The role of the nation's electric cooperative statewide associations.

• Author: Glaess, Mark

INTRODUCTION

Frank had a problem. As the manager of the Rochester, Minnesota-based People's Cooperative Power Association (PCPA), Frank Welter had long contended with the Rochester Public Utilities taking chunks of the co-op's territory. In its history, PCPA lost some 10,000 acres and over 2000 members to the neighboring municipality. But this territorial intrusion was different and dangerous. The municipal utility used "quick-take" condemnation to acquire the co-op's significant airport load. Under quick take condemnation, the local courts decided compensation instead of the state's public utility commission. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is well-versed in valuing utility property. The local courts aren't. Millions of dollars rode on the right decision. Frank called the statewide.

THE STATEWIDE

Electric cooperatives are found in forty-six states. Texas is number one on the coop hit parade with 72 co-ops. West Virginia and New Jersey are among the states with only one co-op. The paucity of co-ops in some states explains why there are 38 statewide organizations. Of that number, four statewides are combined with a generation and transmission cooperative.

Scott Ridley, a co-author of Power Struggle - The Hundred Year War Over Electricity, said the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) was created, in part, to address the shortage of copper during World War II. By creating NRECA, the co-ops had a valuable voice to ensure the fledgling co-ops received a fair allocation of copper being horded by the nation's private power companies. The statewides, by comparison, were created to address legislative and political issues. Yet, as former Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MREA) President Harry Edmunds stated in 1950, "It is very difficult to draw the line between the services rendered by the national and our state association. The one complements the other."

The Indiana Statewide Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives was the first statewide established in 1935, predating NRECA's inception. If there is a universal statewide motto it's articulated by the South Dakota Rural Electric Association: "Your partner organization that does the things your cooperative doesn't have the time to do alone, the money to do alone or the power to do alone."

That "money" to fund statewide activities is decided by the member cooperatives. Some, like MREA, pay "dues," based equally on a member and kilowatt hour basis. Dues in Minnesota are capped at 10 percent to ensure no one system pays more than that. Other statewides like Mississippi and Iowa charge for services based on a subscription basis for the services provided, like loss control.

LOSS CONTROL SERVICES

Back to Frank's problem. Frank had other reasons to be steamed about the loss of PCPA's territory to RPU. The city-owned utility's use of quick-take condemnation had a cascading effect on the co-op's line personnel. Welter's line workers received extensive training from the Minnesota Rural Electric Association's Loss Control Department. The lines to be taken meant a disruption to the co-op's infrastructure. It also meant PCPA line workers had to toil over reintegrating the system. That meant less training time. Frank knew the statewide's loss control program saved lives.

That's why virtually every statewide offers loss control training. A bronze statute of a lineworker greets visitors to NRECA's headquarters. These men and women put the co-op's value on the line. It's not only dangerous work, it's highly technical. Loss control instructors visit with their respective line workers bi-monthly, if not more. Besides co-op visits, many statewides hold special workshops like hot line and...