CREA Energy Innovations Summit Focuses on an Evolving Industry

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Transmission, electric vehicles, wind power, solar power, energy storage and other electricity-related topics were part of a daylong downtown Denver conference sponsored October 30 by the Colorado Rural Electric Association.

An audience of more than 300 people, including students from Mead Energy Academy and Pagosa Springs High School, attended the eighth annual CREA Energy Innovations Summit on October 30 in Denver. The attendees listened to experts from across the country who shared the latest developments in electric cars, renewable energy, power markets and energy technologies. The attendees included Michelle Ren and Julianna O-Clair of Brush and Tate Schrock of Anton, winners of CREA-sponsored EnergyWise Awards at the 2017 Colorado Science and Engineering Fair. The students presented their science fair projects during the vendor fair at the Summit.

Following an opening panel of electric co-op experts discussing the changing industry, breakout sessions looked at the pros and cons of Colorado’s electric utilities joining a regional transmission organization and the state of electric vehicles in rural Colorado.

Leading the RTO panel were representatives from co-op power supplier Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Xcel Energy and the Southwest Power Pool RTO. They discussed how belonging to an RTO would optimize the use of the generation and transmission assets for those utilities in the group and how that could lead to improved renewable integration while reducing production costs. They also reviewed the challenges of bringing all of these different entities together and calculating a regional tariff and various possible cost shifts.

Meanwhile, a parallel breakout session explored how electric vehicles may impact the grid. It was noted that Colorado ranks 4th when it comes to EV growth. And, while much of the EV growth is in Denver, Gunnison County Electric Association CEO Mike McBride noted that drivers in GCEA’s territory have embraced the co-op’s EV and utilize the charging stations the co-ops have helped install. Brian Sloboda of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association explained the research and information that the national trade association has available for co-ops promoting EVs within their territory.

Dr. Martin Keller, Director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, was the featured speaker at the Summit luncheon. Dr. Keller discussed the work being done by NREL in renewable energy and the advances being made in renewable and storage technology. During the Summit’s afternoon sessions, a breakout session on distributed energy resources drew a standing-room-only crowd. The panel discussed the grid of the future and what it might look like as more electric users look to smaller power sources behind their meters to meet their needs. Utilities will need to move from just interconnecting with these customers to integrating with their power supplies, according to one panelist. New technology and new forecasting methods will be needed to make this all work.

Other breakout sessions included a look at wind generation and an update on natural gas. Both panels showcased new technology that is advancing the efficiency and benefits of these resources.

The day closed with a panel discussion on energy storage. Experts from the National Renewable Energy Lab, the Electric Power Research Institute and Tesla provided status reports on storage technology and how soon it will be reliable and affordable enough to complement renewables on the grid.

Next year’s Summit is set for Monday, October 29 at the Westin Denver Downtown hotel.

 

Co-op Communities Caring for Neighbors through Energy Program

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Did you know that nearly one in four Colorado households can’t afford to pay their home energy bills without skimping on other basic necessities like food or prescriptions? Fortunately, many of Colorado’s electric cooperatives and other supporters make it possible for Energy Outreach Colorado to provide year-round energy bill payment assistance in all 64 Colorado counties for senior citizens, families with young children, veterans and individuals with special needs.

This year, EOC is providing nearly $7 million to help pay overdue home energy bills for low-income Coloradans. EOC distributes the funds through its statewide network of 95 community assistance partners that include senior support agencies, county human service offices, faith-based organizations and veteran support groups. These local partners accept energy assistance applications, determine eligibility and approve direct payments to utility or fuel companies to help struggling households catch up on their energy bills.

“Federally-funded programs for low-income Americans are increasingly at risk, so local nonprofits like Energy Outreach are more important than ever to support our most vulnerable neighbors and communities,” EOC Executive Director Skip Arnold said. “When we can stabilize a family by making sure they have the basic necessities of heat and light, everyone in the community benefits.”

A history of lending a hand

EOC was established in 1989 by state lawmakers who wanted to ensure that Coloradans could remain warm and safe in their homes, regardless of decreasing funding for federal programs such as the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP). Since then, EOC has worked with community organizations, energy companies, policymakers and individual supporters to deliver nationally-recognized programs to help low-income Coloradans afford home energy. To date, EOC has invested more than $255 million in affordable energy programs for low-income Coloradans.

In addition to bill payment assistance, EOC manages programs to repair and replace nonworking home heating systems; manage weatherization projects to lower costs in single-family homes and apartments, affordable housing communities and nonprofit buildings; and educate residents about smart energy usage. EOC is also an active participant at local, state and national levels in the planning and implementation of affordable and equitable energy policies.

Linda D.

One Coloradan who was helped through EOC is disabled senior Linda D., a long-time resident of Silverton in San Juan County. Because of a severe lung condition, she needs oxygen and weekly home intravenous treatments. Last winter she was diagnosed with cancer and spent several months undergoing radiation therapy and traveling to consult with doctors in Denver and Durango. She couldn’t afford to keep up with her home energy bill and was on the brink of losing her lights and heat, during which snowfall totals surpassed 200 inches. She was thankful and relieved when EOC paid the balance of her energy bill. Linda has since made a full recovery from the cancer.

“Without utilities I can’t live,” she said. “My biggest fear is that I won’t be self-sufficient anymore and I’ll have to move in with one of my kids and become a burden.”

Co-op communities keep program healthy

To continue to do this important work and help Coloradans like Linda, EOC has a monthly donor program called HEAT HEROES, which enables caring Coloradans to easily make monthly contributions on their energy bill or credit card. The HEAT HEROES are 10,000 special supporters who provide nearly $1 million each year for neighbors facing dangerous living conditions as they struggle to afford home energy. Monthly HEAT HEROES provide consistent help to keep a neighbor in need safe at home.

The 2017 Powering the Plains bicycle team.

EOC thanks Holy Cross Energy, CORE Electric Cooperative (formally Intermountain Rural Electric Association) and Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association for being corporate supporters. Thanks to generous matching support from CORE and Empire Electric Association, their members’ donations to EOC are doubled to help more struggling neighbors in their own communities.

In addition, the Powering the Plains bicycle team sponsored by Touchstone Energy Cooperatives pedaled thousands of miles to ride on behalf of EOC during the past six Pedal the Plains bike tours. With continued support from rural electric association partners, Energy Outreach Colorado can help Coloradans remain warm and safe in their homes this winter.

You can become a HEAT HERO by making a warm-hearted monthly donation to EOC on your energy bill. For more information go to energyoutreach.org/monthly or call 303-226-5057. EOC has received 14 consecutive top ratings from Charity Navigator and is a Platinum-level participant of GuideStar.

For Information about energy bill payment assistance, go to energyoutreach.org/get-help or call toll-free 1-866-HEAT-HELP (1-866-432-8435).

 

Pot & Power Powerpoints

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Click the links below to access the Powerpoints from the Pot & Power Conference:

Tom Downey, Ireland Stapleton law firm: An Overview of Legal Marijuana

Pot & Power: Impact of MJ Legalization on Electric Utilities

A Perspective on Marijuana Legalization from Washington State

Enjoy the Internet without Hackers

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By Paul Wesslund

This month, electric cooperatives across the country are joining forces to raise awareness about cybersecurity. We hope you will join us in taking action and recognizing October as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Electric co-ops protect the private information of members and ensure hackers don’t tamper with the reliability of the electric grid, but consumers have a lot at stake, too. Think about losing all the photos on your smartphone or having bank or credit card information stolen from your computer.

Cyber criminals all over the world are on the prowl through the internet and they’re getting better at what they do, according to the team of cybersecurity experts at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

“The bad guys tend to be a step ahead and we’re always going to be playing catch-up, so you’re never going to be 100 percent secure,” says Barry Lawson, a senior director of regulatory affairs at NRECA. “But it’s not something to be afraid of. There are basic steps people can take to provide good layers of protection.”

Lawson, along with two other NRECA cybersecurity specialists, Cynthia Hsu, cybersecurity program manager, and Bridgette Bourge, senior principal for legislative affairs, recently discussed steps consumers can take to protect themselves and their valuable data.

They suggest thinking of cybersecurity as cyber hygiene. “Just like washing your hands will help keep you from getting bacteria,” Bourge says, “there are simple things you can do to protect yourself online.”

The first step is to make cyber hygiene a habit, Hsu says. She advises people at work and in their homes to incorporate basic security steps into their daily mindset.

Here are the top tips for protecting yourself from internet danger at work and home, as recommended by the NRECA experts:

1. CREATE A STRONG PASSWORD: If it seems difficult to keep up with all the passwords for the different software and applications you use, at least focus on the main passwords that allow the primary internet access, like the ones that open your computer, phone and wireless router. Make it complicated with a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and special characters like “%” or “&.” Remember to change the password at least every six months.

2. KEEP SOFTWARE UPDATED: Notices of updates don’t just add flashy features to your apps, they often add security patches to protect against new security threats. Updates usually come automatically from the software company, whether it’s for the computer, mobile device operating system, one of the many functional apps, like Facebook, or a link to your favorite sports team. But take a level of caution on updates as well. You can check regularly for updates either from your device or by going to the application’s website. Be suspicious of update notices that arrive by email, especially if they claim to require urgent action. Visit the application’s website to make sure the update is legitimate.

3. DON’T CLICK ON ANY LINK OR ATTACHED FILE UNLESS YOU KNOW WHERE IT WILL TAKE YOU: A lot of the computer hacking problems you hear about in the news result from people clicking on links or attached files that infect their computers or mobile devices. An email can even be disguised to look like it’s coming from your best friend, so simple diligence can be extremely beneficial. Take a moment and move your cursor over a link to reveal the full address before clicking it. You’ll see a lot of confusing symbols, but you should also be able to recognize the name of the legitimate source. If you don’t, find another way to verify the link.

4. INSTALL AND USE VIRUS PROTECTION: Buy your antivirus software from one of the major recognized companies and make it a subscription-type service that regularly sends automatic updates.

5. DON’T USE FLASH DRIVES: Those little thumb drives or jump drives you insert into your USB port may be handy ways to share lots of photos or other large documents, but as your mother might say, you don’t know where they’ve been. These portable memory devices are another common way computers get infected with damaging software. Instead, learn to use Dropbox or other software solutions for transferring large files.

6. BACK UP YOUR DEVICES: Make sure you have a current copy of everything on your computer or mobile device. Every few weeks, transfer your contents to an external storage system that you then unplug from your computer. You can buy an external hardware drive or online storage designed just for this purpose. Think of it this way: What if your computer or phone were lost or stolen? Recent computer attacks involve ransomware that locks your computer and threatens to delete or prevent access to everything on it unless you pay a ransom to the hackers. The hackers might not unlock it even after a ransom is paid. If you suffer a ransomware attack, you might need to take your computer to a professional to wipe everything off your hard drive and start over. But with a backup you will be able to restore your most valuable documents.

7. SECURE ALL YOUR INTERNET-CONNECTED DEVICES: Hackers started invading wireless printers and baby monitors that work through the internet. These devices tend to have extremely weak, preset passwords that you probably don’t even notice. Read the instructions carefully, set good passwords, keep the devices updated and make sure any wireless routers in your home are secure as well. Any internet-connected device — smart televisions, cameras, voice-activated speakers, thermostats, video games, fitness bracelets, internet-connected refrigerators and lightbulbs — is vulnerable.

8. PROTECT THE KIDS: Don’t forget that children also need to be aware and practice good cyber hygiene. They should know not to send out such information as birthdates and other ID numbers, as well as details like how long the family will be away on vacation. Learn to use parental control options on your hardware and software.

To learn more about National Cybersecurity Awareness Month and to view additional cybersecurity tips, visit www.staysafeonline.org.

Paul Wesslund writes on cooperative issues for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Q&A with Co-op Historian Ted Case

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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, Wires and War: The Remarkable Untold Story of Rural Electrification and the Vietnam War. (***Scroll to the bottom of this page to read more about Case’s new book.***)

Case is executive director of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He recently talked about what the history of electric co-ops means for co-op member-owners everywhere.

Q: How did you end up writing about electric co-ops in the Vietnam War?

A: It came out of my first book and the chapter on President Lyndon Johnson. In 1965, he received a letter from the general manager of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Clyde Ellis, saying that NRECA could help win the war by putting electric co-ops in Vietnam. I was intrigued by that bold claim. Since Johnson was such an early and strong supporter of rural electrification in Texas, he embraced Ellis’s proposal fully. Learning about that story led me on this quest to track down some of the men and women who had worked on it.

Q: Did NRECA start co-ops in Vietnam?

A: It was a really good effort. Just 20 men went over there in a five-year period. These were the most difficult co-ops to establish in the history of the electric co-op program. The Viet Cong soldiers that were fighting against the South Vietnamese tried to cut down the co-op lines and chop down their poles and blow up their dams, and they did all those things. The people trying to start the co-ops faced rampant corruption and an inability to get poles and other materials. They got three co-ops up and running and brought light to thousands of villagers. But the program ended and they had to leave, and the communists overtook the country.

Q: What lessons did you learn from researching the book?

A: The support the U.S. co-op workers got from the Vietnamese villagers was not unlike the support from the farmers who started electric co-ops in the United States in the 1930s. The Vietnamese villagers wanted a radio. They wanted an iron and lights to read. Toward the end of the war when the communists were rolling through the country in 1975, they came to a town that was one of the co-ops’ headquarters. The militia in the town rose up and fought against the communists in one of the most heroic battles of the war. They were fighting for their electricity. They were fighting for what they had built.

Q: Has researching these books changed your view of electric co-ops?

A: I have a greater appreciation. Our heritage is so much a part of who we are, and there’s not many people who remember when the lights came on anymore, so that’s different. But the core values of what co-ops do are the same as in 1936 when the Rural Electrification Act became law.

Q: What are those values?

A: I think of one particular co-op, about medium-sized and close to an urban area. It has several thousand people who come to the office to pay their bills. They don’t need to do that. It’s a lot easier to just toss the bill in the mail or pay online, but they go in because the co-op has this value beyond just electric service. It really is the center of everything in the town and an economic driver. That sums up how the co-op is not just a power company. It’s the center of their world.

Q: Does that kind of relationship really apply in this increasingly high-tech world in a high-tech industry?

A: As I travel the country, I’m blown away by the technical acumen and the vision and the strategic abilities of co-op leaders to see into the future. Electric co-ops are getting involved in providing broadband internet connections at a time when nobody else will do it. It’s the same innovation that brought electricity to rural areas.

Q: Can a co-op be successful providing technologies as different as electricity and broadband?

A: Co-ops will embrace new technologies when that’s what their members want. Members say they’re interested in solar energy and other utility innovations, like developing advanced batteries that could increase reliability and store renewable energy for times when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. Co-ops never strayed from that business model that listens and responds to their members, their customers, their owners.

Q: Can’t some of these new ventures be risky?

A: Definitely. And that brings out another strength of member ownership: The control is local. Providing internet and other services won’t make sense for all of the more than 900 co-ops across the country. There are very difficult decisions being made in co-op boardrooms, and history shows there is tremendous wisdom that comes out of the discussions among the local co-ops and their members.

Q: How does that member-owned business model relate to the basic mission of keeping electricity reliable and affordable?

A: Co-ops continue to be very competitive, in rates, service and reliability. And there are so many other things they do for their members. It comes back to that local connection. Members know the folks who work at the co-op. They know the directors. There’s terrific customer service getting the lights back on after an outage. Electric reliability is very important, and co-ops do that as well as anyone.

Q: One characteristic of electric co-ops is their not-for-profit nature. How does that affect the co-op members?

A: A lot. Increasingly, institutions have fallen from grace because everybody believes there’s this profit motive that’s just out to milk you and there’s such a lack of trust in a lot of the large institutions. Being not-for-profit is an attractive feature that means decisions are based on the best interest of the co-op and the consumer.

Q: So what should members know about their electric co-op?

A: That they have the ability to influence their co-op more than they ever imagined. Co-op board members that I know are really interested in hearing from folks and getting feedback. One person can really make a huge difference. When somebody shows up at a co-op annual meeting and has a point to make, the boards take it seriously. The co-op’s management takes it seriously. That’s the value. It’s pretty hard to get heard these days. But at a co-op, your voice makes a difference.

Paul Wesslund writes on cooperative issues for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Lighting Up a Warzone
The audacious story of electric co-ops in Vietnam
By Paul Wesslund

During one of the hardest chapters in American history, electric co-ops volunteered to win the war in Vietnam.

They didn’t win the war, but in his new book Poles, Wires and War, The Remarkable Untold Story of Rural Electrification and the Vietnam War, author Ted Case tells a riveting story of how they tried. He argues that the success electric co-ops had in the conflict that divided our nation just might have helped that Southeast Asian nation recover more quickly by demonstrating the value of bringing electricity to the countryside.

Case brings authority to the book as executive director of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He also makes good use of his masters degree in fiction writing to tell a compelling story of an audacious offer from Clyde Ellis, the head of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, to President Lyndon Johnson. Give the South Vietnamese electricity, Ellis said, and you’ll win their hearts and minds in the fight against communism.

What followed was a classic battle of enormous personalities, foreign and domestic political and military maneuvering, and a determined band of people who brought electricity to the American countryside, fighting the odds to bring light to a warzone halfway around the world.

Case creates a fast-paced narrative as the crews race the collapsing war to pass bylaws, organize the co-ops and tangle with corruption, bureaucracy, in-fighting and Viet Cong soldiers determined to destroy what they were creating. In the end, in less than four years, three electric co-ops were bringing electricity to more than 8,000 members.

It was a service the South Vietnamese villagers valued and owned. They even felt strong enough to literally fight for it, in a doomed battle against an assault from Viet Cong armored tanks.

Case creates a highly readable, deep and unique American history of overcoming the highest of hurdles to show people how they could bring power to themselves; first in America, and then to the world.

You can order the book online at TedCaseAuthor.com.

Paul Wesslund writes on cooperative issues for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Safe on the Bus

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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 snow was accumulating.

Shults, a longtime volunteer for FFA, drove the school bus. The FFA team’s horse judging coach, Silvia Otabachian-Smith, followed the bus in her car. The caravan traveled just 7 miles when disaster struck.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shults saw a flash of snow falling off a power line and then heard the sound of a wire coiling. From behind the bus, Otabachian-Smith witnessed several bursts of fire. The bus snagged a power line just as it was falling to the ground under the weight of the snow.

“There’s an unmistakable sound, if you’ve ever heard wire unraveling from a roll,” Shults says. “The noise of us dragging the wire across the highway and just through the air … and then the strain of the wire as it became unraveled.” Rather than throwing on the brakes, Shults took his foot off the accelerator and let the bus coast to a stop.

Behind the bus, Otabachian-Smith’s first thought was to get out of her car and check that the students were unharmed. Luckily, a phone call from a student kept her safe. “They all started yelling at me on the phone,” she explains. “At that point, I knew we were in pretty big trouble.”

Amidst the chaos, Shults and his wife, who was also on the bus, kept the students calm and called 911 to notify dispatchers of the accident. Once Shults assessed the situation, his next concern was whether oncoming traffic could see them and stop in time, seeing as the bus signals shorted out.

“Everybody did everything right,” Sheriff Anthony Mazzola says.

John Purkey, line superintendent at White River Electric Association, and Sherriff Anthony Mazzola soon arrived on the scene. Sheriff Mazzola says, “John Purkey got out first. He needed to secure the scene.” He ensured that the lines were de-energized and untangled from the bus and that the scene was safe before first responders moved in.

White River Electric regularly provides training to local first responders. “We knew from this training that you don’t approach a scene because there is such a thing as step voltage, that even though the wire is on the ground as you walk into that scene, you could be stepping into different voltage variations and injure yourself,” Sheriff Mazzola explains.

The rescue took less than 20 minutes and everyone remained safe because they knew the right steps to take. “Everybody did everything right,” Sheriff Mazzola says. “The dispatcher told them not to leave the bus. Clint and his wife told everybody not to leave the bus.”

“In my opinion, a very dangerous situation was avoided because the correct steps were taken,” Otabachian-Smith says. “People were patient. People communicated. Luckily, we had cell phones and help was there almost immediately.”

Afterward, the students and adult volunteers continued according to schedule. “We were told to get back on the bus, went on to CNCC and competed,” Shults says. “Some of the kids got their names called, and it ended up being a good day in spite of what happened that morning.”

Shults and others are working with Safe Electricity to share their story so that others can learn from their experience. Safe Electricity wants you to know the steps to take to stay safe if you are in a vehicle that comes into contact with a downed line or power pole:
1. Remain calm and stay inside the vehicle.
2. Call 911.
3. Warn others to stay away from the vehicle.
4. Stay seated and do not exit the vehicle until utility personnel say it is ok to do so.
5. If you must exit the vehicle because it is on fire, jump clear of it with your feet together and without touching the vehicle and ground at the same time. Keeping your feet together, shuffle or “bunny hop” to safety.

Frank Sampson of White River Electric emphasizes the importance of treating every downed power line as if it is live.

For other chaperones who travel with students and might encounter a downed power line, Shults warns, “Do not tell any young person or any passenger to get off the bus.”

“Electricity is invisible and there is no way to determine visually if a wire is energized,” explains Frank Sampson, manager of operations at White River Electric. “Never assume that a wire has or doesn’t have electricity in it because you can’t see it. You can only see the effect of it, and it travels at the speed of light. It’s extremely destructive and exceedingly fast.”

After 26 years in law enforcement, Sheriff Mazzola knows firsthand the importance of electrical safety education. “Everybody needs to know what electricity can do, and we all need to be aware of it.”

Learn more and see the story at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O6GjPiyQ5U.

New Solar Farm Supports High School Energy Academy

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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 their high school diploma. The 75,960 panel solar farm is named “Mavericks Solar Farm,” after the high school’s mascot.

The Mead Energy Academy, sponsored in part by United Power, NEED and Silicon Ranch, prepares students for college studies, technical education, certification programs and the workforce and courses include bioengineering, technologies, conservation and sustainability, fossil fuels, hydropower and fuel cells, solar and wind power.

United Power hopes the solar farm will expand its “green” footprint and will create educational opportunities for students to learn more about the role solar energy plays in a diversified energy mix.

Mavericks Solar Farm will supply over 61 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually while serving over 1250 homes.

 

Electric Co-op Brings Solar to High Schools

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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 to its members in the form of capital credits. In some cases, DMEA is unable to locate members who have moved away from the service territory or passed away. After five and a half years, capital credits that remain unclaimed are transferred to a fund for charitable and educational purposes.

SEI’s Solar in the Schools program works in local schools to provide science, technology, engineering and math or STEM training while focusing on renewable energy. SEI provides technical assistance in the design and installation of the 10 kilowatt solar photovoltaic systems at Delta High School, Hotchkiss High School, Cedaredge High School, Olathe High School and Montrose High School.

Through the program, students will be involved in various steps of the project, including determining the best site, design and construction of the system. The sites will most likely begin after school is back in session for the 2017-2018 school year.

 

Downsizing the American Dream of Home Sweet Home

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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 about real estate and housing, you’ll notice that many folks are eschewing that traditional American home in favor of alternative accommodations.

The reasons people prefer these nontraditional structures are as diverse as the buildings themselves. Some want to simplify and declutter their lives. Others want to save money and energy. Here’s a look at a few of the more popular non-traditional home designs that might be coming to a neighborhood near you.

Tiny houses look like real houses, with square corners, traditional siding materials and pitched roofs. They typically offer 100 to 130 square feet of living space, and must be less than 8 feet 6 inches wide and 13 feet 6 inches tall to legally drive on the road without a special permit.

TINY HOUSES
The tiny house trend got its start with a man named Jay Shafer who built his first miniature house on wheels in Iowa in 1999. Shafer is a person who liked to challenge the status quo, and after living in a variety of nontraditional spaces over the years, he started drawing plans for imaginary houses.

Over time, the designs got simpler and smaller, and he was inspired to build one for real when he learned they didn’t meet building codes. He took that as a challenge and realized that if he built the house on a prefabricated, street legal trailer, it would be considered a trailer load and not a house and, thus, not subject to building codes.

This nonconformity makes tiny houses a controversial issue in many communities, and local governments struggle to balance individual rights, local codes and public safety. Their nontraditional design also makes tiny houses more difficult to finance and insure, although options for both are available.

Despite these challenges, thousands of people purchased do-it-yourself plans as well as manufactured tiny houses from Shafer and other designers.

Unlike mobile homes or camping trailers, tiny houses look like real houses, with square corners, traditional siding materials and pitched roofs. They typically offer 100 to 130 square feet of living space and must be less than 8 feet 6 inches wide and 13 feet 6 inches tall to legally drive on the road without a special permit. The weight varies based on the length and rating of the trailer, but tiny houses are typically much heavier than camping trailers because they are made from traditional building materials.

Tiny house living continues to pick up in popularity in Colorado. Several companies offer manufacturing services to suit what buyers long for in a little home, including Colorado Springs-based Tumbleweed Tiny House Factory, Durango-based Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses and Fort Collins-based MitchCraft Tiny Homes.

Now trending throughout the United States are tiny home communities where like-minded little home lovers can enjoy the niceties of living in a neighborhood, but on a much smaller scale than traditional living. One such community located in Fairplay offers tiny house owners a community clubhouse as well as nearby access to Breckenridge Ski Resort, fly-fishing hot spots, ample hiking and many more outdoor adventure options.

A new tiny house planned development popped up in Salida as well, where the manufacturing of 200 rental units is currently under way. Located along the Arkansas River, the tiny house community will feature a community building, exercise facility, restaurant, 96 storage units and more when completed. Sprout Tiny Homes is developing this community and has plans to break ground in Walsenburg where it will build a 33-unit tiny home community to address the need for housing in the area.

CONTAINER HOMES
The shipping container became a political symbol for many people in recent years. To some, they are a symbol of the decline of American manufacturing. To others, the containers are tools that connect us to a globalized economy and lower costs of many consumer goods.

But to a group of architecture enthusiasts, the shipping containers stacked on cargo boats, carried by freight trains and pulled by trucking rigs are grown-up Lego blocks waiting to be turned into homes.

The first container buildings were built by those looking for a fast, simple and low-cost way to provide shelter. Containers are strong, easy to transport and, thanks to global trade, abundant.

A Rhino Cubed container home.

Over time, what started as a clever way to recycle old containers and quickly build inexpensive structures changed into an architectural trend. The modular, boxy aesthetic of shipping containers gives container homes a modern look that many find appealing. Today, container homes range in size and complexity from modest, inexpensive, utilitarian dwellings to large, highly customized, luxury homes.

Container homes are getting attention in Colorado as well. Rhino Cubed recycles and repurposes out-of-commission shipping containers to create compact homes that make a big impression. The Louisville-based company sells containers with minimal amenities such as windows, doors and lead-free certification; midstream amenities with all the above plus hickory floors, finished walls and insulation; or all-you-could-expect-from-a- house perks, such as a full kitchen, storage, water disposal, bunk beds, exterior paint and more.

Container home enthusiasts say the three keys to a successful project are understanding all local building codes and safety regulations before starting the project, hiring a contractor that has previous experience with this unique form of construction and purchasing the correct type of container.

Monolithic domes offer homeowners the high ceilings and large open floor plans that are so popular today. They are also highly efficient, requiring about a quarter of the energy required to heat and cool a similarly sized traditional structure. Photo credit: Kevin McGuckin

OLD HOUSE, NEW TRICKS
The options are plentiful when it comes to miniature domiciles in Colorado and beyond. From tipis to monolithic homes to yurts, home buyers can choose what suits their fancy. At Colorado Yurt Company, for example, potential buyers can build a yurt from scratch using their Yurt Price Calculator. Select the requirements for your yurt, such as door type, window options and snow and wind load packages, and watch as it calculates your costs.

Even traditional houses aren’t immune to the trend of alternative construction techniques. Advances in technology transformed the manufactured housing business as well. In addition to the classic mobile home and newer modular home designs, high-end custom homes created from prefabricated panels built in a factory can be purchased and assembled on site. This can save up to 15 percent over the cost of a traditional home.

So, whether it’s a tiny home, a yurt, a container or a prefabricated home, the American dream of home ownership now comes in many shapes and sizes.

Justin LaBerge writes on consumer and cooperative affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

The Substation of the Future

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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.”

Could this be the substation of the future?

If everything goes according to plan, you may never even know about those changes, says Tom Lovas, a technical liaison and consultant with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

“The traditional model of generation, transmission and distribution is kind of being turned on its head,” Lovas says. “In the past, power flowed to a substation and then flowed out to the consumer. … [T]he substation has now become a point of information and interconnection, and it’s coordinated in a different way.”

Before making sense of what Lovas means by a substation becoming a point of information, it helps to understand what a substation does.

HOW SUBSTATIONS WORK
That mass of wires and equipment you see behind chain-link fences as you drive along freeways or side roads basically turns high-voltage electricity into lower voltage electricity that can be used in your home. Electricity generated at a power plant gets “stepped up” to a high voltage at a substation because that’s a more efficient way for power to make the long-distance journey through transmission lines. When the current gets close to where it will be used, another substation steps the voltage down, for distribution to you and your neighbors.

But that straight-line path for electricity is changing, says an international industry group planning for how the substation of the future will fit in with the power lines and power plants that make up the electric grid.

“Rather than continually getting bigger, the grid is now increasing in intelligence,” according to a 2016 strategic plan of the Centre for Energy Advancement through Technological Innovation (CEATI International). “Customers are increasingly looking for ways to manage their own energy, customizing how they use it and serving as suppliers of energy.”

One example of customers serving as suppliers of energy is the fast-growing number of homeowners installing rooftop solar panels. Now, electricity doesn’t just flow from a power plant through a substation to a house. Instead, electricity also flows in the opposite direction, from the house, then back onto the grid as homeowners sell excess solar power back to their utility.

When power flows in both directions, running a utility gets a lot more complicated. First, there’s safety. Lineworkers need to be sure they know which wires are energized and which are not. Electricity traveling in a different direction could put new stresses on old equipment, and utilities need new ways to monitor electric current so they can keep track of new patterns of electricity use and generation.

Lovas cites an increase in electric cars as another new addition that could change electricity use as people charge their vehicles at a variety of times and places.

PREDICTING POWER OUTAGES
Electric utilities are analyzing information about where the electricity is coming from and where it’s going. This information can be used to improve operations in the utility network and can make the substation of the future an important part of “the smart grid”

Information collected at a substation could keep track of how transformers are performing so they could be replaced before they fail or even recognize power use patterns that could predict an outage.

“We collect zillions of data points of information. What we’re trying to do is make sense of what that information is telling us,” Lovas says. Figuring out how to analyze and use all that data, he says, could improve safety, reduce outages, reduce outage duration and reduce maintenance costs.

These days, we know that information can also be stolen or misused by cyber criminals, so the substation of the future needs stronger security. And not just cyber security. Lovas says that substation planning needs protection against more old-fashioned attackers like vandals and copper wire thieves. CEATI International wrote in its strategic plan on the substation of the future, “In the new environment, station facilities have to be protected from physical tampering, sabotage or theft and also from malicious threats to data and/or control systems connected to cyber networks.”

Lovas also expects the substation of the future will respond to concerns about what substations look like, with utilities looking for more remote locations or planting trees around them. Underground substations could offer better security, as well as avoid complaints about the appearance of the collection of wires and equipment.

When will we see the substation of the future? Maybe never, if it’s hidden behind a grove of trees. Or, since improvements and advancements are already being installed, maybe it’s already here. “I don’t think there’s any defined date when the substation of the future takes over,” Lovas says. “It’s just a natural progression of things.”

Paul Wesslund writes on cooperative issues for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.