This is an exciting time for your electric cooperative – over sixty years of providing outstanding electric service. Your cooperative was organized out of a need to bring light and power to the rural countryside in Western Colorado - a need that was not being met by companies motivated by profit. There was no profit in the rural areas. So local folks did then what they still do best, they pulled together and formed their own electric cooperative, and built their own lines and energized their own farms. Sixty years ago, I'm sure none of these people had any idea how strong and successful their company would become. What a tribute to their efforts - this company, this cooperative, this DMEA.

Many challenges, as well as opportunities, are on the horizon for you and your cooperative energy provider.  We must do what those who came before us have done. We must pull together and, not just survive, but provide unmatched value and service in the future. DMEA is not afraid of the future; in fact, we welcome the challenge to maximize your membership investment with new and expanded energy related services.
You will see many new programs being offered to you in the near future. We are confident you will find products and services at DMEA that you need and want that will improve your quality of life and make your jobs and home life easier and more productive. This is definitely a new look for DMEA, a new approach and a new way of doing business.

Thank you for the opportunity to be of service. It's our privilege to have local, concerned employees reach out to our co-op members and provide the value you want and expect.

Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of DMEA is elected by the membership on the basis of their knowledge of and interest in the Association. The organizational structure of DMEA is designed to provide quality and excellence to our customers-owners. Superior customer service is defined as performing up to the customers' expectations and then doing more. All departments are focused on the needs of our customers. The Association is managed by the General Manager and is organized into six departments: Administration, Finance and Accounting; Engineering; Operations; Information Technology, and Marketing and Customer Service.

Celebrate the Cooperative Difference
Cooperative businesses are special because they are owned by the consumers they serve and because they are guided by a set of seven principles that reflect the best interests of those consumers.
More than 100 million people are members of 48,000 U.S. cooperatives, enabling consumers to secure a wide array of goods and services such as health care, insurance, housing, food, heating fuel, hardware, credit unions, child care or utility service. DMEA is one of those businesses.

All cooperative businesses adhere to these seven guiding principles:

1.     Voluntary and Open Membership — Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.

2.     Democratic Member Control — Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. The elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.

3.     Members’ Economic Participation — Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership.
Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing the cooperative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.

4.     Autonomy and Independence — Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.

5.     Education, Training, and Information — Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public, particularly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature and benefits of cooperation.

6.     Cooperation Among Cooperatives — Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures.

7.     Concern for Community — While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.