Serving the community since 1903
VOLUME 121 | ISSUE 19
WEEK OF MAY 9, 2024
ROOM FOR MORE
Local foster parents tells how their family went from three to eight P4
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Electricity cooperatives changing energy markets United Power seeking more local control over the energy it sells BY MARK JAFFE THE COLORADO SUN
The sources of electrons flowing into about 290,000 suburban and rural homes and businesses on the Front Range are about to change. And while refrigerators will still hum and lights shine, it marks a new chapter in how Coloradans get their electricity. The state’s two largest cooperatives, Sedalia-based CORE Electric Cooperative and Brighton-based United Power, are each poised to leave their long-time power suppliers and strike out on their own in the growing merchant power market. “United and CORE and a few others are large enough where we can contract with utility-scale resources where the prices are driven down,” said Chris Hildred, power supply director for CORE, formerly the Intermountain Rural Electric Association. “This is about local control and financial independence,” said Mark Gabriel, United Power’s CEO. SEE MARKETS, P24
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