You may not know it, but your electric co-op is a member of CREA, the statewide association for Colorado’s electric cooperatives. CREA works behind the scenes with its member co-ops to help them provide the best possible service to their customers.
In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt championed the Rural Electrification Act, a New Deal-era law that provided funding and expertise to help citizens in rural areas create their own utilities to bring electric service to the heartland. These utilities, which were built and owned by the people they serve, are today’s electric co-ops.
These co-ops had fewer customers to share costs and were often unable to afford many of the same programs and services as the larger, investor-owned utilities serving more populous metropolitan areas. Just as members of the community gathered together to create their own utilities, electric co-ops united to form statewide associations — including CREA — that could provide services across the co-op community, allowing them to share expenses and keep the cost of service low. These associations also provided a collective voice for co-ops in state government, giving them more political clout than if they were to act as individual utilities.
The co-op world has grown substantially since its humble beginnings nearly 90 years ago, and today’s co-ops are thoroughly modern, innovative utilities providing the highest level of service to their members. However, although co-ops currently serve approximately 70% of the state’s land mass and nearly 1.5 million residents, each of Colorado’s 22 electric co-ops serves only a limited area, and costs are still spread among fewer customers than larger utilities. On average, co-ops have eight customers per mile of electric line, while an investorowned utility typically has more than 30 customers per mile.
The rationale for having a statewide association to serve the collective interests of the co-op community remains as valid today as it was when CREA was first formed. We at CREA work with your electric co-op to provide job training and safety services for lineworkers and co-op staff; educational services and youth programs that link co-ops with the communities they serve; and award-winning communications (including this magazine you are enjoying). It would not be cost effective for co-ops to purchase or develop these industry-leading programs on their own. Through CREA, each co-op benefits from these programs while keeping costs to consumers among the lowest in the state.
Just as important, CREA continues to provide a collective voice for its member co-ops before the state Legislature and regulatory agencies. Colorado is facing numerous challenges that impact electric co-ops and the communities they serve, including transitioning to clean energy resources and ensuring there is an adequate supply of electricity to serve the state’s growing needs. As legislators and policymakers wrestle with these issues, CREA is working to make sure that your electric co-op can continue to provide reliable service at affordable rates.
CREA has a team of full-time professionals dedicated to advocating for the interests of co-ops. We seek to maintain the independence of Colorado’s co-ops and to ensure they have the flexibility to serve their members and communities in ways that are suited to their unique needs.
Over the past few years, we have helped to secure several significant pieces of legislation that benefit electric co-ops, including a bill that created a microgrid grant program that adds generation resources in communities at risk of natural disasters. These microgrids can operate independent of the power grid in an emergency. We have also successfully amended proposed legislation to avoid one-size-fits-all solutions that might be appropriate for large investor-owned utilities but would create undue financial and administrative burdens for co-ops. And we secured annual recognition for the contributions of electric lineworkers who put their lives on the line to keep the power on, often in challenging circumstances.
Although Colorado’s electric co-ops serve almost 20% of the state’s population, the largest individual co-ops serve only a fraction of that number. If the co-op voice is divided, the ability of each co-op to influence policy in the state is diminished. Only through collective action do we have the ability to make a positive impact at the Capitol. Collectively, we can do things we cannot achieve individually. We are truly stronger together. It is the cooperative way, and CREA is here to help.
Craig Johnson is the director of policy and strategy and general counsel for CREA and offers a statewide perspective on issues affecting electric cooperatives.