The Colorado Rural Electric Association recently offered a one-day session to help future candidates learn the ins and outs of campaigning for office. Running for office, any office from county commissioner to state senator, requires more than knowing the issues.

A candidate must know when to file financial paperwork with the secretary of state, how to organize volunteers and more. Nearly 20 prospective candidates, campaign managers and finance directors attended the nonpartisan educational program Saturday, December 10.

Presenting information were Gabe Snow of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Ben Schler of the Colorado Secretary of State’s office and Sen. Mary Hodge (D-Brighton), who is an alumnus of the electric cooperative training program.

The candidates who attended were mostly people seeking local offices around the state, such as that of county commissioner, metro district representative and city council. Candidates had the opportunity to ask questions and get feedback on their strategy, election literature and messaging.

Five visiting Iraqi utility engineers learned how Colorado’s electric co-ops serve their members during a visit with the Colorado Rural Electric Association in mid-November.

As part of a U.S. Department of State international visitor leadership program, Ali Raouf Ahmed, Mohammed Ali Abdullah Hased, Ali H. Abdulkareem, Hussein H. Fayadh and Hazim Rajaa Mukhlif visited Colorado, Florida and Texas. In Colorado, these five electrical engineers and their interpreters visited the Public Utilities Commission, the Office of Consumer Counsel, Xcel Energy and Xcel’s Cherokee power plant in north Denver prior to meeting with CREA Executive Director Kent Singer and his staff at the CREA office.

During the co-op visit, Singer reviewed how electric co-ops in the U.S. were organized in the 1930s to bring electricity to rural America where only 10 percent of the farms and ranches had electricity. He also explained how electric co-ops continue to serve their members today.

He highlighted the various power generation, transmission and distribution portions of the co-op business model. He also explained how co-ops regulate themselves through their elected boards. The Iraqi engineers were interested in how rates are determined and how fees for services, such as line extensions, are charged. Iraq’s electric system, which is a government-owned system, is facing challenges because many parts of the system have been damaged in the war. New power plants and new infrastructure are needed.

“EVERY LEGISLATOR SHOULD BE CHALLENGED TO ENSURE that each vote for further regulation is necessary, based on common sense, (and) allows for industry innovation and excellence without punishing the end consumer and the economy.” 

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That was White River Electric General Manager Dick Welle’s summary as he testified on behalf of the state’s electric cooperatives during a recent round of field hearings by the U.S. House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade.

Welle, whose co-op is headquartered in Meeker, addressed the subcommittee at its stop in Grand Junction, explaining exactly how excessive energy regulation and policies are limiting energy independence for our country, killing jobs and pushing up prices for electric consumers. Welle testified that currently 15 percent of his co-op’s retail residential rate is used to cover the cost of regulatory compliance.

More regulations being proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency would increase the regulatory costs on White River Electric’s member-owners even more. “I am here today to give a voice to our membership and our mission in hopes that Congress hears our plea for balanced, reasonable regulation that improves and ‘incentivizes’ the overall electric utility industry,” Welle said during his testimony. “Regulation that kills jobs and the economy and jeopardizes the societal and economic prosperity that is at the historical heart of this industry is unacceptable. “Overreaching regulation that abandons scientific and common sense will be a direct threat to the economic stability in northwest Colorado,” he said.

Specifically, the hearing examined the coal combustion residuals proposed rule (75 Federal Register 35127-35264), the proposed rule to limit mercury and other air toxins from coal-burning electricity generators (76 Federal Register 24976-25147), the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and potential regulation of hydraulic fracturing in the natural gas industry. The hearing also focused on the permitting and leasing process of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Welle concluded his testimony by stressing the importance of the “common sense philosophy of ‘think before you vote’” and urged the committee members to consider the costs before passing any further regulation. “This balancing act is not easy, but our forefathers believed that electricity was essential for economic and societal stability and prosperity — we have an obligation to carry that lightbulb into the future,” Welle concluded.