CREA's advocacy work is guided by core principles that reflect our values and commitment to our members. These principles ensure our efforts are strategic, transparent, and aligned with our mission to support Colorado's electric cooperatives.
CREA supports policies that respect the unique structure of electric cooperatives and uphold their tradition of local, member-driven governance. Oppose policies that infringe on this self-governance model or threaten the independence of electric cooperatives from Colorado Public Utilities Commission regulation. As not-for-profit utilities governed by democratically elected boards, electric cooperatives are best positioned to make decisions that reflect the priorities and needs of the communities they serve. Preserving local control ensures accountability, responsiveness, and effective service tailored to each cooperative’s consumer-members.
CREA supports the preservation of electric cooperatives’ certificated service territories, which are critical to ensuring safe, reliable, affordable service for their consumer-members. Maintaining these territories protects the long-term investments co-ops have made in infrastructure and service reliability and helps prevent duplicative systems and increased costs. All state policies should respect the integrity of existing service areas and the regulatory framework that governs them.
CREA supports legislation that preserves the ability of electric cooperatives to operate with flexibility and autonomy over their business and employment practices. Cooperatives must be able to make operational decisions that reflect the unique needs of their workforce and the communities they serve.