CREA executive director’s monthly column published in Colorado Country Life magazine.

Wildfire Mitigation – A statewide viewpoint

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The recent wildfires in California are a heartbreaking reminder of the risks that face many communities in the arid western United States. While a combination of drought, high winds, and low humidity all conspired to create the conditions for this tragic event, it’s not clear yet who or what was responsible for igniting the fires. It has been suggested that electric utility facilities may have been the cause of at least one of the wildfires, although that has not been proven.

Whether or not the Southern California wildfires were caused by electric power lines, there is no doubt that utility facilities have previously been the cause of wildfires in California. Colorado’s electric co-ops are very much aware of these risks, and they do everything in their power to reduce the possibility that their facilities will cause a wildfire. Electric co-ops go to great lengths to clear vegetation from around their power lines and other facilities, and they are leaders in deploying new technology to anticipate and detect conditions where wildfires may be more likely.

Colorado’s electric co-ops also prepare wildfire mitigation plans that spell out in detail all the steps they take to lower the risks of wildfires. But even the most comprehensive wildfire mitigation plan does not guarantee safety. With thousands of miles of power lines across the state, many of which traverse remote forests and public lands, it is impossible to mitigate all the risks.

For that reason, CREA has been working on a legislative proposal that would recognize the work being done by Colorado’s electric co-ops around wildfire mitigation. The bill would provide some measure of liability protection for those co-ops that have implemented a state-approved wildfire mitigation plan. Without a bill like this, it may become impossible for Colorado co-ops to obtain adequate liability insurance to protect their consumer-members. Other states have passed similar legislation, and we’re hopeful that the Colorado legislature will consider this bill — if not this year, then in the 2026 session of the legislature.

Colorado’s electric co-ops need reassurance that if they do everything that is reasonably possible to mitigate the risk that their facilities will cause a wildfire, they will not be subject to lawsuits that could literally bankrupt them. Co-ops will always do everything in their power to protect the communities they serve, including investing time and money in measures to reduce the risk of wildfires.

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.

Solar panels on roof

Behind The Meter: How Does At-Home Energy Generation Impact the Grid?

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By Kent Singer, CREA Executive Director

Since the inception of the Colorado electric co-op program in the 1930s, the traditional path for delivering electricity to co-op members has largely remained the same: Power is generated at a central station power plant, transmitted across high voltage transmission lines, and finally distributed over a local system to end-use customers at their homes and businesses. While the source of the “central station” power varies from state to state, the basic system of generation, transmission and distribution (G,T&D) of electricity has looked the same for decades.

This “G,T&D” model will remain the path for most of the electricity consumed by Colorado’s electric co-op members for years to come; however, more and more co-op members are opting to generate electricity at their premises. They do this by using solar panels on their rooftops or other sources of power that are “behind the meter.” And, as is the case for most renewable energy generation, it’s not always available and fluctuates depending on weather conditions. With that in mind, there are two scenarios at play for a co-op member’s on-premise system: Excess generation and inadequate generation.

If a co-op member’s residential rooftop solar system produces more electricity than they consume, Colorado’s electric co-ops have agreed to — and state law requires them to — “net meter” the energy the co-op receives from member-owned solar arrays. Net metering simply means that when excess electricity is exported to the grid, the co-op member receives kilowatt-hour credits valued at the retail rate. A member of a Colorado electric co-op can reduce the amount of electricity they purchase from the co-op since the solar panels on their rooftops are producing at least some, if not all, of the power they require for their home or business. In this scenario, the co-op member who is generating excess electricity benefits from their use of the co-op distribution system to manage and credit their excess solar energy production.

Unless they are completely off the grid and are generating all the electricity they need, co-op members with rooftop solar systems must still be connected to the co-op’s distribution infrastructure. This ensures the delivery of electricity to their home or business whenever it is required — for example, during a string of cloudy days when their solar panels don’t generate adequate electricity. Electric co-ops have a legal obligation to maintain adequate facilities in order to provide reliable electric service to their members.

It’s true that the need for a co-op to purchase power from a wholesale supplier is decreased when its members generate their own electricity. However, the co-op is still responsible for maintaining a robust distribution system that will serve all the co-op’s members.

This raises an important question for Colorado’s electric co-ops (and other electric utilities): If an electric co-op member benefits from the poles and wires to provide electricity when the rooftop solar panels aren’t sufficient, but that member no longer buys any or as much power from the co-op, should that member be required to pay for the continuing maintenance and replacement costs of those facilities?

As more and more co-op members install solar arrays, the way that co-ops compensate their members for consumer-sited generation may need to be reexamined. With the increase in residential solar systems, co-ops receive less revenue from energy sales, but they continue to have expenses related to maintaining the distribution grid. Co-ops may also need to make new infrastructure investments to enable the storage of excess solar production to help meet peak demands for electricity in the afternoon.

There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether any changes need to be made to the existing net metering rules from both the perspective of solar installers and electric utilities. As not-for-profit utilities, co-ops aren’t incentivized to make a profit, but they still must meet their payrolls, run their trucks, and invest in system maintenance and improvements. These costs are shared among all co-op members.

Colorado’s electric co-ops go to great lengths to treat all of their members fairly and equitably, and they will continue to do so as they integrate more behind-the-meter, customer-sited renewable energy resources.

 

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