Up Front

More than we like, the will and whims of government affect your electric cooperative’s costs and operational decisions. Federal and state elected officials and their appointed regulators set laws and rules that govern a range of issues, including regional electric markets, grid access, environmental impacts, employment laws, and taxes and fees, all of which affect the cost and reliability of your electric service. Government relations and advocacy are an essential part of the job of managing an electric cooperative.

Ohio’s electric cooperatives are looking forward to another year of progress in 2020 toward our goal of providing you with safe, reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible electric service. We are thankful to have had another successful year in 2019. Following are some of the initiatives we have planned for 2020:

People working together for a common cause is nothing new. For those efforts to be sustainable over time requires operating principles — tenets that guide our actions and decisions. During October, we celebrate National Cooperative Month, recognizing that since the mid-1800s, our cooperative business model has not merely endured but flourished because it has remained committed to our values.

We’ve all heard some form of the notion that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can set in motion a chain of events that causes a hurricane in China. It’s a way to express how complex systems like our weather or the environment are tied together by complex relationships that are difficult to recognize or understand.

Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives was gratified to see the Environmental Protection Agency finalize its work on the Affordable Clean Energy rule to further reduce carbon dioxide emissions, replacing earlier proposals with more sensible regulations.

Electric cooperatives have long been not only willing, but eager, to be good stewards of the environment. Our seventh cooperative principle, “Concern for Community,” certainly extends to the land we work, our water supply, and the air we breathe.

Cooperation among cooperatives is one of the principles upon which our industry is founded. Think of it as teamwork — sounds nice, but it’s more than just a neighborly way to conduct business. We’re more effective when we work together cooperatively to achieve common goals. Ohio Cooperative Living magazine is just one example that shows how team effort really works to hold down costs and improve the quality of our service.

Owning a power plant and being responsible for the day-to-day operations of a power plant are two very different things.

As you might imagine, electric cooperatives have a great story to tell.

We talk about our history, about rural neighbors who banded together to bring electricity to their homes and farms when no one else would.

We talk about the present, about the vital service we provide, and about our involvement in our communities — locally, nationally, and even internationally.

Across the state, Ohio’s electric co-ops invest in new and updated equipment to bring electricity to your home or business on a continuous and uninterrupted basis. Cooperatives engage technological advances to track the performance of our electric distribution networks and to solve problems quickly. We train our staff to be available when you need us and to resolve issues safely and reliably. Today, more than ever, our world is powered by our electric system. Yet, in spite of investments in technology, time, and preparation, Mother Nature still puts us in our place from time to time.