Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators

In this episode of The Co-op Heroes Podcast, Pablo Fuentes sits down with James Tanneberger, CEO of South Central Indiana REMC, to talk about a subject that gets more contentious by the month: electric cooperatives and data centers. Tanneberg makes the case that the mega load data centers people love to hate are already being replaced by something smaller, quieter, and a lot more useful to the com...

In this episode of The Co-op Heroes Podcast, we sit down with Dale Kaufman, Staking Technician at Southern Indiana Power, recorded live at the Indiana Electric Cooperatives Safety and Operations Meeting in Noblesville, Indiana. He makes the case that staking is equal parts engineering, diplomacy, and institutional memory, and that the hardest part of his job has never been running wire. Most peopl...

In this episode of The Co-op Heroes Podcast, we sit down with Jamie Conn, Safety Coordinator at Blue grass Energy in Nicholasville, Kentucky, recorded live at the NRECA Safety Leadership Summit in St. Louis, Missouri. He makes the case that most safety problems in the electric utility industry are not about rule following. They are about what happens in someone's mind long before they ever get to...

In this episode of The Co-op Heroes Podcast, we sit down with Walt Stephens, Safety Manager at Brunswick EMC in Shallotte, North Carolina, recorded live at the NRECA Safety Leadership Summit in St. Louis, Missouri. He makes the case that the way electric cooperatives have been communicating safety for 30 years is not broken, but it is not enough anymore. Most co-ops still run safety the way they a...

In this episode of The Co-op Heroes Podcast, we sit down with Micah Thompson and JD Cox, recorded live at the NRECA Safety Leadership Summit in St. Louis, Missouri. They make the case that safety culture lives or dies on something most people in the industry are not comfortable talking about: love. Most co-ops approach safety the way you would expect. Policies, training, federal standards, meeting...

Ken Macken dedicated his life and career to electric cooperatives. He knew the job from the inside: the crews, the culture, the moments where safety either holds or it doesn't. As Director of Safety and Training at NRECA, he became the leader of what is now one of the most attended electric utility safety conferences in the country, growing the Safety Leadership Summit this year in St. Louis to ne...

In this episode of The Co-op Heroes Podcast, we sit down with Chris Hansen, CEO and General Manager at La Plata Electric Association in Durango, Colorado. He shares what it takes to walk away from a long-term G&T contract, rebuild trust from scratch, and build a co-op ready for what comes next. Most co-ops do not set out to reinvent how they buy power. They are focused on keeping the lights on, se...

In this episode of The Co-op Heroes Podcast, James Tanneberger, CEO of South Central Indiana REMC, shares the story that permanently changed the way he thinks about safety and how it shaped the leader he is today. ames opens up about his early career working around substations without fully understanding the risks involved. Safety felt like a formality back then, not because he was reckless, but b...

In this episode of The Co-op Heroes Podcast, we sit down with Mark Gabriel, CEO of United Power, to talk about what it takes to reinvent an electric cooperative from the ground up. Mark shares how United Power made the difficult decision to leave their G&T and rebuild their entire power supply from scratch. What started as a painful process turned into a complete transformation, replacing one powe...

In this episode of The Co-op Heroes Podcast, we sit down with Mike Partin , President of the Board at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association , to talk about what it takes to represent electric cooperatives at the national level. Mike shares how co-ops work together to make sure their voices are heard, especially in Washington where decisions can directly affect reliability and costs f...

In this episode of The Co Op Heroes Podcast, we sit down with Amanda Opp , Integrated Services Manager at Flathead Electric Cooperative . She shares how an internal operational challenge became a homegrown digital solution, and what that journey reveals about innovation the cooperative way. Most co ops do not set out to become software builders. They are focused on keeping the lights on, serving m...

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with John Cassady, CEO of Indiana Electric Cooperatives, to explore how one grassroots advocacy campaign stopped a regressive tax increase that would have blindsided rural communities, and what this fight reveals about defending people who don't know they need a champion. Most people don't spend their days reading legislative proposals or tr...

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with David Formella, utility forester at Southside Electric Cooperative in Virginia, to explore what happens when trees, power lines, and people intersect in unexpected ways. David brings a unique background to utility forestry: a degree in natural resource conservation from Virginia Tech, military service as a Marine, and experience as an E...

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with Nate Melby, VP and Chief Information Officer at Dairyland Power Cooperative, to explore how an electric cooperative became an unlikely pioneer in artificial intelligence, and how that innovation is now spreading across the cooperative movement. When Nate arrived at Dairyland Power, a Generation and Transmission cooperative, he brought a...

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with Doug Gilmore, Power Resources Manager at Flathead Electric Cooperative in Kalispell, Montana, to explore how one cooperative turned a complex challenge into an innovative opportunity. Flathead Electric serves one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. Kalispell was recently voted the fastest-growing micropolitan city in the Unit...

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with Zach Anderson, Chief Operating Officer of Wolverine Power Cooperative, to discuss one of the most significant achievements in cooperative energy history: the restart of the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station. When Palisades entered decommissioning status, it seemed like a closed chapter. But Wolverine Power Cooperative and their partn...

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, hosts Pablo Fuentes and James Tanneberger sit down with Chad Mertz, Vice President of Strategic Communications at Hoosier Energy to explore the challenge facing the entire cooperative movement: communicating with the next generation. Chad dives into the creative solution that's changing how communities understand the difference co-ops make. Hoosier Ener...

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, host Pablo Fuentes heads to the Hendricks County Fairgrounds to speak with Tommy Nance, VP of Operations at NineStar Connect, about the fourth annual Indiana Lineman Rodeo, an event born from a simple vision that has become a beacon for community for linemen across the state. Five years ago, during the height of COVID, Tommy and fellow cooperative leade...

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, host Pablo Fuentes sits down with Shaun Lamp, President and CEO of  Great Lakes  Energy, to hear firsthand accounts of how crews and community members responded to one of Michigan's most devastating natural disasters in recent memory. When a once-in-a-century ice storm struck in March 2025,  Great Lakes  Energy's 14,000-mile system faced unprecedented c...

In this forward-thinking episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, hosts Pablo Fuentes (CEO of Bloom Spatial) and James Tanneberger (CEO of South Central Indiana REMC) explore what makes electric cooperatives uniquely positioned to innovate and push boundaries that investor-owned utilities often cannot. James explains how his perception of electric cooperatives completely changed when he entered the in...

In this special roundtable episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with five co-op vegetation management leaders at the Trees and Utilities Show in Knoxville, Tennessee. Each person shared a story about the heroic actions and the community impact of their vegetation management team. Featured Guests: Anthony Lindfors - Matanuska Electric Association (Alaska) Cindy Musick - Rappahannock Ele...

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, host Pablo Fuentes sits down with Keith Taylor, Professor of Economic Development at UC Davis and self-described "People's Professor," to explore how electric cooperatives are leading innovation in rural America. Keith shares the remarkable story of Anza Electric Cooperative in Southern California, which defied industry experts who claimed rural broadba...

In this powerful episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, host Pablo Fuentes sits down with Chuck Tiemann, the legendary safety instructor known throughout the electric cooperative world for his uncompromising dedication to lineman safety. Speaking from the Indiana Lineman Rodeo, Chuck shares his remarkable journey from a life-changing accident to becoming one of the industry's most impactful safety a...

In this sobering episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, hosts Pablo Fuentes (CEO of Bloom Spatial) and James Tanneberger (CEO of South Central Indiana REMC) share a harrowing story that illustrates why water safety is a critical concern for utility workers. James recounts a near-tragic incident from his time in Texas, where two substation maintenance workers faced a life-threatening situation during...

In this inspiring episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, host Pablo Fuentes sits down with Mandy Barth, Vice President of Communication at Indiana Electric Cooperatives (IEC), to explore an extraordinary international mission that has been transforming lives for over a decade. What began as a one-time project in 2012 to celebrate the UN's International Year of the Cooperative has evolved into Projec...