Along Those Lines

Hydropower plants are marvels of engineering that have helped bring development and prosperity to the regions they serve. But they're also in the crosshairs of interest groups that say they should be closed because of their environmental impacts and others who want to sell the facilities to private industry. Learn more from three hydropower experts: Kurt Miller of Northwest RiverPartners, Benton R...

Electric cooperatives, whose rugged territories and unique operational needs are ideally suited to the capabilities of drones, are leading the way as unmanned aircraft take on a heightened role in the utility industry. Hear from NRECA's Stan McHann and Sangre de Cristo Electric Association's Bill Hovanec about how co-ops are pushing the limits of drones and where this promising technology is headi...

Workplaces had already been changing rapidly before COVID-19 hit, but the pace of change has accelerated to an unprecedented level since then. For co-ops, advances in technology, more interest in remote work, surging retirements and evolving member expectations have made it essential for managers to ensure that their workplace culture fosters learning and leadership development and attracts the ri...

The mission of NRECA International is to bring the insights, experience and expertise of America's electric cooperatives to the world. But the impacts of the pandemic have complicated that mission, curtailing global electrification efforts and curbing travel. How is NRECA International overcoming these ch allen ges and continuing to adapt? Hear from Dan Waddle, the group's leader, as well as Nick...

Electric vehicle sales are skyrocketing in the U.S. as Americans  embrace these highly efficient, fun-to-drive machines and more car manufacturers commit to releasing all-electric models. But EV popularity has largely been centered on urban and suburban areas and slower to catch on in rural America. What are the reasons for this dynamic, and what are electric cooperatives doing about it? Hear from...

As changes in policy, energy markets and consumer expectations drive major changes in how utilities generate and deliver electricity, the industry faces one of its most challenging times. Co-ops have been adding wind and solar to their generation portfolios, but how does the acceleration of the energy transition affect the ability to provide reliable, affordable power? Hear from Seminole Electric...

As co-ops face workforce challenges due to retirements and changes in the industry's key technologies, military veterans rotating out of active duty and into civilian life bring training and expertise that's often ideally suited to co-ops' needs. Hear from three veterans who served their country and now focus their skills on their communities as co-op employees, and learn about the Vets Power Us p...

With the influx of electric vehicles into the U.S. market, utilities—including electric cooperatives—and other interests are working to build EV infrastructure that can keep pace with the expected demand, and this growing web of connected charging stations will create a host of new cybersecurity vulnerabilities. To learn more about what those vulnerabilities are and how to mitigate them, we're joi...

First in a two-part series for Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Ransomware became a household word earlier this year when the Colonial Pipeline, a major fuel delivery source on the East Coast, was shut down for several days after hackers attacked the company's billing system. These highly disruptive and costly network intrusions are on the rise in the United States and globally, and businesses acros...

Typically, when a state is hit with a natural disaster and the power grid is impacted, utilities will work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to rebuild to where the grid was before the event. Lately though, electric co-ops have been working to secure federal reimbursements for restorations that go further to harden their system and create more resilience. Learn more from Mike Heinen, ge...

As utilities have deployed new connected technologies to monitor the grid, the need for strong cybersecurity on the operations technology side has grown exponentially. NRECA worked with co-ops and other partners to develop the Essence tool, which began as an innovative way to quickly identify anomalies on downline systems and evolved to become a robust method for detection, visualization and repor...

The concepts of emotional intelligence and soft skills in the workplace have been around for a long time, but the COVID-19 pandemic has brought them to the forefront. As electric cooperatives assess how they've managed the challenges of the past 18 months, how have lessons they've learned informed business practices going forward? Hear from NRECA's Tracey Steiner and Charlie Dunn, CEO of Farmers E...

The electric utility industry has been moving dramatically in the direction of renewable generation in recent years. Solar has found widespread adoption, with a broad mix of residential, community and utility-scale installations, while wind power has been nearly all at utility scale. Now, the Department of Energy is working to change that with a new program called Rural Area Distributed Wind Integ...

When an unprecedented Arctic blast and winter storm hit the Midwest and South in February, Texans faced days of outages and crippling power supply shortages. What happened in Texas, why was it so much worse there than in other states, and what can we learn from this situation? Hear from Mike Williams, CEO of Texas Electric Cooperatives, as well as Mark Jones, who was part of a University of Housto...

NRECA's Achieving Cooperative Community Equitable Solar Sources project, a three-year initiative funded by the Department of Energy, aims to bring the benefits of solar into low- and moderate-income communities. NRECA is partnering with seven co-ops across the country to deploy solar projects that help LMI consumer-members and share the lessons they learn. Hear from ACCESS principal investigator a...

The bulk of the electric cooperative workforce has traditionally been filled by men due to the nature of the work that co-ops do. But over time, women have been stepping into more and more jobs across the industry spectrum. In honor of Women's History Month, hear from several of the women making strides and taking on leadership positions in the co-op world: Amanda Opp of Flathead Electric Cooperat...

The need to close America's digital divide is as crucial as ever, and the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund stands to have a huge impact, with billions in funding for deploying broadband to unserved communities. NRECA's Brian O'Hara and NRTC's Greg Santoro break down how the RDOF auction works and outline concerns about winning bidders with unproven technologies, a...

With a new Congress and new administration in place, how will electric cooperatives engage with the government on their policy priorities—from the immediate COVID-19 health and economic crises to infrastructure to climate policy? Hear from Stacey Alexander, a former congressional staffer and now a political and policy consultant with the firm Subject Matter, and Louis Finkel, NRECA's senior vice p...

The proliferation of sensors and other downline devices means electric cooperatives now have access to mountains of system data. During the 2020 NRECA TechAdvantage Conference and Expo, NRECA's Venkat Banunarayanan and Rappahannock Electric Cooperative's John Hewa discussed how co-ops are using that data to improve reliability, plan for the future and better serve their members. This episode is sp...

In celebration of National Co-op Month, we talk to electric cooperative employees whose routine workdays turned into lifesaving rescue missions as they came to the aid of community members. Crew members describe rescuing a woman trapped in a flooded creek in Tennessee, pulling two men from a fiery armored truck crash in Missouri, and saving an older resident from his burning Mississippi home. Hear...

The beneficial electrification movement—using electricity to replace fossil fuels for everything from mowing your lawn to powering your car—has gained momentum and led to the formation of the Beneficial Electrification League. With chapters in states across the country and a national board, the league's mission is to increase understanding of electrification's economic, consumer and environmental...

Wildfires have caused massive destruction in Western states and across the country during recent summers. Electric cooperatives reduce fire risk by maintaining rights of way and keeping equipment up to date, but their efforts are often complicated by the need to coordinate with multiple government agencies that oversee federal lands. We talk to NRECA Regulatory Issues Director Janelle Lemen, Dave...

As local and national campaigns gear up across the country, electric cooperatives work to ensure their consumer-members are informed of the issues that matter most to rural communities and have the opportunity to make their voices heard at the polls. In part two, Stephanie Johnson of Jasper County REMC in Indiana describes what these efforts look like on the ground in her rural service territory....

As local and national campaigns gear up across the country, electric cooperatives work to ensure their consumer-members are informed of the issues that matter most to rural communities and have the opportunity to make their voices heard at the polls. In this two-part episode, we talk first to NRECA's Laura Vogel and Nonprofit Vote's Brian Miller about national initiatives and resources for co-ops...

Electric cooperatives across the South have already seen massive storm damage across their systems, and the 2020 hurricane season is just now getting started. When outages are  too much for one co-op to handle, neighboring co-ops from within their state and across state lines are quick to lend a helping hand to get power back up and running quickly and safely. Martha Duggan, who oversees NRECA's s...