United Power
Mark Gabriel is the CEO of United Power.
About eight in ten cooperatives work through a Generation and Transmission cooperative to secure wholesale power supply. A Colorado electric co-op, United Power, recently ended that supply relationship and faced a daunting deadline to supply its own power.
The result shines a spotlight on the power of the cooperative business model, as United Power’s Mountain Peak Power Plant, a one hundred sixty-two-megawatt simple-cycle natural gas generation facility was designed, commissioned, and operational on one of the fastest timelines ever attempted for this type of plant. Also, with an eye on Colorado’s decarbonization goals, the units are hydrogen ready, as the plant can run on fuels with hydrogen content when commercially available.
The leader behind this vision and accomplishment is United Power CEO Mark Gabriel. Public Utilities Fortnightly Executive Editor Steve Mitnick discussed with him the why and how of this achievement.
PUF’s Steve Mitnick: Mark, talk about United Power and what it is like to lead the cooperative.