Powering Through Growth: Our Unique Path Forward
There are over 830 electric distribution cooperatives in the United States. Each has a very similar set of by-laws, and all operate using the cooperative business model. Our origins are all quite similar too. Most of these were established by local rural communities who needed power to keep their towns, farms, and ranches competitive, ultimately enhancing the quality of life in their area. However, that is where the similarities stop. As said before, and I completely agree, if you’ve seen 1 co-op, you’ve seen 1 co-op.
We all possess unique traits in our cooperative businesses. From demographics to geography, to local laws and state regulations, we are each singular in the issues we face and the solutions we lean on to make our businesses effective and efficient.
Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative (YVEC) has seen some unique circumstances, particularly over the last 5 years, and it is affecting how we do business. Looking at the recent past, some interesting trends have developed. Since 2020, we have added over 2,500 meters to our system. That statistic alone puts us among the 120 high-growth co-ops in the country. Additionally, the 2,500+ meters exceed the total membership of 8 other electric cooperatives in Montana. I’m certainly not pointing that out to belittle the significance of some of the other electric cooperatives in the state, it’s more to provide a point of reference. Our growth over the last 5 years is bigger than the 8 co-ops’ entire membership.
Having that kind of growth puts a lot of pressure on our employees to make sure we have the power, capacity, and capability to serve more than just what we currently have. We need to ensure we can provide for whatever comes next. In other words, we need to stay ahead of our growth. This requires a tremendous amount of investment. We have put a lot of capital into our plant for this very reason. Over the same 5-year period as previously mentioned, YVEC has invested $30M in our total utility plant. In 2020, we ended the year at $92M in total plant, and that number was $124M at the end of 2024. We take providing excellent power quality seriously, and to ensure we achieve that, we continue to improve the operational capabilities of our system.
The 1 odd issue throughout all this growth is power consumption. Over the previous 7 years, the total kilowatt-hours consumed at YVEC increased by 60 million kilowatt-hours. However, over the last 3 years, even while averaging the addition of 500+ new meters per year, we’ve seen total consumption decline. That decline is about 2,600,000 kilowatt-hours or about .8% over the last 3 years, which isn’t a large number overall, but still noticeable. The question is, are we seeing a new trend of lower usage, or is this just a unique set of factors, mostly controlled by mild weather over the last couple of years?
Time will answer the question for us, and I do expect consumption to increase dramatically for YVEC. That is the national trend we see happening today. So much of our technology, home amenities and other items are now electric; consumption is due to grow. Selling more power would help stabilize our business plans going forward.
Brandon J. Wittman
Chief Executive Officer