What Do We Do While Waiting for Transmission?

Despite the best of intentions, transmission construction is measured in decades, not years. Central power stations are disappearing while electrification is soaring, leaving distribution utilities to meet demand in new ways. This conversation will cover what one cooperative is doing to answer the challenge.

We’ll be joined by United Power’s CEO, Mark Gabriel, who’ll discuss the strategy and tactics they are deploying to address the challenge. Among the tools being deployed to meet United Power’s continued growth are distributed batteries at the substation level, incentivizing distributed energy resources and moving to become a distribution system operator. The utility will have more than 115 megawatts of batteries online by the summer to meet its demand. United Power is one of the fastest growing, member-owned electric cooperatives in the nation, serving over 100,000 meters in Colorado’s Northern Front Range.

About our speaker:

Mark A. Gabriel, United Power President and CEO, oversees Colorado’s largest cooperative by load and one of the fastest growing cooperatives in the nation. Under Gabriel’s leadership, United Power has been recognized as the 31st cooperative to reach 100,000 meters served, interconnected its 10,000th rooftop solar system, and been named a Solar and Storage Champion by the Colorado Solar and Storage Association. Gabriel is instrumental in championing Our Cooperative Roadmap, United Power’s long-term action plan to ensure its future as an industry leader in an evolving utility landscape. He also works to advance grid modernization and resiliency across the country as the current chair of the GridWise Alliance Board of Directors.

Prior to joining United Power, Gabriel served as the Administrator and CEO of the Western Area Power Administration for eight years. He managed the nonprofit federal organization, marketing and delivering low-cost federal hydropower from 57 hydroelectric plants to nearly 700 wholesale customers across 15 states.

Gabriel served in numerous positions in his career, including executive roles at Black & Veatch Management Consulting, which develops energy solutions in the areas of electricity, water, oil and gas, and cybersecurity, as well as the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) where he served as acting president for EPRI Traditional and Client Relations and as the Global Marketing Officer. While at EPRI, he led the nationwide collaborative effort known as the Electricity Sector Framework for the Future.

Gabriel is a popular speaker and award-winning author. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Fordham University in New York and completed the coursework for a Master of Science in administration and management from St. Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont.