Georgia Magazine - January 2011 - (Page 16)

SPECIAL ENERGY REPORT Create an energy policy that is fair, affordable and achievable BY BILL VERNER, VICE PRESIDENT, EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, GEORGIA ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORP. New Year’s resolutions for the 112th Congress • Stop the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of carbon dioxide (CO2), and let Congress establish policy ﬁrst. • Develop a renewable-energy policy that allows regional ﬂexibility and provides proper cost allocation for any new transmission capacity required for renewable energy delivery. • Develop an energy-efﬁciency policy that recognizes existing investments and achievements with incentives for new technology, conservation and efﬁciency gains. • Maintain a strong Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for ﬁnancing and infrastructure needs, restoring lending authority for base-load generation. I n the Peach State, 42 electric membership corporations (EMCs) serve roughly 4.5 million Georgians across 73 percent of our state’s land area. There is an average of fewer than 10 consumers per mile of line, 90 percent of which are residential. But it is important to understand that EMCs here are part of an extensive network of electric co-ops nationwide that work together on public policy on behalf of our member-owners. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is the service organization representing nearly 900 not-for-proﬁt, member-owned, rural electric cooperative systems, which serve 42 million consumers in 47 states. NRECA estimates that cooperatives own and maintain 2.5 million miles or 42 percent of the nation’s electric distribution lines covering three-quarters of the nation’s landmass. Cooperatives serve approximately 18 million businesses, homes, farms, schools and other establishments in 2,500 of the nation’s 3,141 counties. Nationally, cooperatives still average just seven consumers per mile of electrical distribution line, by far the lowest density in the industry. The challenge of traversing vast, remote stretches of often rugged topography, and the increasing volatility in the electric marketplace pose a daily challenge to our mission: to provide 16 a stable, reliable supply of affordable power to our members. That challenge is critical, considering the average household income in the service territories of most co-ops lags behind the national average by more than 14 percent. Bringing electricity to America’s countryside has never been easy, but now electric cooperatives must deal with being part of an industry in transition. The electric utility industry faces a carbon-constrained environment at a time when the future electric generation needs of electric co-ops are nearly twice that of the rest of the industry. A United States Department of Agriculture study, conducted as a requirement of the Food and Energy Security Act of 2007, found that “due to current and projected growth, cooperatives will need to double generation capacity by 2020.” A silver lining of sorts in the economic downturn has stretched the timetable for increased demand by ﬁve years or more in many states. Regardless, it’s clear we need new generation, and it needs to be as clean as practicable while we are also dealing with compliance for multiple new environmental regulatory hurdles, from the Clean Air Act to the Clean Water Act, for existing coal generation. Meanwhile, electric cooperatives must operate under the ominous cloud of More online at www.georgiamagazine.org the Massachusetts versus EPA decision, which afforded EPA the ability to regulate carbon under the Clean Air Act. Whether from Congress, the bureaucracy or the courts, electric coops have to ﬁnd a way to produce more electricity under more difﬁcult conditions. The good news is that electric cooperatives are industry leaders in energy efﬁciency and demand-side management, which helps to mitigate the need for new generation as much as possible, and have worked for years on clean coal technologies. Here in Georgia, Oglethorpe Power Corp. is participating in the ﬁrst nuclear plant built in this country in 30 years. In short, rural electric cooperatives must build more base-load generation, deal with severe restrictions on current base-load generation and ensure new generation is as clean as possible. Meanwhile, our No. 1 objective is to keep electric service reliable and bills affordable. Georgia’s congressional delegation showed bipartisan support for EMC consumers in the 111th Congress with three Democrats joining all seven Republican House members and both U.S. senators in opposing cap and trade, mandated renewable energy standards and by supporting legislation to stop the EPA from regulating CO2 until Congress takes action. We look forward to working with Georgia’s delegation in the 112th Congress—including new members Rob Woodall (R-7th) and Austin Scott (R-8th)—to ensure that the delivery of energy to EMC consumers remains fair, affordable and achievable. To learn more and engage your elected representatives, join NRECA’s Our Energy, Our Future initiative at www.ourenergy.coop, and make your voice heard along with more than 535,000 Americans who have expressed their views to members of Congress. GEORGIA MAGAZINE http://www.ourenergy.coop http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - January 2011

Georgia Magazine - January 2011
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Currents
Special Energy Report
A Country Boy Rolls
A Weekend in the Country
Around Georgia
My Georgia
Georgia@home
Gardens
Georgia Cooks
2011 Readers’ Choice Awards Entry Form
Cookbook of the Month
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - January 2011