Georgia Magazine - October 2022 - 27

COOPERATIVE Concerns
By Paul Wesslund
The electric co-op
history of innovation
D
id you know that one of the best places to find cuttingedge
technology is right up the road at your local electric
cooperative?
Innovation isn't found just in computer labs or on satellites
rocketing into space. Even in the highly technical electric utility
industry, electric co-ops are leaders in such fast-changing areas
as renewable energy and installation of smart meters, which
allow more efficient use of electricity.
As a result of the member-owned cooperative model of
business, co-ops stand out in many areas of the electric utility
industry. They lead the way in community solar, an initiative in
which the co-op utility builds a solar array that is supported by
co-op members interested in renewable energy who buy shares
of the project. Electric vehicles are getting a boost from co-ops
as well, with many co-ops placing charging stations in public
parks and other rural locations.
And just as co-ops first brought electricity to unserved rural
areas nearly a century ago, today many of them are working to
bring high-speed internet service to their communities.
While it may seem surprising to think of your electric co-op
as a high-tech leader, it's part of a way of doing business that has
been finding solutions to modern problems for nearly 100 years.
Making light out of darkness
Electric co-ops were created to solve one of the most
universal human needs: making light out of darkness.
That legacy is still at work today, and it's why each October
is recognized as National Co-op Month. It's a reminder that
business succeeds not just through competition, but also
through cooperation.
In the early part of the 20th century, America's cities were
being transformed by this new technology called electricity. But
outside the municipal boundaries, people could only look with
envy at the glow from over the horizon. Setting poles and
stringing power lines miles outside of town for one or two
customers were deemed too expensive.
Luckily, go-getters in America's rural communities believed
they could solve the logistical and financial problems that kept
the power companies from connecting them to modern society.
They called their friends and neighbors together and
started forming their own utilities. They were community-based
organizations-democratically run, not-for-profit businesses
called cooperatives. Today, there are more than 900 electric
co-ops in the U.S.
It wasn't easy for these early co-op organizers, especially
at first. They got a huge boost when the federal government
created the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). The REA
made loans available to help finance expensive utility construction.
It provided technical consulting to develop engineering
techniques to carry electricity longer distances. The agency
drew up model co-op bylaws and even went on the road with
tent shows to demonstrate how to use electric ovens, washing
machines and other modern conveniences.
A true grassroots movement
But the biggest innovation was simply the idea of a utility
with only one mission: to make life better for its members, who
are also its customers.
Electric co-ops didn't spring from a national directive or
organization. They are truly homegrown, born from the efforts
of local people looking to improve their communities. Electric
co-ops first started forming as early as 1914, and the formation
of the REA in 1935 helped smooth the way forward. But it was
local community initiative over the next three decades that
finally brought electric service to nearly everyone.
For electric co-ops, one size does not fit all: It's the local
community that's in charge. In recognizing that every one of us
is different, co-ops make both an electric connection and a
human connection.
And that's a truly powerful innovation.
Paul Wesslund writes about consumer and cooperative
Just as electric co-ops brought electricity to unserved rural areas
nearly a century ago, today many co-ops are working to bring
high-speed internet service to their local communities.
affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association,
the national trade association representing more than 900 local
electric cooperatives.
www.georgiamagazine.org
27
JERRID WILLIAMS / CDEC
http://www.georgiamagazine.org
Georgia Magazine - October 2022

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