Brighton-based United Power recently hired Thornton mayor Jan Kulmann as the company’s senior vice president and chief operating officer. Her first day was Dec. 12.
“I’m excited for the opportunity and the chance to return to an operations role, and I’m looking forward to working with the exceptional team at United Power,” Kulmann said in an email.
She most recently served as Xcel Energy’s senior director of Standards & Compliance Program Development. She was responsible for design and engineering standards to help the utility transition to clean energy.
Kulmann, elected last month to her second term as mayor, is also an engineer. She has nearly 25 years’ experience in the energy industry, including work in utilities and the oil and gas sector. She has directed the development of design and engineering standards and compliance programs for natural gas pipeline and electric infrastructure, managed drilling, completion, and production facilities, and environmental, health, safety, and regulatory programs.
“Now, more than at any time in the cooperative’s history, having the right people in place in our organization is critical, and Jan brings a rich combination of education and experience to this vital leadership position,” United Power President and CEO Mark Gabriel said. “She is the right leader for our operations transition as we step away from our current wholesale power contract.”
Kulmann earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering, and a minor in music performance, from Louisiana State University. She later earned a Master of Business Administration from Colorado State University.
United Power is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative that delivers electricity to homes, farms, and businesses on Colorado’s northern Front Range. The cooperative is one of the fastest-growing electric co-ops in the nation. Its territory extends 900-square miles, including Coal Creek and Golden Gate Canyon, along the I-25 corridor and Carbon Valley, to parts of Brighton, Hudson, and Keenesburg.
