CEO’s Message – June 2024

Standing Up For Reliability

I know our members depend on Union Rural Electric Cooperative (URE) to provide safe, reliable, and affordable electricity. For the past 88 years, we’ve made it our mission to do just that.

For the past year, though, electricity industry leaders and experts have been raising the alarm over threats to that mission from proposed new regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In April, those EPA rules were finalized, and now the danger is all too real.

These regulations demand that coal-fired power plants essentially eliminate carbon dioxide emissions by 2032 or be shut down. Unfortunately, the required reductions aren’t feasible because the technology needed for carbon capture and storage is still being developed and not yet commercially available, nor is it likely to be available in time for plant owners to plan and construct the needed upgrades, let alone justify the enormous expense. It’s effectively an order to shut down reliable coal generation.

What This Means for URE Members

In the short term, URE will continue providing you with the safe, reliable, and affordable electricity you expect from us. But I think everyone should understand these new regulations threaten the industry’s ability to provide the same level of this vital service in the future.

Nearly 70% of the generation capacity for Ohio’s electric cooperatives comes from the Cardinal Power Plant, which delivers baseload power to more than a million people in 77 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Member-owned Buckeye Power has spent more than $1 billion on emissions controls at our Cardinal Power Plant, which has been recognized as 1 of the cleanest-operating coal-fired plants in the world.

Electricity from the Cardinal Plant has helped Ohio’s cooperatives avoid much of the recent volatility in energy prices and keep rate increases as low as possible. Without this always-available electricity supply, Ohio cooperative members will face significantly higher costs. And, with the loss of the remaining coal power plants, our whole region will face an ever-growing likelihood of insufficient power availability and increasing risk of rolling blackouts.

What URE Is Doing

Please understand that we support environmentally responsible energy goals, including a strategically planned transition to carbon-free electricity sources. Our all-of-the-above approach advocates for growth in renewable energy resources and ongoing reductions in fossil-fuel dependence while still being able to serve fastgrowing demand for electric power. This important transition simply requires more time than the new EPA rules allow.

Electric co-op leaders like me will continue to advocate for commonsense policies and realistic timelines for reducing carbon emissions while reinforcing the importance of safe, reliable, and affordable electricity. We expect our national trade group and other reliable energy proponents to challenge the new regulations in court on behalf of all electric consumers.

What You Caxron Do

As a member, you can stand up for maintaining energy reliability in several ways. First, you can learn more about the issues. Read details of the EPA rules and their implications starting on page 4 of this magazine. Follow URE online and on Facebook to stay on top of new developments. Research the energy policies supported by candidates for elected office, and support candidates who value maintaining reliable electricity while reducing carbon emissions.

Additionally, you can join other cooperative members from around the country to advocate for responsible energy policy through Voices for Cooperative Power (VCP), a grassroots effort to promote responsible energy policy. Visit the Voices For Cooperative Power website to learn more.

If you’d like to amplify your voice through political support for reliable energy advocates, join America’s Electric Cooperatives PAC, which financially backs candidates who support the interests of electric cooperative members. Call URE or visit our website at the Grid Reliability page to learn more.

Will you help URE to advocate for safe, reliable, and affordable energy? After all, URE is your electric cooperative.