The Gift of Effort & Cooperation: A Christmas Message From Union Rural Electric Cooperative (URE)
Like many of you, I didn’t have many material possessions growing up. Sometimes the memories of those lean years can be helpful when it comes to appreciating the simple things in life. I vividly remember one Christmas when I was maybe 6 or 7 years old and our family was struggling financially. I was told that Santa may not make it to our home that year.
Early Christmas morning, after working an overnight shift, my father came home and presented me with a toy fire truck, and my sister with a new doll. He claimed he caught up with Santa on the way home. Because I totally didn’t expect it, it was a wonderful present that made a lasting impression on me. It wasn’t because it was an amazing toy, but because it was a sign that my dad cared enough to make sure we got something for Christmas even though he was struggling to make ends meet for our family.
Fast forward a gazillion years to 2023. For many of us it’s easy to forget how the best gifts are the ones that take effort and sacrifice on the part of the giver. As a gift receiver, it’s easy to take otherwise amazing gifts for granted when we have so much already. You know I’m going to steer the subject to our job as an energy provider, so here we go.
Electricity is no longer something we are impressed with receiving in rural Union County. During the 1930s, rural residents may have envied townies for having electricity, but in modern times we all have access to abundant and relatively inexpensive energy around the clock. Not many of us flip a light switch and then giggle with delight when the bulb lights up. The service we now take for granted outside major cities and towns was made possible through the cooperative business model and the Rural Electrification Act of 1935, and it took a lot of hard work and sacrifice to make it all happen.
To this day, cooperatives like URE must overcome the obstacles that prevent investor-owned utilities from investing in rural areas in the first place. For example, a typical rural cooperative like URE might serve fewer than 10 consumers for every mile of line built, while a for-profit, investor-owned utility may serve 25 to 35 customers, or more, along the same length of line because they serve cities and towns. You can imagine that with more than double the distribution line required to serve every consumer, costs are simply higher for rural cooperatives. It’s an economy-of-scale problem due to the nature of our rural landscape, yet somehow cooperatives make sure our members get the benefit of competitively priced energy.
By adhering to our cooperative principles, URE continues to provide reliable energy at stable rates while at the same time returning profits back to our members. This is something you can look forward to each spring, when we credit back a portion of our cumulative earnings back on your bill. It’s quite a benefit!Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfectly okay to take for granted that the lights will come on when you flip the switch. After all, our mission is to provide safe, reliable service to our members. But as we approach the holidays, let’s keep in mind that whether it’s an unexpected toy fire truck, or simply the behind-the-scenes work of the men and women of URE to ensure a warm, lit home on a cold winter’s evening, the best things in life take effort and cooperation.
Merry Christmas from all of us here at your electric cooperative, URE.