***Update*** After my Battle with IRaeA about the Service fee charge for them not having started my service on time/ reading my meter. My bill jumped from $81.00 to $149.00 !!! Retaliation... I think so. Be aware of what this company practices. read more

Terrible service came home to a doorknob sign saying they put an electric meter on my house cut my power and now anything attached to internet needs full rebooting tv doesn't work because the way they cut power led to a power surge. Should be illegal to do this without permission. read more

I'm absolutely disgusted with this company and I would rate them zero stars if I could. I work with a family consisting of 3 generations who have struggled at times with keeping a roof over their heads due to the disabilities of a few of them. Their electricity was shut off due to falling behind on bill payment after a temporary layoff. The family's online account with IREA stated clearly that they had to pay a portion of the entire amount due to have their electricity turned back on, and that specific amount was listed, about 2/3 of the total amount due. After working diligently finding assistance and scraping together any funds we could gather, We were able to get the somewhat lower amount paid in order to get the electricity turned back on on a Saturday. We called the office and were initially told that the power would be turned back on in about 1-1 1/2 hours that day, but then we were told tHat the full amount due needed to be paid because the account had been "flagged" indicating someone had "tampered with" the meter. At this point, the family was going on their 4th day with no electricity in the middle of winter. They have a 6 year-old child in their household, along with 3 disabled adults, and IREA staff person "Tom" was made aware of this. Furthermore, they live in an apartment complex in which the electric meters are all behind a securely locked door that is inaccessible and were thus incapable of tampering with the meter. No matter. The company would not work with us until the entire bill was paid with no payment plan offers or anything, and in complete conflict with their own billing statement. They very rudely refused to allow us to speak with a manager or come up with any other possibility. The people who run this business are heartless, cruel, and inhumane. I pray that they would never have a child and disabled individuals they love forced to face a freezing cold completely dark night with no compassion, flexibility, or assistance. Their kind of evil disregard of fellow human suffering is DEPLORABLE! read more

Do I get a choice for utility company when I moved into the Farms? Nope.. nada...zilch.. you are stuck with it. Its small company that operates well without glitch until.. until you are ready to check out of the neighborhood. I have heard horror story from friends who had negative experience with IREA in the past and I always by passed it without really thinking too much about it. So.. finally my turn came. We closed on the house Friday morning and planned on moving through the weekend to a new home. We called IREA and told them we will move out of the house on Sunday. IREA response was.. since they don't have crew working on weekends, meter will be turned off on Monday following. Ok.. that's sound good. We will have uninterrupted service while moving. After closing, came home, trying to open the garage door, no luck. We gave all of the keys to the new owner and spares were inside the house and only way we could get into the house was through the garage. without the power, there was no way we could opened the garage. finally figured out that there was no outage in the neighborhood and meter was not turning, we called IREA and the dreadful truth came out. IREA turned off the service way ahead of time. Friday during the working hours, they came by and turned it off and tagged it as such. What the heck!!!!!!!!!!! what about the Monday like you guys promised. We called and talked to dispatcher but she says all of the electricians has already left for the weekend. No way, we got a big move scheduled for the weekend. Called and left message with supervisor and no luck. called again the dispatcher and they are still trying to get hold of the electricians. After all of the day light was gone (good 7 hours had gone by), finally power was restored and we were able to get into the house. ** Thank you IREA for your thoughtful action that caused pain and agony. Thank you for the unforgettable goodbye present you have left us. its been more than 4 month since the big poop you dropped on us and I couldn't and wouldn't forget that agony we were facing in misery and desperation waiting for a help to arrive. Yes I know, we left your service area and we are very happy about it. Yes.. I know you guys are busy to return call to me to apologize for the great going away present you gave us. If we are to return to any area serviced by IREA, we will rethink twice! minus one star for always making us pay few cents more than Xcel. minus one star for great going away present minus one star for lack of support minus one star for lack of competent mgmt. read more

With all of the outages Wednesday March 13, due to the blizzard, I just have to give a shout out to IREA for their persistent work getting everyones power back up and running. I live in the mountains near Evergreen and am always impressed with how quickly they get us up and running in those situations. That day, we lost electricity a second time and it took longer to get back up than the earlier outage, but thanks to their efforts, it got done in time to watch some television before bed. I have a renewed appreciation for flipping a switch and getting light and hot food. read more

Paid electric bill, even have it set up on autopay. STILL shut off my power and was told that "someone would turn it on today sometime". Meanwhile my food is going bad in the fridge/freezer and my wife and newborn are sweating in the dark. It's helpful too that I work from home most days. Worst company ever. Total electric garbage. read more

I have been using this company for almost 5 years. Their customer service is superb and my rates have been relatively low compared to other companies I have been with in other states. I LOVE the fact that there are no stockholders for this company and monies earned by the cooperative are returned to members via capital credit refund checks that are mailed in February of each year. Can't give them the fifth star only because it has taken them so long to get the e-statement and e-pay initiative moving, which has been inconvenient a couple times for me. It is nice that they give you more then one notice that you are going to get shut off before it actually happens in case you are lazy about opening your mail like me! :) read more

Intermountain Rural Electric Association - Utilities Near Me - Sedalia, Colorado

Short story: SEVEN months after the incident I received a bill from IREA for over $800 because a branch from a tree I had felled (to help clear trees below the powerline) slapped the bottom line and sent it into the top line, blowing a fuse and cutting off power to my house. Longer story: (1) A year or so before this a mitigating crew came through, taking down many trees. Of this particular tree I asked, why not take it down too? It's dying and if it falls it will graze the line? The workers simply smirked and went on with their cutting of other trees. (2) I (naively) thought that I could clear that pesky tree myself, since IREA's crews refused to do it, and did my utmost to make it fall clear of the line. Indeed, there was no danger in the line coming down, but it did brush it sufficiently to slap into the other line. Dumb decision. (3) I (naively) told an IREA dispatcher, when I called to report the outage, that a tree I had cut had brushed the line leading to my house. (4) Shortly (within an hour, or half hour) one worker showed up at my house. I showed him the tree stump; he saw there was no damage to the line or to a power pole. He went to his truck, apparently replaced a fuse, and with minutes I had my power back on. He told me something like, "The fuse did what it was supposed to do. No harm done." (5) Not a word was said, not a letter was received for SEVEN MONTHS. Then, out of the blue, came a bill claiming THREE hours' labor for its work crew (for 10-15 minutes of work), plus a piddly charge for a new fuse. More than $800! Even if you have to count drive time, where the hell does a truck come from to add up to three hours traveling? (6) To sum up: I asked IREA to clear a tree that I thought was a future danger. They refused. I cleared the tree myself, and it did NO damage other than blow a cheap fuse and cut the power to my house, not to anyone else's house. I was honest and told the dispatcher what I had done (in retrospect, I guess I should have lied, saying, "Hmmm. My power's gone out. I know not why." And why did it take seven months to insult me, long after I thought this minor incident had been forgotten. My wife and I live on nothing but paltry Social Security, and we cannot afford this bill. read more

Their website is really lack-luster and transferring payment options is an awful process. With every other utility company I can simply change my payment option. With irea, I have to terminate payments altogether, wait for it to go through, then add a new payment option. Customer service isn't that much better either. read more

Their "load factor adjustment" added to their services in 2015 cost prohibits households from switching to solar power as they will charge for energy not consumed regardless. This ensures both their monopoly stays strong and their consumption of coal powered energy continues to degrade this planet. One of IREA's power plants alone emits 3.4 million tons of carbon dioxide a year in Colorado. Part of these poor choices include investing over $300 million dollars into a coal based power plant assuming 60 years of status quo would stay the same only to find out basing financial decisions on the assumption that coal prices and a regulatory environment would not change was extremely short sighted. IREA is the only electric company in Colorado to do a load factor adjustment. It is a disgrace what the company is doing with coal and a disgrace on the policies put in place intentionally to charge any consumer who would like to use solar power. read more

I've been a customer for over a decade, and have been gradually treated worse and worse every year. Running a fully licensed woodworking shop out of my house uses a bit more electricity than a normal house. Instead of ever asking why I use more power, they repeatedly accused me of running an illegal marijuana grow. They even reported me to the police several times. I eventually got sick of it and moved my shop. They immediately showed up at my house and accused me of stealing power. They couldn't have been more ugly about it. After they investigated and found no actual evidence, they still treated me like a criminal. They're pathetic little people who only have business because there's no other option for us. I would have never considered living here if I knew what I'd have to deal with. Every one of them deserves bad karma! I'd give zero stars if I could. Any positive reviews are clearly from their own employees. read more

This company is the worst utilities company I have ever had to deal with. They won't take my auto pay and now have stopped accepting almost all forms of payment. This is a total monopoly bullshit company. read more

Where do I start? Power outage in the middle of summer and the power is out for days because they "can't get to the pole" and they "don't have the right equipment to repair it". Now they contracted with CPI to replace poles in Buffalo Creek, only to blast in an unstable area dropping boulders onto the road. Road closed, no signs, when we drive the 30 minutes down the road to get home, we are told " you have to go a different way" . Really and what way is that exactly, oh another 50 miles to back track and try to get home. Not only does this cause problems with locals trying to get to and from work, but the local Fire Department is now cut off from those people on the other side of the closure. UNEXCUSABLE!!!! I can only hope that they have engineers coming in to access whether the rest of the mountain is stable or if we can look forward to the rest of the mountainside falling down onto vehicles and the road. read more

I would rather sell my house and move just so I don't have to use IREA for service. I HATE this backwards company. They are TERRIBLE. Unnecessary deposits and $2.50 in fees every month to pay your bill with a credit card. MAIL in a check is the only way to avoid giving them money they didn't earn. I'm Moving to avoid using this companies service for my home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really. That's the only reason I'm moving! It's that bad and frustrating. #DoneWithThem read more

I have always been very happy with IREA's response to customers but today went even further with a personal call. I had a situation last night with someone at my door and let it suffice to say that person ended up with zero affiliation with IREA (i.e. thus reason no ID). Not only did IREA care about the experience itself but also my personal safety! Julie called me quickly and directly when she received my email detailing the situation and provided extremely helpful insights. I am incredibly grateful that IREA cares that much about their customers to go above and beyond like that! read more

Wow! I was kinda of excited to be trying out a new electric company, and was rudely awakened! I tried to call all weekend to set up service with no luck in reaching an operator. Today when I called, I finally got through to someone. The guy on the phone was rude beyond belief. That's when I read all the reviews and saw what a horrible company this has been. Very terrified for the next 20 months! Like the old saying states: if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Wishing I could go back to xcel. read more

Like anywhere with a monopoly, customer service and economy are the lowest priority. Customer service does not exist and strange fees everywhere. They are not solar friendly either. booo. but alas there are no other options. read more

Horrible service. The person I talked to on the phone was rude and un experienced. He had trouble answering my questions and it was very frustrating! I was just trying to set up service and he could barely get my name right! He could not even spell the street name and we live on a common street! I think they might not pay enough to get educated people to handle service! Wish we had a choice on service providers because IREA's customer support is garbage! read more

I was set up on budget billing, and consented to auto draft payments. My February bill was $890!! They drafted this amount with out my consent. I called and they stated that I was no longer on the budget bill pay because of a mishap?!? Now I'm back on budget bill and they will will not refund my money! I was told by several "supervisors" about a refund check 'on its way' then all of the sudden a week later another call saying that will not be the case! Get it together! And best part is billing will not take calls from customers! I know know why. read more

Talked to John and he was super helpful and friendly. Got my issue resolved!

We have used IREA for 47 years and do not have one complaint! They are friendly, professionall, take pride in their work, their customers and service! We are very thankful and appreciative for all their work and long hours in the rain, snow and summer heat! Great job IREA! Thank you! read more

Terrible company, rude customer service and I use "customer service " loosely! They obviously have no idea on how to run a successful company! read more

Power has been out for an hour now and when you call to speak to someone, YOU CANT! No info just sit and wait???? Maybe they should look into updating technology, and or have an operator pick up a phone and give an ETA. Don't hold your breath. Piss pour! 4th time in 2 weeks. read more

You'd think a rural electric coop would have better service people, but not so with this one. They came out to replace a damaged guide wire on one of their electric poles and left a 2 to 3 foot length of the old guide wire (steel cable) in my driveway. It's a good thing I noticed it before I ran over it. It could easily have punctured a tire or worse. I called to complain and they sent one of their line superintendents out. He wasn't very pleasant, and also denied it was their fault. He even told me it was not one of their poles but was a telephone pole. Unfortunately for him it had wires running from it to my neighbors' breaker box. I don't know a lot about utilities, but I can tell the difference between electric lines and telephone lines. I'm also not blind and I know what an electric breaker box looks like! read more

In February 2016, we made the decision to put temporary electrical service on our property in Como, Colorado. My husband met with the IREA rep three (3) different times to walk the property for an explanation of the layout of the poles and to understand the process. A contract was then sent to us along with instructions to send money for the project. We signed the contract and sent a check for a little over $10,000. A few months passed and while we checked in with our rep from time to time, we were not getting answers. It was later explained to us that during the sign off process someone noticed a transformer across the street was not properly installed several years ago and felt that needed to be correct, at our expense. We were informed by our rep that we were being asked to provide a little over $3,000 more to correct this problem. Our rep felt this was not fair as it was not our problem and it was something that was done well in the past. He fought for us and eventually called and told us he had made his point and they agreed to sign off on the initial drawing and cost. But, when we received a new contract, it had the $3,000 charge on it. So, my husband asked to speak to a manager. He was directed to Shannon in the Conifer office and explained our situation. Shannon told him it is not IREA's policy to take money in full for a project however IREA did take our money and cashed our $10,000 check on February 22nd. Shannon also said he would look into the situation. He was able to once again sway the people in the office to remove the additional fee and give us our original contract. That was received in June and we signed it the same day. Now we've been waiting for the poles to be installed and it's been over three (3) weeks. When we called we were told it had been subcontracted out and they couldn't give us a start date. We finally received word last week that the poles were to be installed on July 19th. But again, we face disappointment because we were told today that there is going to be yet another delay because the IREA office has decided to fix the transformer problem across the street and now they have to pull permits for that. So we are delayed again with no start date in site. In the meantime, we've purchased the box and everything required on our end, took off of work on July 20th so we could install the box and, we've hired someone to help us to this. Now, we have no idea again when this project will be complete. In the meantime, IREA has had over $10,000 of our money for 5+ months and now it is looking like longer. If that is not your policy, then why was our check cashed in the first place or why wasn't it returned. I think it is a huge injustice to our family that you took our money, are getting interest off of our money and yet have not performed any service for over five (5) months. We need a resolution to this problem ASAP. We never dreamed this would turn out to be such a nightmare to get temporary power. It has cost us numerous hours on the phone and time at our property trying to simply get IREA to perform the service you contracted and were paid to do. **Update** Shannon just called and his version is different than someone else's and when we mentioned our money he could care less. No start date and we're out over $10,000 and no real story, it's the blame game, red tape and he said, she said. read more

We've used IREA for our electric service for 7+ years, and they have always been great! No problems or complaints at all. Great experience with customer service, transferring service, etc. read more

One of the worst customer service I have ever received. The lady on the phone was a complete B****. Wish I can have a different electric company. If I can give 0 stars I would cause 1 is to many. read more

New to IREA and I miss Xcel. To pay online, there is a convenience fee because it is done through Western Union. To set up auto payments, the authorization form must be downloaded, completed and faxed or 'snail' mailed to IREA. I had no idea 'rural' meant technology from 1980. Had I known about this, I would really think twice about buying a home in IREA territory. read more

Terrible company, charge random fees and their prices are higher than Xcel's. Customer service is a complete joke, they only work 8-5 so if you work a regular job good luck getting in contact with them. There have been multiple months where I never received a bill in the mail. If you can do NOT choose IREA. They charge a convenience fee for paying on line which is ridiculous. You can not set up automatic bill pay online either. It's like the company is operating in the early 2000's. They are way behind. read more

My experiences with IREA have been pretty good. When I called to set up service in advance I spoke with a very nice a courteous representative. She guided me through the process and explained to me what a CO-OP was. I do like the fact they normally pay out capital credits to members based upon their usage each year. It's not guaranteed but it's pretty regular. I wasn't crazy about the deposit that I had pay over 3 months (25.00 each month) to make sure I didn't use skip town I guess. What I've learned about IREA is they are huge on embracing any sort of change. I read their watts and volts newsletters each month and there is no real forward thinking that embraces change. The largest example is their dependency upon fossil fuels (coal and natural gas, but mostly coal) for power generation. IREA itself buys power as more of a middle man and then resells it's customers. It seems a bit unnecessary but it seems okay because it is a not for profit organization. I wish there was more forward thinking about finding renewable resources for power generation. According to their more recent watts and volts newsletter they are going to buy a very small amount of power from a solar facility. From my perspective this is only to give an appearance of being good for the environment because it's such a small percentage of power generation. On the flip side they seem to work very hard to preserve the "old" ways of power generation to keep the overall cost of power to customers as low as possible. As it stands today, they are still right on the fact that coal is still the lowest cost power generation method. It's important to remember the board is elected by it's members and since members are customers as a group nobody wants to pay anything additional for the electricity they use, so here we are. IREA claims they don't mind if you want to have a solar panels on your roof. Read their contract and you'll see, they do mind. The language in the contract essentially says they can change how they charge you at any time. I certainly wanted to have the solar panels installed but after reading the contract, I can clearly see IREA wants nothing to do with it. I've read the other reviews about IREA and it seems that most problems can be avoided by making sure your bill is PAID. IREA is not a mega power provider and above all else ensures that losses are mitigated as much as possible so as to not push those costs on to other members. Which is also why they aren't open on weekends, there is a huge cost to members for that. I would rather have the capital credits and keep the business running M-F knowing that I have to plan a bit should I need a form of personal service. Overall, the service that I receive from IREA has been great once I took the time to understand the CO-OP model more. I've had great service for all of the times I needed to call. I would give them 5 stars if there was more of an embrace for taking advantage of the non-polluting methods for energy production. My advice to all members is if you're unhappy be sure to vote. If you are happy be sure to vote. read more

I called IREA on May 18th to set up new service for a home we purchased. I was told by the representative on the phone that I had a balance from 2008, I forget the total amount but it was between $40-$50. I was told I was unable to set up service until this was resolved. I paid this past due amount, despite asking for no proof of the owed bill, having never received a bill in 8 years, nothing was reported to my credit bureau, and despite the fact that I lived in another country the entire year of 2008, I still paid this bill in order to get service set up in my new home. I was told by the representative on the phone that if I set up automatic payments through my bank that IREA would waive the $325 deposit required of new service members. I set up automatic withdrawal that same day and faxed everything in as requested. I received a notification on 6/27/16 from IREA asking me to properly set up service and set up automatic withdrawal for the deposit fee of $325. When I called to inquire about this, the representative placed me on hold while they looked into my last call. He then came back to the phone and said, "My supervisor listened to the entire call you had on May 18th and determined that you were told we would waive the fee, but this is incorrect and we won't be waiving the fee because of your past due balance". I then explained that I paid the balance that I had no proof of owing, especially when I didn't even live in the United States at the time. I asked the representative why, if they had audio proof that I was told the fee would be waived, why they aren't honoring it" he said "We did make a mistake, but it's not our policy to waive the fee". I have no other option for electrical service in my home, so we are being held hostage for a down payment from this company after they've already promised to waive the fee. Now they are promising to return this deposit after 12 months of payments. But since they promised to waive this deposit in the first place and refuse to honor it, what keeps them honest when they promise they'll refund me said money in a year? I requested to be removed from automatic payments as they clearly cannot be trusted. read more

Stay far away from any area served by this group. Poor customer service, high rates, antiquated management. Led by the old and out of touch. Stuck in their archaic ways and you pay the price monthly and long term. If only we had a choice in the areas they serve. If you do move to their area, get involved and push for a change of regime. Its time. read more

HORRIBLE in every way. I bought a condo in Parker in November and I honestly would have seriously considered not buying it if I knew how horrible IREA is. First of all, their rate is $0.05 higher per Kwh than Excel's electrical rate. Plus IREA charges an extra $10 per month "access fee:" that Xcel does not charge. The average home uses 900 Kwh of electricity per month. Therefore, the average home will pay $55 per month more for electricity with IREA vs. Xcel. This was quite a shock for me when I got my first bill. I had been renting a condo of the same size and paying an average of $25 per month with Xcel. Now my bill is averaging $60 per month. I have lived in CO for 6 years and always had Xcel before and they were great. I have also lived in many other areas around the country and had utilities in my name for 23 years. So the other shock was that IREA requires a HUGE deposit for new customers. I have excellent credit and have NEVER had to pay a deposit for a utility in 23 years!! They wanted a $250 deposit, which is NOT based on credit. They don't even run a credit report! I could understand if they charged a deposit for someone with bad credit, but they make everyone pay a huge deposit supposedly based on the size of the home. My condo is pretty small at 1100 sq. feet and $250 equates to more than 4 months of electricity. I called IREA to dispute this huge amount for the deposit and asked to speak to a manager. The first guy I spoke with told me that the deposit was not negotiable and that a manager had no authority to reduce it or waive it. I insisted that he let me speak to one anyway. So he put me into voicemail. I left a message at 10 AM and of course the manager didn't call me back. So I called again the next day and told them I would hold until a manager was available. 20 minutes later, I finally spoke to a manager. She was nice and explained that the deposit covers their losses when someone skips town and doesn't pay their bill. I suggested they run credit reports so that people with good credit and payment history are not being made to pay for deadbeats who don't pay their bills. She stated that they "are not equipped to run credit reports". WHAT??? You do not need to be "equipped" to run a credit check. Anyone with a computer and an internet connection can run someone's credit report. It costs about $35. I wouldn't mind paying $35 for a credit check if it meant I didn't need to pay a $250 deposit. There is no excuse for them not running credit and charging deposits based on actual payment history data for new customers. I told the manager that $250 was unaffordable for me and so she did reduce it to $150 and agreed to allow me to pay it over 3 months starting with my next bill. But guess what?? I cam home a week later to no electricity!! Yes, they turned off my power for not paying the $250 deposit. I had paid my first bill in full and on time. And I had a verbal agreement with the manager that I could pay $50 per month toward the deposit starting with my second bill. The manager did change my deposit requirement on my account to $150, but she never entered the deferred payment so it triggered an automatic shut off of my electricity once the deposit was a week past due. In order to get it turned back on, I had to pay the $150 that night on a credit card over the phone + a $5 processing fee + $20 reconnection fee. Then I had to sit and wait for their employee to show up and turn my power back on, which finally happened 4 hours later at 9 PM. I honestly do not understand why Coloradans put up with IREA ?? Why aren't we doing everything possible to get Xcel coverage statewide so we can save money?? IREA was started for rural areas, but Parker and many other areas still under IREA service and no longer rural. read more