Cooperative Living October 2022 - 20

CLOSER LOOK
High Tech to High Touch
The electric co-op history of innovation
by Paul Wesslund, Contributing Columnist
I
nnovation isn't happening just in computer labs or on
satellites rocketing into space. Electric co-ops are making
sure of that. They lead the highly technical electric utility
industry in areas such as renewable energy and installation
of smart meters.
While it may seem surprising to think of your electric
co-op as a high-tech leader, it's an approach that has been
solving problems for nearly 100 years.
LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS
Electric co-ops were created to solve one of the most
basic and complex of needs and desires - bringing light to
the darkness.
That legacy still works
today, and it's why time is
set aside each October to
recognize National Co-op
Month. It's a reminder that
business succeeds not just
through competition, but
also through cooperation.
As a result of the memberowned
cooperative form 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 supported
by members who buy shares
of the project.
Electric vehicles are getting a boost from co-ops, as well,
with many placing charging stations in public parks and
rural locations.
And, just as co-ops first brought electricity to unserved
rural areas nearly a century ago, many of them are working to
bring high-speed internet service to their local communities.
THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION
In the early part of the last century, electricity was
transforming America's cities. But setting poles and stringing
power lines miles outside of town for one or two customers
was deemed too expensive.
Luckily, go-getters in America's rural communities believed
18 ● Cooperative Living ●
October 2022
C
they could solve the 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 communitybased
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, especially at first. They got a huge boost when
President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized creation of the
Rural Electrification Administration in 1935.
The REA made loans available, provided technical
consulting and developed engineering techniques to carry
electricity longer distances.
The agency drew up model
co-op bylaws and went on
the road with tent shows to
demonstrate how to use the
latest conveniences like electric
ovens and washing machines.
B
A
A. Electric co-ops took
foothold in the 1930s.
B. Many electric co-ops
are bringing high-speed
internet service to their
local communities.
C. Electric co-ops lead the
way in community solar
projects.
A TRUE GRASSROOT
MOVEMENT
But the biggest innovation
is simply the co-op itself, and
the notion 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 products
of what local people wanted for their community. The story
of electric co-ops is of a true, grassroots movement of unique,
homegrown organizations. The one characteristic that applies
to all of them is that they care for and listen to the local
members they serve.
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.
That's a truly powerful innovation. 
Paul Wesslund writes on consumer and cooperative affairs
for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
co-opliving.com
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living October 2022
