Chris Tomchuk's Contact Details

Chris Tomchuk's Company Details

Valley Electric Association, Inc.

Pahrump, Nevada, US • 96 Employees
Utilities

Valley Electric Association (VEA) is a member-owned electricity/communications cooperative headquartered in Pahrump. It is among the fastest growing Co-ops in the country. Valley's service area covers more than 6,800 square miles of rural Nevada and parts of California and includes 24,000 meters with 2,200 miles of distribution and 360 miles of transmission lines. The 53-year-old Co-op moved aggressively into the high-speed communications business in 2016, creating the first all-optical-fiber community in Nevada. Valley Communications Association is bringing broadband to rural areas that would have little hope of obtaining it otherwise. The backbone of that network is the electric infrastructure built by Valley Electric Association. By piggybacking on the reliable cabling and lines already in place, VCA is able to provide the fastest, most reliable Internet service. Our long-term goal is to position VCA, a wholly owned subsidiary of VEA, to work with other Co-ops in Nevada to bring high-speed communications to the rural areas of the state. Earlier in 2016, VCA formed a partnership with Switch to connect its Las Vegas SUPERNAP data center ecosystems in southern Nevada to those in northern Nevada using VEA's fiber infrastructure. VEA joined the California Independent System Operators Corporation (CAISO) in 2013, which is creating opportunities for transmitting electricity from solar generation in Nye County to the California market. That partnership helped VEA experience a 40-percent revenue growth during the past six years. In September 2016, VEA went live with a 15-megawatt solar generation project, which will use 54,000 photovoltaic solar panels covering more than 80 acres in Pahrump. The program will allow VEA consumers to enjoy the benefits of renewable energy without the investments and deals that those who have solar panels of their own set up. VEA is home of the largest domestic solar water heater program in the nation.