As members of the communities, electric cooperatives are attuned to the needs and wants of their service territories.

Advocating in D.C. for Colorado Co-ops

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The Colorado Rural Electric Association spends many hours and resources representing the interests of its member co-ops before the Colorado General Assembly. Each year from January through May, CREA staff and contract lobbyists carefully follow all the legislative proposals considered by our state legislature to determine if they will have any impact on electric co-ops. This is a job that requires our attention 24 hours a day, seven days a week to make sure proposed new laws won’t have any negative impacts on electric co-op members.

In addition to our work at the state level, CREA also works with the national trade association — the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association — to promote and protect the interests of Colorado co-ops in Washington, D.C. While most of the policy action takes place in Colorado, there are many federal initiatives that are relevant to Colorado’s electric co-ops.

In 2021, the United States Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. One of the provisions of that law authorized electric co-ops to apply for grants and loans to help pay for distribution grid projects that will reduce the risk of wildfires and improve the resilience of electric co-op systems. In 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which included a loan and grant program specifically for electric co-ops. The funds authorized by this law were made available to electric co-ops to help them acquire new generating resources and improve the reliability of their systems.

Colorado’s electric co-ops collectively spent thousands of hours working with the appropriate government agencies and filing applications for these grants and loans. Over the last year or so, CREA’s member co-ops have been extremely successful in being awarded grants and loans that will be administered by the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Homeland Security. These grants and loans provide a historic opportunity for Colorado’s electric co-ops to invest in infrastructure that will serve their members at the end of the line with affordable, reliable electricity for many years into the future.

I recently traveled to Washington, D.C., with a group of Colorado co-op CEOs to meet with our members of Congress to emphasize the critical importance of these loans and grants to Colorado’s electric co-op members. Co-ops serve about 70% of Colorado’s land mass, and any help we can get to keep rates affordable and service reliable is much appreciated.

The grants and loans that have been committed to Colorado’s electric co-ops will benefit thousands of Coloradans, and we urge all officials of the federal government to honor these commitments.

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.

Colorado’s Electric Co-ops Send Volunteer Crews to Light Up Navajo Nation

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In June and July, seven Colorado electric co-op line crews traveled to parts of Arizona to help electrify homes on Navajo Nation.

More than 13,000 families living on Navajo Nation do not have basic access to electricity at home.

An initiative between the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority and the American Public Power Association, Light Up Navajo works to change that statistic and to change people’s lives. “It is hard to believe that in 2024 there are still families in the United States that have never experienced having electricity,” CREA Board President Steve Valdez said.

Some NTUA applicants have waited years for electricity at home. Challenges include infrastructure limitations, supply chain issues, and siting and permitting considerations. Melissa, a new NTUA customer whose home was connected in June, had waited one year for electricity. “I purchased my home last year and was trying to take care of my family,” she said. She and her kids lived with Melissa’s parents during that time. “Now my kids have electricity and we’re going to be forever grateful,” she said, expressing thanks to the Colorado crew that worked to connect her home.

CREA supported the project. “CREA is incredibly proud of the lineworkers from Colorado’s electric co-ops who helped bring light and power to residents of the Navajo Nation.” CREA Executive Director Kent Singer said. “We are thankful for the opportunity to improve the lives of our neighbors in northern Arizona.”

Since 2008, NTUA and volunteer crews have connected more than 7,500 homes to receive electricity. This year’s mission was to connect at least 150 homes. Volunteer crews surpassed that goal and helped connect 170 homes.

“Participating in projects such as Light Up Navajo are important because they exemplify the cooperative principle of Concern for Community,” Valdez concluded. “Volunteers banding together to improve quality of life is how co-ops got their start. Today, Colorado’s electric co-ops are still improving the quality of life in rural areas — it’s who we are.”

USDA announces funding for Solar-Storage projects

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Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Representative Yadira Caraveo (CO-8), and Colorado Agriculture Commissioner Kate Greenberg held a press conference June 17 in Fort Collins to discuss efforts to create additional income opportunities for producers and entrepreneurs by building more, new, and better markets; providing more options for consumers to buy healthy, locally produced products; investing in infrastructure and creating new jobs; and strengthening local and regional supply chains in Colorado and across the country.

Secretary Vilsack spoke about the Powering Affordable Clean Energy program, which is funded through the Inflation Reduction Act. Inflation Reduction Act investments provided the single largest investment in rural electrification since the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. IRA investments include significant incentives to:

  • lower energy costs for rural communities and businesses;
  • protect the environment;
  • reduce pollution through clean energy;
  • create jobs and spur economic growth.

The press conference -— held at Poudre Valley REA’s headquarters — also included the announcement that PVREA will receive $9 million to create solar energy battery storage capacity.

“We see your efforts, and we’re making sure to bring public investment to help you achieve your goals on behalf of the people in Northern Colorado,” U.S. Representative Yadira Caraveo told PVREA and other attendees at the announcement.

PACE programs are designed to create an opportunity where wealth can be created within a rural community and stay within that rural community. Secretary Vilsack said Colorado understands the value of these programs and, as a result, is attracting significant investments from the USDA.

Vilsack also expressed appreciation to Poudre Valley REA. “There is an attitude here, at this rural electric association, an attitude of trying to be one step ahead … to continue to provide the safe, affordable, and reliable electricity that your customer base depends on,” he said. “As a result of that, you’ve seen rather significant expansion of opportunity over the 85 years that you’ve been in existence. You’re continuing that today, and USDA wants to be a part of it.”

Rep.-Yadira-Caraveo

Representative Yadira Caraveo speaks at the funding announcement at PVREA’s headquarters in Fort Collins in June. Photo by Kylee Coleman.

Secretary Vilsack also announced that Montrose-based Delta-Montrose Electric Association received funding for creating a photovoltaic system to produce additional electricity and to reduce emissions with the electricity it currently provides to its co-op members.

It is estimated this project will reduce emissions by about 10%.

“This is about more affordable electricity that can help spur and spawn opportunity, in the service area,” Vilsack said. “This is about lower energy costs at the end of the day, because as [electric co-ops] receive assistance from the federal government, [they] obviously don’t have to burden the rate payers with this.”

USDA Secretary Vilsack

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack speaks about the PACE program at Poudre Valley REA June 17. Photo by Kylee Coleman.

 

PVREA CEO speaks at USDA press announcement2024

USDA Awards $9 million to PVREA

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Congratulations to CREA member co-op Poudre Valley REA — the Fort Collins-based cooperative received $9 million from USDA to develop solar energy battery storage. The award was announced at the cooperative’s headquarters on Monday, June 17. “There is an attitude here, at this rural electric association, an attitude of trying to be one step ahead, to make sure that you can continue to provide safe, affordable, and reliable electricity that your customer base depends on,” USDA Secretary Vilsack said of PVREA at the announcement.

Rep.-Yadira-Caraveo

Colorado U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo

Other speakers at the announcement included U.S. Representative Yadira Caraveo, former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, and Colorado Agriculture Commissioner Kate Greenberg. “We see your efforts, and we’re making sure to bring public investment to help you achieve your goals on behalf of the people in Northern Colorado,” Rep. Caraveo told PVREA and other attendees at the announcement.

USDA Secretary Vilsack

USDA Secretary Vilsack

Secretary Vilsack also announced that CREA member co-op Delta-Montrose Electric Association received funding for creating a solar photovoltaic system to produce additional electricity and to reduce their emissions with the electricity they currently are providing to their customers. It is estimated that this project will reduce emissions by about 10%.