Grounded in Community, Guided by Cooperative Principles

By Chrystal Dean, Chief Executive Officer

It is with great pride that I pen my first column for Colorado Country Life as Grand Valley Power’s new chief executive officer. But it might not be the type of pride you’d expect; rather, this pride is rooted in the opportunity to stand alongside the talented team at Grand Valley Power and lead within our network of Colorado cooperatives. It’s pride in knowing that the things we face will be exciting and challenging. It’s serving our members the best way we know how: with authentic hometown service. This is a sense of pride that has been building within me for years, and I am excited to share it with you.

I had the opportunity to grow my knowledge and experience in the power industry from the ground up – even before making it my career path. I come from a family that has made its living in the cooperative space, starting with my dad, who was a lineman in every true sense: hardworking, committed, dedicated to his trade, and a bit tough-nosed when it came to safety. He instilled in me a deep understanding and appreciation for the men and women in the field who put in long days to keep our power on — and even longer and tougher days restoring power when storms rip through lines and our communities need them the most.

My mom also worked in the cooperative world. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting in her office after school in what can be best described as a big, cold, bright room with beige machines while she processed bills during the early MS-DOS computer days. Years later, I had the privilege to work alongside her at Western Area Power Administration, serving rural towns and communities with public power.

My husband was also a lineman when we first met and has since built his career from the field and into senior management, overseeing crews across a large transmission network. Cooperatives and the power industry are the very foundation on which my life was built.

That was not always the plan.

After graduating from Montrose High School, I went to the University of Wyoming confident that my path would take me in a different direction. My plan was to be working every day in the field as a wildlife biologist. But like many best laid plans, mine took a turn. Ultimately, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. A few short years later I found myself sitting in the dispatch center of Tri-State Generation and Transmission. It is there that I learned how to monitor electricity flows across a large power grid, and I couldn’t have been happier. I learned to truly love the intricacies of power system operations. There is something fascinating about monitoring an enormous map of the power grid, seeing the vastness of the system, knowing that you have a part in keeping your neighbors’ lights on because of the work you and your colleagues do behind the scenes — around the clock.

But, as much as my heart was captured by the work I was doing at the time, I was ready to come back home to the Western Slope. It is here where my husband and I wanted to build our lives and raise our kids with the same kind of childhood and values we enjoyed. Upon returning to Montrose in 2009, I began my nearly sixteen-year career with the Western Area Power Administration, serving in a variety of roles. I planned and directed federal hydropower scheduling and energy marketing; closely followed evolving energy markets with a focus on how they would impact power rates and customers; and in my last role as the chief operating officer, I oversaw a broad operational program, setting policy in safety, system design and engineering, security, and reliability and compliance.

I feel fortunate to have had so many opportunities to build a diverse utility career and to have been raised in a family that believes in and understands the cooperative principles and western slope values. It was just a few months ago that I knew it was time to pair my years of experience in the utility industry with my homegrown cooperative roots, and this knowledge brought me to Grand Valley Power. I am excited to work alongside the talented staff here to navigate the changes in front of us, to partner with our fellow cooperatives across the state, and to find innovative solutions that meet our members’ needs — all while continuing to provide you with the same hometown service you have come to know and expect.  

I look forward to working every day to serve our members, and I am even more excited to meet you out in the community.