Cooperative Living September 2022 - 20

CLOSER LOOK
The Wild Side
of Electric Co-ops
by Paul Wesslund, Contributing Columnist
Stories of how critters and
cooperatives care for each other
O
ne Monday morning last
summer, a young male brown
bear climbed to the top of an
electric co-op utility pole in Arizona,
presumably to see what he could see.
But when two co-op employees
spotted the creature, they knew it was
nothing to joke about. His arms were
draped between the crosspieces, paws
resting on the pole's neutral conductor,
his head next to an energized 7,200-volt
line. " If he touched it, he would have
been dead, " said one of the workers.
So, they deenergized the line and
called in 18-year co-op veteran Werner
Neubauer. It wasn't his first animal
rescue. He'd also saved cats, raccoons
and even a bobcat.
A co-op bucket truck hoisted
Neubauer, 8-foot-long fiberglass hot
stick in hand, to meet the bear. The
bear tucked his face under his front
arm, covering his eyes.
" All right, little bear. Time to get
off this pole, " Neubauer encouraged.
The bear nipped and grabbed at the
stick, but Neubauer finally nudged him
down, where he ran into the desert.
OUT IN THE COUNTRY
Animal encounters are nothing new
for electric co-ops. Getting their start in
the 1930s to serve rural areas that had
no electricity, they've always been close
to the land and its creatures. From bears
to butterflies and sheep to seabirds,
electric co-ops have a track record of
showing they understand the
importance of caring for wildlife.
Janelle Lemen, regulatory director
for environmental policy at the National
Rural Electric Cooperative Association,
describes how co-ops across the country
take actions like building nesting
platforms for ospreys and falcons, and
modifying structures to reduce potential
bird electrocutions. Co-ops coordinate
those efforts nationwide though
NRECA's membership in the Avian
Power Line Interaction Committee.
Co-ops also regularly work with
other state, local and federal wildlife
agencies to come
up with the best
ways to coexist with
wildlife. Lemen says,
" Electric co-ops
have a long history
of implementing
conservation efforts
to benefit America's
wildlife and other
natural resources. "
One part of that
Goats and sheep are grazing
in the grass under photovoltaic
panels owned by co-ops.
18 ● Cooperative Living ●
September 2022
history is an annual
week-long Pollinator
Power Party. Co-ops
know a lot of us love
Many electric co-ops
have established
gardens and habitats
to help pollinators
thrive.
butterflies and bees, and that both
are essential to the ecosystems that
pollinate plants. So, several electric
co-ops have become part of a group
called the Pollinator Partnership
to increase awareness of bee and
butterfly habitats.
GRAZING UNDER
SOLAR PANELS
A more direct interest between
co-ops and wildlife comes in the form
of protecting birds from high-voltage
equipment, both for the birds' safety
and to keep animal electrocutions from
causing power outages. An electric
co-op in Hawaii has experimented with
a laser fence system to keep seabirds
from colliding with power lines.
It's not always the co-ops protecting
animals. Sometimes the critters help
out the co-ops.
As solar energy use grows, some
co-ops are getting the grass under
photovoltaic panels trimmed by goats
and sheep. With co-ops and other
utilities finding economic and
environmental benefits to grazing
under and around solar panels, the
National Renewable Energy
Laboratory conducted a study.
Among its conclusions: " Sheep
have often proven to be the best
tenants of the land. Horses can be
picky about what they eat, cows are
large and require a lot of space, and
goats tend to chew on wires and
climb on panels. " 
Paul Wesslund writes on consumer and
cooperative affairs for the National Rural
Electric Cooperative Association.
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Cooperative Living September 2022

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