Advocacy In Action

Cooperatives Head To Washington, D.C.

Here are some fast facts about electric cooperatives you might not realize:

• A combination of more than 900 distribution and generation & transmission co-ops power   % of the American landscape.
• Co-ops serve 42 million people, including 92% of persistent poverty counties.
• Co-ops power 22 million businesses, homes, schools, and farms in 48 states.

Why do we mention this? To show just how much of a responsibility electric cooperatives have when representing the people and businesses they serve. It’s no small task to provide services that are reliable and accessible to such a large group with very diverse needs, which is why co-ops make sure to speak out, especially to legislators making decisions every day that affect rural Americans.

Each year, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) hosts the Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., bringing together thousands of electric cooperative leaders from across the nation to meet with members of Congress and White House administration officials to spread the co-op message. It’s a tradition that has been taking place for decades and has led to many policy victories for co-ops across the country.

Union Rural Electric Cooperative (URE) was represented by Mike Aquillo, CXO/VP of member services. “The legislative conference always serves as an opportunity for cooperatives across the country to come together and discuss the energy policy issues impacting our members. This year was no different, as we collectively delivered our concerns over reliability, specifically the declining always-available thermal baseload generation and the recently released overreaching and unrealistic EPA rules, to the staff s of our representatives and senators.”

While co-ops are constantly advocating on behalf of their memberships, the Legislative Conference is the prime opportunity for house members, senators, and congressional staff to engage in 1-on-1 conversations solely about the needs and concerns of electric cooperatives. It’s the perfect time for co-op leaders to shine, and to sometimes point out where legislative decisions regarding the electric utility industry may be straying off course.

This year, a heavy focus was placed on spreading the electric reliability message to representatives regarding strong opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s power plant proposal, which threatens the reliability of the electric grid overall and co-ops’ ability to provide power to all of the people relying on us. Additionally, topics like alleviating transformer supply chain challenges, broadband, and protecting USDA funding for co-ops were also discussed.

Conversations about the needs of electric cooperatives are not partisan issues. Our participation in the Legislative Conference yearly helps ensure URE and other co-ops across the nation are speaking to any and all legislators impacting our members and communities back home.