Rural Electric Association is just one of several organizations that exists to serve Colorado’s electric co-ops. CREA is a trade association located in Denver and provides four primary services: education classes for co-op directors and employees; safety training for co-op line crews and office staff; communications outreach including the publication of this magazine; and government relations work that includes lobbying at the Colorado Capitol.
Each of Colorado’s 22 electric co-ops is an independent organization with its own board of directors elected from its membership. CREA is a separate organization from your home electric co-op. CREA’s job is to provide services to your home co-op and to all of Colorado’s electric co-ops in a way that will reduce costs for all.
Every electric co-op in Colorado, including all 22 distribution co-ops and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, has a representative on the CREA Board of Directors. The CREA board meets nine times each year and directs the activities of the CREA staff in accordance with a set of resolutions that is approved each year by the CREA membership. These resolutions establish broad policy guidelines on topics ranging from environmental regulations to safe workplace practices.
The CREA board elects new officers every year to lead the association in its efforts to protect the interests of Colorado’s electric co-ops and support their day-to-day operations. The CREA board elects a new president, vice president, secretary and treasurer, who all work together with the immediate past president to constitute the CREA executive committee. The CREA executive committee provides guidance to the CREA staff and is the sounding board for issues that come up between board meetings.
Although new officers are elected annually, officers traditionally serve a two-year term and move up through the ranks from treasurer to president. This means that in most cases the CREA board president will have served a minimum of six years on the CREA board before becoming president. While the elections are open and anyone on the board may be nominated for an officer position, the continuity provided by this tradition has served the board and the association well over the years.
The directors on the CREA board are a diverse group in terms of age, gender, experience, background and point of view. They come from all four corners of the state and are employed in many different lines of work. Ranchers and farmers, energy efficiency experts, a computer consultant, a real estate developer, a banker and an attorney and make up the CREA board. The board also includes three co-op general managers who provide their operational expertise.
At our January CREA board meeting, the board elected new officers. Effective the first of March, the new CREA board president is Jack Schneider of Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association. Jack has been on the CREA board for seven years and the PVREA board for 14 years. Jim Lueck of Highline Electric Association is the new CREA vice president. Jim has been on the CREA board for eight years and the Highline board since 1994. Moving up to secretary from treasurer is Jeff Hauck of Mountain Parks Electric in Granby. Jeff is relatively new to the CREA board, coming on board in 2014. He has served on his home co-op board for seven years. Our newest officer and member of the executive committee is Ginny Buczek, a director from United Power. Ginny has been on the United Power board since 2008, and she has been on the CREA board since 2013.
All of the members of CREA’s board offer their time, energy and experience to support Colorado’s electric co-op program. They do this in order to maintain the vitality of their communities and ensure the availability of affordable and reliable power in rural Colorado. This often means time away from home and additional late hours spent catching up on work in the fields or office. CREA would cease to function without the commitment of these selfless folks who give of themselves to support the common good of their communities.
As a last note, I want to thank Bill Midcap, our outgoing CREA board president from Morgan County Rural Electric Association. Bill spent 11 years on our board and 25 years on the Morgan County board. Bill decided to hang up his hat at the end of his current term on the Morgan County board. He has been a tireless advocate of this program and CREA and a respected member of the co-op family. We will miss Bill and we wish him all the best in his next endeavors. Hit ’em straight, friend!