected national policy since the 1930s in his first book, Power Plays: The U.S. Presidency, Electric Cooperatives, and the Transformation of Rural America. His second, just-released book title describes itself: Poles, […]
It was one of those wrong place at the wrong time type of deals,” Clint Shults says. On a snowy morning in April 2016, Shults loaded a school bus with FFA students from Meeker High School. The group was heading to a competition at Colorado Northwest Community College, about 65 miles away. A heavy, wet […]
United Power and Silicon Ranch recently dedicated a new solar farm in the northern Colorado town of Mead just a few miles from Mead High School, home to the Mead Energy Academy. The Academy is a unique and innovative program that offers a secondary public education concentrated on the principles of energy, while students earn […]
Solar Energy International’s Solar in the Schools program secured funding recently when Montrose-based Delta-Montrose Electric Association committed $150,000 to the program, contributing the money from the co-op’s unclaimed capital credit fund to support the installation of solar electric systems at five high schools within its territory. As a member-owned cooperative, DMEA returns excess revenue back […]
By Justin LaBerge, with additional information provided by Colorado Country Life A house, two kids, a manicured lawn and a well-maintained fence to keep it all safe. For years, that was the dream to which many Americans aspired. But if you scroll through your social media feed or watch one of the countless reality shows […]
By Paul Wesslund Solar panels, electric cars, computer hackers, vandals and thieves might not seem to have much in common, but they’re all making big changes in your electric service. Those changes have electric utilities talking about “the substation of the future.” If everything goes according to plan, you may never even know about those […]
Durango-based Fort Lewis College celebrated the opening of the new Geosciences, Physics and Engineering (GPE) building. La Plata Electric Association and its members helped fund this building through an educational and special projects grant of $200,000 from Unclaimed Capital Credits. LPEA staff engineer, Rachel Schur-Wagner says that Fort Lewis is cutting-edge and the opening of […]
Projects focused on electricity were honored at the Colorado Science and Engineering Fair thanks to CREA and the financial support of CoBank. The 62nd annual statewide science fair at Colorado State University in Fort Collins included more than 300 projects created by students in grades 6 through 12 from across the state. As a sponsor […]
By Paul Wesslund If you ever want to see one of the biggest changes going on in the world today, look around your home. Your smartphone, video gaming system, security camera, fitness bracelet, thermostat and even your television could be part of a vast, interconnected group of devices that goes by the clunky name of […]
Grand Valley Power in Grand Junction, GRID Alternatives and the Colorado Energy Office announced the development of the third phase of a low-income solar project at Grand Valley Power’s Community Solar Array. Through a partnership between GVP and GRID, the first phase of this 29 kW solar array was installed in 2015, which was the […]