YOU CAN HELP POWER A COMMUNITY

With your help we can make a bigger impact in Guatemala.

This year, linemen and co-op crews will embark on a trip to north-central Guatemala to bring power to the people of Alta Verapaz. NRECA International teams up with Heifer International to illuminate these homes. By improving electric service, internet access, and water supply, communities will be better equipped for local agricultural efforts and business productivity.

Cooperative CEO Recognized with Keystone Leadership Award

Power supply cooperative Tri-State Generation and Transmission CEO Duane Highley received the Keystone Leadership Award from the Keystone Policy Center.

Keystone Policy Center, a nonprofit organization, fosters collaborative and sustainable outcomes through its values of equity and inclusiveness; civil discourse; science and evidence based decision-making; developing understanding; and collective action. The leadership award was established in 1994 to recognize outstanding individuals and organizations who work toward lasting solutions through collaboration.

“Everyone can agree that reliability is important and affordability is important; and if we can figure out how to deliver reliability and affordability while making the energy transition, it’s easy,” Highley said at the Keystone awards ceremony. “We have incredible support from our members — it matters that we’re all in alignment. If we’re all in alignment, there’s nothing we can’t achieve.”

For nearly four decades, Highley has served electric cooperatives; he joined Tri-State in 2019. He is known throughout the industry for innovating and working toward win-win solutions. As co-chair of the Electric Subsector Coordinating Council, he coordinates security efforts between the U.S. Government and electric utilities. Tri-State is a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative power supplier. It serves 45 members in four states, providing power to more than one million electricity consumers in the West.

Show your support and help the local families by donating today.

To learn more: Visit crea.coop/ community-outreach/current-causes.

To send a check: Make it payable to Colorado Electric Educational Institute with “Guatemala Supplies” written on the memo line and mail it to:

CREA/Guatemala

5400 Washington St. Denver, CO 80216

BY GAYLE GRESHAM

The room fills with the sound of 14 guitars strumming in unison to the Eagles’ song, “Take It Easy.” The faces of the high school students are intent on following the chord progression on their computer tablets while their teacher, Mr. Zahller, sings and plays his guitar. Rob Zahller is the middle school and high school band teacher for the Yuma School District on the plains of eastern Colorado, not far from the Nebraska state line. As the music fades and Mr. Zahller announces