The northern Front Range electric co-op United Power is surging ahead with a renewable energy growth plan despite an all-out campaign against clean energy from the Trump administration, signing a deal for a 150-megawatt solar farm near Brush.
The agreement with utility developer Aypa Power will also create a parallel 600 megawatt-hour battery storage facility next to the solar farm, allowing the generating station to provide “dispatchable” power when the sun is not shining and help stabilize the energy supply. Aypa Power, a subsidiary of the private equity firm Blackstone, will build and operate the “Fortress” project in Morgan County, and United Power is contracting to buy all of the electricity when it comes online in 2027.
United Power is “on a path to diversify and localize the power we purchase and deliver to our members,” said Mark Gabriel, president and CEO of the 300,000-customer co-op based in Brighton. United Power calls it a “hyperlocalized electric system” and is banking on local deals as “the future of power production,” Gabriel said in an interview.
The co-op currently sees a power draw of 680 MW on peak summer days, with demand growing at 30 to 50 MW a year even without the big draws of internet and AI data centers. There are two data centers planned for United Power’s footprint, “if not more,” Gabriel said.
“We need all the capacity we can get,” he said.
United Power’s customers include Coal Creek and Golden Gate canyons in the foothills, extending northeast to fast-growing communities in the Interstate 25 and Interstate 76 corridors, including Longmont, Brighton, Erie, Firestone and Frederick. The co-op in 2024 left the umbrella co-op Tri-State Generation and Transmission in a break aimed at speeding up the transition to renewable energy for United Power customers and guaranteeing local energy sources with predictable prices.
Falling prices for building utility-scale solar and storage have allowed co-ops to break away from larger suppliers who often operate coal or natural-gas electrical plants in other states. United Power also believed that as Tri-State’s largest member at the time, it was carrying more than its share of overhead costs for the whole group.
It is Aypa Power’s job to line up their projects to land the remaining federal tax credits before they expire under provisions of Congress’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Gabriel said. “That’s not really our driver,” Gabriel said. “We buy the power, and they have to chase that.”