Cooperative Living October 2015 - 27

O
ctober is National Co-op
Month, so it seems fitting for
Virginia cooperative members
to look back and reflect on
the reasons electric cooperatives
came to be. This is a
remarkable story that demonstrates
the exceptional nature of the
Americans who populated rural America,
then and now.
Nineteen hundred and thirty five: It's hard
to imagine what life was like outside urban
areas in those days, especially through the
lens of our 21st-century existence - news taking
days to reach you, dirt roads, manual
labor and no electricity. Life for a large portion
of the American population was, for all
intents and purposes, a frontier life.
Rugged people made their living by
strength, persistence and hard, often crushing,
work, relying on their neighbors when
things got tough. Though this was a way of
life alien to most of us today, a few are still
around who remember when the lights first
came on. While 95 percent of urban
dwellers had electricity, only one in 10 rural
Americans was so blessed.
It was in this same year on May 11 when
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed
executive order 7037 creating the Rural
Electrification Administration (REA).
Immediately, " cowboy " cooperatives
took the bit in their teeth and started putting
together electric cooperatives all across
America.
Some might think that so-called " cowboy
co-ops " would be restricted to the West, but
the case can be made that every cooperative
was formed by the cowboys of their area.
Tough, self-reliant, hardworking, honest,
resilient men and women willing to take bold
action to serve their interests and create a
better life for their families. But working in
your self-interest should not be confused as
selfish. They were working together for their
neighbors and for their communities.
The term " cowboy " conjures up
Hollywood images of hard fighting, hard
drinking, rugged individuals fighting injustice
against great odds. Today, it can also be
a pejorative term describing someone who
is unpredictable and unsophisticated in
their actions.
While the actual character of the cowboy
cooperative didn't reflect the Hollywood
image, the cooperative model matched the
cowboy ethic perfectly. A book written by a
retired Wall Street executive, James Owen,
captured this ethic and boiled it down to the
following 10 points:
October 2015/www.co-opliving.com
1. Live each day with courage;
2. Take pride in your work;
3. Always finish what you start;
4. Do what has to be done;
5. Be tough, but fair;
6. When you make a promise, keep it;
7. Ride for the brand;
8. Talk less and say more;
9. Remember that some things
aren't for sale;
10. Know where to draw the line.
Seems almost like just another way of laying
out the seven principles that guide cooperative
businesses to this very day. It appears
that cowboys and cooperatives were a natural
fit. So these cowboys got busy organizing
electric cooperatives and began the work of
bringing light to rural America. They dug holes
by hand. They walked the poles up into place
to carry the electric lines. All this had to be
done with picks, shovels, ladders and whatever
else was handy. Most of us have seen these
poignant photographs, sepia images of
remote places with men scrambling to light the
rural landscape. Wires had to be manhandled
into place on the poles and cross-arms.
Creating the proper tension and securing the
conductors to the insulators was all done by
strength and by sight. And when the lines were
damaged either by man or nature, it all had to
be redone the same way.
Safety equipment was non-existent. The
hardhat was gradually being introduced, and
the first job site to mandate its use was the
Hoover Dam where falling debris was
responsible for many deaths. Fire-retardant
clothing wasn't even a glimmer in anyone's
eye and climbing poles often involved ladders
rather than spikes and safety belts.
Many of these cowboys gave their lives to
bring the benefits of electricity to their homes
and communities.
Once power was flowing, members reported
how much they used and the cooperative
sent them a hand-prepared bill by regular RFD
mail. No automatic meter-reading systems or
computerized billing options. Ledgers formed
the permanent record of transactions.
Today these tasks are completed using
digger and bucket trucks assisted by mechanized
tensioners. Distribution systems are controlled
by smart devices, and cooperatives
can provide more consistent levels of service
and quality at a much lower cost. The work
remains dangerous and arduous, but modern
safety tools, clothing and practices reduce the
risk substantially. And technology continues to
improve our ability to control system operation
and costs while continuously improving quality
and member service. Automated systems
abound that improve the accuracy of bills and
simplify data management.
Given all that has happened, some might
think the cowboy cooperative is a thing of the
past. But they would be wrong to think that.
The cowboy cooperative is needed just as
much today as it was in 1935. Changes are
sweeping through the electric utility industry,
and if cooperatives are to retain the benefits
that electrification has brought to rural
America, bold, decisive action by a new
breed of cooperative cowboy will be required.
A new generation of members is coming
onto cooperative lines. Members who saw
electric co-ops as " saviors " by bringing in the
simple benefits of light, refrigeration and
other appliances are fading into memory.
We must now wrestle with the perception of
just being another utility. Quite a fall from the
savior ranks.
Community involvement is a staple of
Virginia's electric cooperatives. Today co-ops
are involved in their communities as a means
of improving them, working beyond the simple
provision of power. As these efforts continue,
co-ops recognize that community, for
many new members, resides on the Internet -
a collection of electronic representations of
individuals. New members expect immediate
attention and limitless information, a challenge
worthy of a cowboy response.
Engaging cooperative members in the
future will be challenging, but so was bringing
electricity to rural America. While the tools differ,
the cowboy cooperative mindset and ethic
have not changed. Think about the points
James Owen identified. They reflect values still
consistent with the seven cooperative principles
and underscore the relevance of the
cowboy co-op in facing today's challenges.
The frontier life of today is different
indeed. In the 21st century, co-ops continue
to work for their members' interests. This
means employees and members alike pitching
in and doing whatever they can individually
and collectively to be sure that the interests
of their communities are well served and
that electricity remains affordable and reliable.
Just as it was in the 1930s, working in
our self-interest won't be selfish, it will be for
the benefit of the families in our communities.
And that's who Virginia's electric cooperatives
are here to serve. 
Tom Tate writes on cooperative issues for the National
Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Arlington,
Va.-based service arm of the nation's 900-plus consumer-owned,
not-for-profit electric cooperatives.
25
Cooperative Living October 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living October 2015
