About CREA

About CREA: Supporting Colorado’s Cooperatives

Since 1945, CREA has connected Colorado's electric cooperatives. We started as a group working together to strengthen our voice with power suppliers. Today, we provide the tools and support our members need in a changing energy world.

Our Mission

The mission of the Colorado Rural Electric Association is to enhance and advance the interests of its member electric cooperatives through a united effort.

Who We Serve

We work with 21 distribution cooperatives, one generation and transmission cooperative, and nine associate members across Colorado. Executive Director Thomas Walch and our team operate from our Lakewood office, supporting cooperatives every day.

For nearly 80 years, our story has been one of collaboration and commitment — a living example of how the cooperative business model and the Seven Cooperative Principles continue to create lasting value for the communities we serve.

The Colorado Rural Electric Association is the statewide service organization representing all our members. A leading and involved proponent of the electric cooperative movement, CREA supports its member cooperatives in five core areas: legislative advocacy, policy and regulatory tracking, education and training, safety initiatives, and communications.

Through CREA, each individual cooperative benefits from the advantages of shared services, while control and ownership are maintained at the local level. CREA is governed by a board of directors made up of one representative from each of its member co-ops, along with the officers of the Colorado Rural Electric Managers Association.

CREA exists as a united representative for its members and functions for their mutual benefit to promote the electric co-op program and to foster the principles on which electric cooperatives were founded.

In the 1930s, 90% of the farms and ranches in the United States had no available electricity in their towns and cities. The electric co-ops that were created to bring power to those areas realized their advocacy efforts would be greater together — and CREA was formed.

For more than 80 years, CREA has partnered with its member co-ops to support their missions of bringing reliable, affordable, and safe electricity to more than 1.5 million Coloradans.

Communications

Telling the cooperative story is key to engaging with co-op members and the public. CREA staff works for its member cooperatives to help them stay current with industry and cooperative news, events, and information. Sharing the co-op story is accomplished in part through Colorado Country Life — an award-winning monthly magazine that is published in coordination with participating member electric cooperatives and delivered to more than 180,000 co-op members across Colorado.

Education

Electric cooperatives have high standards of governance and performance for directors and employees. To meet the demands of our changing industry, CREA assists its membership with lifelong learning opportunities by offering ongoing education classes and conferences covering industry issues.

Legal & Regulatory

CREA staff provides advocacy before judicial and regulatory bodies, appearing in court proceedings and representing cooperative interests before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Colorado Public Health and Environment, and other state and federal agencies. Staff provides its member cooperatives updates on current legal issues affecting electric cooperatives and hosts a variety of seminars and educational programs on utility regulation and related laws.

Legislative

CREA's advocacy efforts at the General Assembly, with state agencies, and other stakeholders are active all year. During the session, legislative staff has a constant presence at the Capitol to champion the position of its member co-ops.

To enhance the legislative program, CREA actively promotes and solicits memberships in America’s Electric Cooperatives PAC and Colorado Advocates for Rural Electrification PAC. Both PACs are nonpartisan committees.

Safety & Loss Control

Safety is a critical mission of every electric cooperative. As such, CREA enhances its member co-ops’ safety and regulatory training efforts and programs. Information and special reports are sent to member co-ops to aid in their efforts to comply with the multitude of complex regulations. CREA assists its member cooperatives in providing safe work environments for their employees and helps train them in safe work practices.

About CREA: Supporting Colorado’s Cooperatives

Our Mission

Who We Serve

What is CREA?

Our History

Programs and Services