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San Miguel Power Association, an electric cooperative based in Ridgway and Nucla, recently partnered with San Miguel County to install a microgrid. A microgrid is an “island” system with electricity sources that can operate independently to provide electricity when the greater grid loses power.

SMPA helped the county apply for a Colorado Department of Local Affairs grant and it received $1.1 million to build two solar PV and energy storage microgrid systems. The co-op helped the county with solar and battery system design support, critical load determination, grant writing support, beneficial electrification rebates and interconnection and net-metering agreements

These innovative microgrid projects benefit two crucial parts of the San Miguel County sheriff’s department: the annex building in Norwood and the Ilium sheriff office near Telluride. These two sites are perfect examples of how microgrids can maintain 100% reliability for mission-critical loads. Mission-critical loads for the two sites were defined as building lighting, receptacles, communications and internet, control rooms, IT servers and radio rooms, and protective custody and lock systems.

The resiliency these microgrids provide the county offers peace of mind and security for the county during crises, outages and emergency situations, such as the myriad disasters Mother Nature can serve up in the mountain areas SMPA serves.

Buena Vista-based Colorado electric cooperative, SDCEA, was recently featured in a National Rural Electric Cooperative Association podcast that discussed the use of drones in the electric utility industry.

NRECA research and survey data shows that over 300 electric co-ops in the U.S. use drones on their system. And with its rugged territory and sometimes difficult-to-access equipment locations, SDCEA is a prime example of how this rapidly changing UAS technology can assist in ways previously never thought possible.

Bill Hovanec, GIS lead at SDCEA, stated in the interview that the drone program has been helping the co-op for 18 months. He said it’s a cost-effective way to get a lot of data that would otherwise be unavailable. Co-ops are typically smaller organizations with smaller budgets, but over the years, drone costs have gone down in price, and insurance, regulations and training expenses are also decreasing, making a robust drone program more accessible.

“Most rural co-ops can afford a couple drones to test and they bring back positive results,” Bill said. At SDCEA, the drone data collected comes directly back to GIS; operations and line crews can pull up the pictures of what they see and get what they need before they even go out to make repairs or work on maintenance.

Bill appreciates the functionality with drones and uses in GIS every day. The more Bill learns about UAS technology and capabilities, the more he sees how major weather events and natural disasters can benefit from drone data. Events such as wildfires and snowstorms the service area is prone to may limit access to equipment, but drones give an “eyeball on it.” An important part of SDCEA’s overall maintenance plan to improve reliability and safety is wildfire mitigation. Bill stated in the interview that drones help with data collection for trouble spots on the system.

Mission and flight planning, as well as analyzing and processing the data is the most time consuming for any electric cooperative drone program. The actual flight may take an hour, but flight planning and data processing is more important and can take about twice as much time.

Bill hasn’t had too many bad experiences when he or his pilot crew is flying the co-op’s drone. Some consumer-members get frustrated and question privacy, but he said most people are more interested than upset. SDCEA knocks on doors prior to a flight to let consumer-members in the flight path know what the co-op is doing beforehand. And just like line crews, the drone team maintains safety practices and gets the aircraft on the ground before they answer any questions.

SDCEA’s program currently has three pilots and one drone and the co-op is hoping to expand its drone inspection program.

Holyoke-based electric cooperative Highline Electric Association released its redesigned app this month. Available for download on Google Play and the App store, the co-op provides this app so that its consumer-members have easy access to their utility account.

This is the second iteration of an app HEA has developed, and some new features are included.
Consumer-members can make payments through the app, get notifications from the co-op, view an outage map and report an outage, view past and current billing statements, look at usage history and contact the co-op directly from the app. “Overall, this version is more modern, easier to use and navigate,” HEA Member Services Specialist Jessie Heath said.

This is an innovative way for Highline’s consumer-members to keep up with their electric cooperative.

In an innovative approach to enhancing its rural small business community and economy, Pueblo West-based San Isabel Electric offers a unique program.

The electric co-op distributes pass-through loans with 0% financing for qualifying projects to local businesses, nonprofits and public entities. This is through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program.

Here’s how it works: The USDA provides the loan to San Isabel Electric, which then passes the loan through to local businesses in its service territory. The local business or nonprofit is responsible to repay the loan to SIEA, and the cooperative is then responsible for repayment to the USDA. San Isabel Electric may lend up to $1.5 million in total loans, and up to $300,000 in revolving loans.

The most recent recipient of a pass-through loan from SIEA is My One Hour Office, a coworking space in Walsenburg. Owner Mary Jo Tesitor said in a recent press release, “With a manageable low-or-no interest loan of less than $20,000, a small rural business can complete upgrades and improvements that may have been sitting on the back burner for a while.”

Tesitor believes the revolving loan program for small businesses can make a real difference for rural Colorado. And “is a great use of USDA funds. Small business owners will pay back into the fund, recirculating that money and growing the economy,” Tesitor said. She plans to use the REDL&G program funds to purchase virtual video conferencing equipment, a Wi-Fi management system and office furniture.

A previous REDL&G loan was issued to the La Veta Fire Protection District to support construction of its new fire station. San Isabel Electric is continually working with local rural businesses, nonprofits and public entities to process REDL&G applications. The co-op is also actively seeking a nonprofit or public body partner in the service territory to establish a revolving loan fund. An RLF would allow San Isabel Electric to issue these types of loans more quickly, without having to wait for USDA approval.

“To set up a revolving loan fund, we must issue a large loan to a nonprofit or public body entity, like a hospital, or local government organization. As they pay it back to us, we bank it, and then re-lend it. We can keep it going as long as we wish, as long as we’re following the USDA’s rules,” Laura Getts, San Isabel Electric’s business development manager said.

This is just one example of how a Colorado electric cooperative enhances community resilience through innovative programs.