Something We Can All Agree On
by Tom Walch, Chief Executive Officer
GRAND JUNCTION, COLO. - (June 17, 2024) Republican versus Democrat. Socialist versus capitalist. Urban versus rural. Hawk versus dove. Fossil fuel versus renewable energy. Vegetarian versus meat eater. Rom-com versus thriller. It seems like people today deal with more disagreement and discord than we have ever seen before. At times, it seems like there is nothing we can agree on.
Even so, I can think of one area where just about all of us agree: We like a reliable source of electric energy. We want electric power that is available whenever we flip a light switch, fire up the coffee maker, power up the computer, or settle in for an evening of movies on Netflix or Prime. If you think we are disagreeable now, imagine how hard it would be to get along with each other if we didn’t have these little luxuries and escapes.
Grand Valley Power is responsible for providing reliable power to its members. All members. Not just the ones who are easy to reach with electric lines. Not just the ones who have big loads. Not just the ones we agree with. We have an obligation to provide reliable electric service to all consumers in our service territory. We serve our consumers with electricity that is available virtually 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. That is a little different from providers that serve people only when they can make a profit. That is different from those that provide power only when the sun is shining.
It is a challenge to meet this obligation to serve, but Grand Valley Power is up to the task. As a distribution cooperative, we do it two ways. First, the most visible way that we provide reliable electricity is with our local distribution grid. This consists of the substations, poles, wires, transformers, and other equipment that transports electrons from the transmission grid to the homes and businesses of our members. Grand Valley Power has more than $100 million invested in its distribution grid, and we must continue to make investments to maintain it, improve it, and expand it.
The second thing Grand Valley Power must do to provide reliable electric energy is to secure generation and transmission to ensure that all our members have all the power they need whenever they need it. This job was a lot easier when there was a big fleet of coal plants that produced power around the clock, and peaking gas generation plants that could be fired up quickly when demand for electricity was at its highest. With the clean energy transition and increased reliance on intermittent wind and solar generation, it is much more difficult to provide reliable electricity during periods of peak demand, which often occur when the sun isn’t shining, and the wind isn’t blowing.
Grand Valley Power isn’t big enough to meet this challenge without help. Help has traditionally been provided by wholesale power providers that commit to providing all the power our consumers need. But to get them to make this commitment, Grand Valley Power must, in turn, commit to buying all the power it needs from the same wholesale power provider. The wholesale provider relies on this commitment from the distribution cooperative to make the investments it needs to generate and transmit electricity to our local substations. As most of you know, we have had this kind of “full-requirements” arrangement with Xcel Energy since the early 1990s. That will change in four years, when Grand Valley Power transitions to Guzman Energy as our full-requirements provider.
I hope you agree with me that there is real value in the work that Grand Valley Power does to provide reliable electricity for our members. There are other providers that make their living selling and promoting solar-generated electricity. I have heard some of these folks trumpet “the value of solar.” I acknowledge that solar has real value. When the sun is shining, it is a good source of affordable kilowatt hours. Incorporating solar into our energy portfolio reduces our carbon emissions and reduces the impact of climate change. But we should all understand that we can’t rely on solar for all-important reliability.
The foundation of a reliable source of electricity is the distribution grid that carries it to our members’ homes, and that grid has a cost. The grid has been built by the determination and dollars of our members who wanted to create a co-op that would bring electricity to their homes when no one else would.
Grand Valley Power is that co-op, and we have a vested interest in providing our members with reliable electric energy at-cost. We can trumpet the value of our $100 million-plus distribution grid. We can preach about the value of reliability. But we will do more than that. We will provide all of our members with all the power they need, whenever they need it, at a cost that is fair and equitable. This is our commitment.