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Who We Are
What is an Electric Cooperative?
- An electric co-op is a community-focused utility that delivers affordable, reliable, and safe electricity to its consumer-members.
- Guided by local leadership, co-ops are run by members of the very communities they serve.
- Co-ops belong to the communities they serve, and any excess revenue is shared back with members.
- As part of a nationwide network, electric co-ops collaborate with fellow cooperatives to advance new technologies, strengthen infrastructure, and enhance grid security.
Mission
To provide our members safe, reliable, affordable, and responsible electric service and access to broadband services.
Vision
To provide our members safe, reliable, affordable, and responsible electric service and access to broadband services.
Values
Integrity:
Be honest, open, and fair minded in the conduct of all Association matters.
Safety:
Regard safety of employees, members, and the public as a primary objective in all policy and business decisions.
Reliability:
Anticipate and mitigate risks that might cause or prolong interruption of electrical services.
Affordability:
Provide the lowest cost power consistent with safety, reliability, and responsible environmental stewardship, while anticipating and mitigating risks that might threaten the financial health of the Association.
Service:
Reflect respect for members and employees in all policies and practices and provide exceptional member services consistent with safety, reliability, and affordability.
Community:
Support member communities through policies and business decisions that sustain and enhance local economic vitality and quality of life.
Accountability:
Be accountable for protection and responsible use of our resources, professional completion of our work, and recognition and correction of our deficiencies.
Strategy Map
MVEA’s Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team meet annually to develop a strategic plan which serves as a roadmap with initiatives focused on the services we provide to MVEA members.
Those efforts are culminated into a strategy map that is deeply rooted in our mission to continue to provide safe, reliable, responsible, and affordable electricity to MVEA’s growing co-op membership through an era of rising costs and industry changes.
Cooperative History: 1935 to 1940s
In the early part of the 20th century, society was divided into rural and urban, the haves and the have-nots. Electricity was the great divider. The rural people of America were the have-nots. They were told that, for them, it was not profitable for electric companies to provide electricity. No profit, no lights.
As part of the New Deal, the Rural Electrification Administration was established in 1935. The Rural Electrification Act was signed in 1936 enabling loans to be made to cooperatives ready to electrify rural America.
In December 1940, approximately 150 people gathered at the Black Forest Community Center to see about getting electricity to the areas beyond Colorado Springs. They established a cooperative and incorporated in 1941. They applied for, and received, a loan to build an electric system.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt offered the people a New Deal.
Our Cooperative
Membership in the co-op at that time was $5, and members were expected to help build the lines to their houses, contributing equipment, and just plain hard work. This was the foundation for today’s cooperative, Mountain View Electric Association.
The co-op started by purchasing Commonwealth Electric Company and its generator in Limon. The Co-op also purchased the power lines running along Highway 24 to Falcon.
Today
As a member, you are part of a great tradition – a rural cooperative.
MVEA still operates on the same principles it started with years ago. We are still owned by the members we serve and we work to provide the very best in service.
The original members who worked hard to improve the quality of life for today’s members changed our rural service area forever.
Facts About Your Co-op
The following are some interesting facts about your cooperative. Some of these numbers are approximate since MVEA is growing daily.
Service Territory
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square miles
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Number of Meters
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Number of Members
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Number of Members
Meters Per Mile
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Miles of Energized Line
Source: Annual Report (PDF)
The Cooperative Difference & Member-First
MVEA Programs
Explore the Benefits of Being an Electric Cooperative Member!
In 1941 when Mountain View Electric Association was incorporated, our founding members were dedicated to establishing an electric cooperative that would provide rural communities with access to reliable and affordable power.
We are an electric cooperative that was created by the members we serve as part of the historical electrification of rural America. Due to their commitment, light was brought to night and modern convenience arrived in a world of hard labor for small tasks.
To our founding members, being an electric cooperative member was a point of pride.
Membership Benefits
The benefits of being a “modern-day” electric cooperative may not be as historically obvious as remembering when the lights came on for the very first time, but that doesn’t mean the benefits no longer exist.
There are many more benefits to being an electric cooperative member than there were in 1941.
When you are a member of a cooperative, you are more than just a customer. You are a member with an investment in an organization that is founded on the principles of community and integrity.
In a world that is influenced by global markets and large investor-owned corporations, being a member of a cooperative means being part of something special — something local, something trusted.
The 7 Cooperative Principles
As a member-owned electric cooperative, we are guided by the “7 Cooperative Principles” that are recognized industry-wide:
Voluntary and Open Membership
Democratic Member Control
Members’ Economic Participation
Autonomy and Independence
Education, Training and Information
Cooperation Among Cooperatives
Concern for Community
Our Business Model
These 7 principles trace their roots back to 1844
How we incorporate these principles into our business model during an era that is influenced by changes in rural communities, government regulations, and technology is more important than ever.
We take great pride in building partnerships and creating programs that provide our members with programs and services that “traditional” utility companies do not regularly provide.
We call this approach to governance and dedication to our members and community “The Cooperative Difference.”
Capital Credits
As a member, your investment in the cooperative is returned to you in the form of capital credits. This is part of what distinguishes a cooperative from an investor-owned utility.
Since cooperatives do not earn profits, any excess revenues (net margins) that remain once all expenses have been paid for the year are divided between all MVEA members as capital credits.
Capital credits are retired (which means paid) to members when the Board of Directors finds the cooperative financially capable of doing so.
Dedication to fiscally responsible planning and business practices has enabled MVEA to retire over $81 million in capital credits to our members since our first retirement.
MVEA’s Energy Efficiency Rebates
Energy efficiency helps us all save. It is a team effort. You can start with something as small as a light bulb. When you participate in one of our energy efficiency programs, you will:
Use less electricity and save on your monthly electric bill
Help reduce the overall demand for electricity within our co-op territory
MVEA members can apply for rebates by completing the MVEA Energy Efficiency Rebate form that is available on our rebates page.
Green Power
MVEA offers our members a chance to purchase blocks of green power to help spur further development of renewable energy sources. The purchased green power blocks help offset the use of fossil fuel-generated power.
As the cost of research and development for renewable energy goes down, so does the cost to purchase green power blocks.
In 2000, MVEA started offering green power at the cost of $2.50 per 100 kilowatt-hour (kWh) block.
Today, the cost is only 10¢ per 100 kWh block.
Operation Round Up
MVEA started the Operation Round Up program in 2000 to assist:
- Non-profit organizations
- Communities with special needs
- Individuals who have suffered from loss, personal disasters, or medical emergencies
Operation Round Up Funds
Together We Save
Visit our Together We Save page.