Your Low-Cost Provider

Last month, we discussed reliability and our dedication to keeping your lights on. This month, I want to focus on something equally important: affordability.

For almost 10 years, we’ve held the line on rates, keeping them well below inflation, implementing two rate decreases, and offering the lowest residential electric rate in Colorado.

While many other goods and services have risen sharply in cost, your cooperative’s rates have remained remarkably steady and low cost. This hasn’t been by chance; it’s been the result of careful financial planning, efficiency, and our relentless focus on serving you.

But like all other sectors of the economy, the electric industry has not been immune to inflationary pressures. We were recently advised to expect a nearly double-digit increase from our wholesale power provider, Tri-State, who accounts for nearly 80% of our total expenses. To their credit, Tri-State has not made significant increases in recent years, but inflationary pressures have made an adjustment unavoidable.

In the coming months, we’ll provide more details, such as the expected impact on the average residential consumer. The change will most likely appears as a Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) on your bill — a separate line item currently sitting at zero. As always, you can expect clarity and transparency from us. We will communicate impacts before they happen, so you are informed and prepared. Working with the Board of Directors, I believe we can keep any rate adjustments to a minimum.

Even with this upcoming rate adjustment, we will remain one of, if not the, most affordable electric providers in Colorado, not just today but into the end of this decade. We’re also working to expand programs and services to help you manage your energy use and offset potential rate impacts — more on that in the future.

And when considering the cost of our service, there is another crucial aspect of our commitment to serve that sets us apart: As a member-owned cooperative, we return excess revenues to you in the form of member credits. This cooperative difference adds to the affordability of our service — a benefit you won’t find with most other utilities.

Learn more about this year’s $2 million members credit retirement here.

Our mission remains unchanged. We are committed to providing dependable, affordable electricity as we plan for the future. Thank you for your trust, partnership, and membership in this cooperative.

Together, we’ll keep powering our communities forward.