Concern for Community Never Stops for Electric Co-ops

Electric co-op volunteers teach local workers how to safely use equipment as part of NRECA International Programs’ electrification efforts.

By Justin LaBerge

Colorado Youth Tour 2015 at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

Colorado Youth Tour 2015 at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

We reached that time of year when jack-o’-lanterns and fun-size candy bars give way to hand-shaped turkeys drawn by children and a relentless onslaught of Black Friday ads.

The holidays are upon us, and for many that means it’s time to gather with family and friends to break bread, reconnect and reminisce.

It’s also a season when we try a little harder to be generous with our time, talent and treasure. We all do our best during the year to be kind and generous with our friends and neighbors, but the stress and bustle of everyday life sometimes keeps us from sharing the full measure of concern for community that lives in our hearts.

For Colorado’s electric cooperatives, concern for community is one of the seven core principles that guides our actions all year long.

Living our values

The most powerful way electric co-ops show concern for community is through the essential services they deliver every day. The employees and leaders of your co-op have a vested interest in doing what’s best for the community because they are members of the same community.

 A subsidiary of Basin Electric Power Cooperative operates the only commercial-scale coal gasification plant in the United States. At this Weyburn, Saskatchewan, injection point, carbon dioxide captured from the plant is piped underground to enhance oil recovery

A subsidiary of Basin Electric Power Cooperative operates the only commercial-scale coal gasification plant in the United States. At this Weyburn, Saskatchewan, injection point, carbon dioxide captured from the plant is piped underground to enhance oil recovery

In addition to their day-to-day efforts to keep the lights on, electric co-ops support the community through routine actions, like promoting energy efficiency, helping members understand their energy use and educating the public about electrical safety.

The not-for-profit business model also helps co-ops show concern for community by keeping more money in the local economy. Rather than being returned to Wall Street investors, any profit the co-op makes is reinvested in the cooperative, used to pay down debts, saved for emergencies or returned to members over time through capital credits.

These basic differences in the cooperative way of doing business are important, but they’re just the beginning of the story. Here are a few of the many ways electric co-ops show concern for community and set themselves apart from ordinary utilities.

Operation Round Up®

Through Operation Round Up®, members at participating co-ops can elect to have their monthly bills rounded up to the next whole dollar amount. Those extra pennies are pooled and used to support community organizations in areas served by the co-op. What started as a late-night brainstorm by the CEO of a South Carolina cooperative has turned into a national program with more than 250 participating co-ops that donated millions to worthy causes in local communities over the years.

Electric Cooperative Youth Tour

Strong communities need strong citizens to prosper and sustain themselves. Nowhere is this truer than in tight-knit rural communities. As community-based organizations, electric co-ops do their part to groom our next generation of leaders through the Youth Tour program. Each year, outstanding high school students represent electric co-ops from across the country and converge on Washington, D.C., for a weeklong program that teaches the values of citizenship, democracy, leadership and cooperation.

A researcher works with organic light emitting diodes, a lightweight, energy-efficient and flexible light source.

A researcher works with organic light emitting diodes, a lightweight, energy-efficient and flexible light source.

Among the Youth Tour’s most notable alumni is Apple CEO Tim Cook. Earlier this year, Cook cited his experience from the 1977 Youth Tour as a critical moment that helped shape who he is and his sense of right and wrong.

Energy research

Caring for the community means doing our best to be good stewards of our environment and natural resources while ensuring energy remains reliable and affordable. Through its membership in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, your local electric co-op is actively involved in the development of new energy technologies and monitoring the advances of other researchers.

It might surprise you to know that America’s electric cooperatives are often leaders in the implementation of new energy technologies. For example, some of the top solar utilities in the United States are electric co-ops. The low-density rural areas served by co-ops often stand to gain the most from advances in technology and efficiency.

NRECA International Foundation

Since the 1960s, America’s electric cooperatives have shared their expertise by building electric systems in rural areas in developing nations. This effort helped bring this life-changing technology to more than 110 million people.

A co-op volunteer visits with a group of teens in Tanzania during a 2014 NRECA International project.

A co-op volunteer visits with a group of teens in Tanzania during a 2014 NRECA International project.

When a community receives power, the lives of its citizens change forever. Electricity opens up a whole world of new possibilities: better health care, better education and safer streets. It also helps communities become more self-sufficient.

Tax-deductible contributions to the NRECA International Foundation pay for materials, equipment and travel for volunteers from electric co-ops who build electric systems and train locals to maintain them. To learn more, visit NRECAInternational.coop.

Concern for community is an ongoing core principle for Colorado’s electric co-ops.

Justin LaBerge writes on consumer and cooperative affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.