Cooperative Living August 2020 - 15

Co-opPrinciples | by Andrew Vehorn, Contributing Writer
For Virginia's Electric Cooperatives,
Partnerships Are in the Playbook
'If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together'
T
hat African proverb tells us more can be done working
together than alone. Virginia's electric cooperatives take
this approach to public policy decisions, and it has
served our members well.
First, the 13 electric cooperatives that serve every corner
of the commonwealth need to agree. Virginia has some of
the smallest and largest co-ops in the nation, each serving
diverse populations and interests. Because our members
own our cooperatives, we must ensure we advocate in
the common interests of members from Lee County and
Loudoun County.
If our 13 cooperatives reach consensus on a policy
initiative, we work to build a coalition of groups that share
our goals. Considering all points of view, we engage outside
groups that might have an interest in a policy. This approach
has created legislation that received broad and bipartisan
support in the General Assembly.
TOGETHER, WE SUCCEED
Two pieces of legislation in recent years highlight this
approach and the benefits it provides.
Under net metering, ratepayers with solar energy systems
can return their excess energy to the grid for a credit on their
bills. However, Virginia had a 1% cap on net metering,
meaning cooperatives approaching the cap would have had
to curtail new net metering connections.
As a result, in 2019, cooperatives across Virginia supported
legislation overhauling renewable energy policies in their
service territories.
Because the renewable
If our 13 cooperatives
reach consensus on a policy
initiative, we work to build
a coalition of groups
that share our goals.
energy landscape was
changing so rapidly, we
seized the opportunity
to reform more than just
net metering.
Working with a
coalition of environmental
and renewable energy
advocates, we crafted
policies that modernized
net metering and community solar projects, increased the
permissible size of systems and took other steps to boost
solar for nonprofits and cooperative members.
The result was hailed at the time as the most progressive
piece of solar legislation in the country. We did it in a way
that will keep net metering sustainable into the future
without burdening members who do have not have solar
systems.
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ADVANCES IN INTERNET
In 2020, we supported legislation that removed critical
barriers to using electric distribution easements in the
expansion of rural broadband.
Fifty years ago, cooperatives sent an employee to read
each meter every month. Advanced metering technology
now enables remote reading of meters.
Similarly, utilities can more efficiently manage their
local grid with advanced communications infrastructure.
These efficiencies save money, but they require significant
communications infrastructure like a system of radio
towers or fiber broadband.
Electric cooperatives have poles and wires to every home
in rural Virginia. We put together a coalition of groups to
advocate for better rural broadband policies. With support
from cable and telecommunications interests, the Sierra Club,
Virginia Farm Bureau and Americans for Prosperity, this
legislation removed barriers to using electric distribution
easements for rural broadband deployment.
Virginia is experiencing changing energy and political
landscapes. What is expected of utilities, how we are regulated
and how we operate is changing. Our legislative purpose -
to represent the more than 1.3 million Virginians we serve -
has not changed. Co-ops exist to serve their members, and
regardless of which political party is in control, we will
effectively advocate for our members and our communities.
We can best do that through effective collaboration and
coalition-building. ■
Andrew Vehorn is vice president of governmental affairs at the Virginia,
Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives.
August 2020 | Cooperative Living | 13
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Cooperative Living August 2020

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