Along Those Lines

The 2024 hurricane season could be especially challenging for electric co-ops and their members. NOAA is predicting above-normal Atlantic hurricane activity with up to 25 named storms—a record high for its May forecast. Learn more from Matt Rosencrans, lead hurricane outlook forecaster with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, and hear from Jeff Davis Electric Cooperative General Manager Mike Heinen...

The EPA recently finalized its new rule to aggressively cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants—a sweeping move that NRECA CEO Jim Matheson called "unlawful, unrealistic and unachievable." Critics across the industry have decried the regulation as a threat to reliability at a time when an already-stressed grid faces soaring demand. Hear from NRECA's Ashley Slater and Minnkota Power Cooperat...

In 2021, Branden Bauer was working at United Electric in Pennsylvania as a journeyman lineman with nearly 10 years of experience. During a system improvement project, he made contact with a live conductor that he'd mistakenly thought was a neutral and suffered devastating injuries. Hear from Branden and his wife, Caitlin, about how he's made a mission of telling his story in the hope that it'll he...

A long-simmering dispute over the Lower Snake River dams burst onto the headlines in November with news of a backroom deal between the Biden administration and plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Bonneville Power Administration and other agencies that manage the dams. The deal has raised fears about the possibility of breaching the dams and compromising the availability of reliable, carbon-free el...

The electric utility industry is in the midst of a "skills and people shortage," brought on by a steady stream of senior leaders reaching retirement age, a marked increase in non-retirement turnover and an evolution toward more advanced technologies that's making it more difficult to find qualified employees. Electric co-ops are responding with creative initiatives on succession planning and emplo...

Artificial intelligence is poised to have a rapidly expanding impact on many facets of our lives—and the power industry is at the tip of the spear. How are electric co-ops already using AI, and how will it shape and change the way we approach operations, member services and our workplace culture in the years to come? Hear from Mike Walsh, a futurist, author and the founder and CEO of the consultin...

The Achieving Cooperative Community Equitable Solar Sources (ACCESS) project, a three-year, Department of Energy-funded effort in which electric co-ops have worked on innovative ways to bring the benefits of solar power to their low- and moderate-income members, is winding down at the end of the year. Learn more about ACCESS from Lisa Slaughter, NRECA research engineer, and Marshall Cherry, presid...

A key piece of the broadband puzzle is the "middle mile," which connects local networks to the broader web—a particularly critical facet for rural areas. Many electric co-ops in the broadband space are finding it difficult to access reliable, affordable third-party middle-mile networks, and some are starting to take matters into their own hands. Learn more from NRECA's Katie Culleton as well as St...

The Commitment to Zero Contacts program, a joint effort of NRECA, Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange and statewide co-op associations to eliminate injuries and deaths caused by accidental electrical contacts, hit its five-year mark earlier this year. Phase 2 of the program includes a VR training kit that's being rolled out to statewide associations across the country. Learn more from NREC...

In November 2021, Delta-Montrose Electric Association was hit with a ransomware attack that quickly spread through the co-op's network and took over key systems like phone and email, customer information and meter data management. It took months of work to re-create and restore DMEA's network, build new cyber protections and get back to a new normal. Hear from DMEA Chief Information Officer Bob Fa...

The EPA's proposed power plant rule is set to go into effect in the spring of 2024. This sweeping set of new restrictions on emissions from new and existing power generation facilities is being criticized by many in the industry for setting unrealistic timelines, relying on untested technologies and threatening the affordability and reliability of electricity. Hear from Ashley Slater, NRECA's vice...

A pandemic-era trend has many Americans relocating from urban areas to smaller cities and towns, but they're facing a growing shortage of available, affordable housing. What's causing this unprecedented housing gap, and what are rural leaders, including electric co-ops, doing to fix it? Hear from Alex Horowitz, project director of the Housing Policy Initiative at the Pew Charitable Trusts, and Lea...

The reliability of America's electric grid is no longer a guarantee amid government regulations forcing the disorderly closure of always-on power plants in favor of renewables and demand exceeding supply during critical times in several regions of the country. What have electric co-ops been doing to raise the alarm and offer solutions? Hear from NRECA CEO Jim Matheson and Associated Electric Coope...

Tony Anderson, general manager of Cherryland Electric Cooperative in Michigan, recently kicked off his two-year term as NRECA president. He's a familiar figure in the electric cooperative program, with a career that has included working at five co-ops in five states and a high-profile charitable campaign that involved running a marathon in every state. Hear from Anderson about his career track, wh...

Electric school buses are becoming a more common sight in rural school districts, thanks in part to new federal funding created by the bipartisan infrastructure law. For electric co-ops that serve these districts, what are the opportunities and challenges posed by this new demand for electricity? Hear from NRECA's Stephanie Crawford, Bradley Cherry of Grayson Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. in Ke...

Over the last 50 years, the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour has sent over 75,000 rural teenagers to Washington, D.C., for the "trip of a lifetime," where they meet with their elected officials and build relationships. Through the Youth Tour and Youth Leadership Council, NRECA works to cultivate our next generation of co-op leaders. Learn more in this episode from NRECA Youth Programs and Training...

Electric co-ops saw a major victory last year with the inclusion of direct-pay incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act. The law gives co-ops and other tax-exempt entities the ability to receive reimbursements from the government for deploying new energy technologies, putting them on a playing field with for-profit providers. How does this change the game for co-ops going forward? Hear from NRECA...

More than 200 electric co-ops have already built or started work to offer broadband either on their own or in a partnership, and that number will only grow with billions in funding on the way to help close the digital divide. But what does it take for a co-op to create and run a broadband business? Hear from Craig Eccher, former CEO of Tri-County REC in Pennsylvania and its broadband subsidiary, B...

Small modular reactors and their smaller cousins, microreactors, are getting plenty of buzz as an important potential source of carbon-free power amid the energy transition. Are they capable of delivering on their many promises from a technological and financial standpoint, and how long will it take until we could realistically expect these devices to be added to the grid? Learn more from NRECA's...

The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law passed in late 2021 offers an unprecedented opportunity for electric co-ops to add services and improve their systems, but it also presents a ch allen ge in terms of navigating the complicated and time-consuming process of applying for federal grants. Hear from NRECA's Lauren Khair on the association's infrastructure resources for co-ops and Victoria...

Cybersecurity Awareness Month edition: What do an electric cooperative's internal and operational networks look like to a hacker, and what can co-ops do to tighten their defenses? Hear from Ryan Newlon, NRECA's cybersecurity solutions principal, and Bryan Hatton, a cybersecurity researcher at the Idaho National Laboratory whose work includes "white hat hacking."

The advent of more engaged and empowered consumer-members is driving broad changes in the way electric co-ops do business and how they communicate about the services they offer. Hear from two co-op leaders who work closely with the co-ops in their states to help them keep up with member expectations: Nelle Hotchkiss of North Carolina's Electric Cooperatives and Lisa Johnson of Seminole Electric Co...

The ongoing global supply chain crisis has spurred double-digit inflation, frustrated companies and consumers and driven the U.S. economy to the brink of recession. Electric co-ops are feeling the brunt of the impact, facing unprecedented challenges in procuring key grid components like transformers, conductor and power poles. How are co-ops leading the industry in managing this supply crunch? Hea...

More than 200 electric cooperatives already provide broadband, and co-ops' role in this space is poised to become more prominent amid new government funding and an unprecedented resolve in the wake of the pandemic to close the digital divide. NRECA Broadband, a new service tier launched this summer, will leverage NRECA's expertise, influence and reputation in helping co-ops enter the telecommunica...

As many rural areas have suffered population loss and stagnating economic growth, electric co-ops have stepped up to try to reverse this trend through broad community development efforts. Hear from Touchstone Energy® Cooperative Executive Director Jana Adams, Erica Shehane of Lynches River Electric Cooperative in South Carolina and Dan Boysel of Consolidated Cooperative in Ohio on co-ops' efforts...