Along Those Lines

The need to close America's digital divide is as crucial as ever, and the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund stands to have a huge impact, with billions in funding for deploying broadband to unserved communities. NRECA's Brian O'Hara and NRTC's Greg Santoro break down how the RDOF auction works and outline concerns about winning bidders with unproven technologies, and Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative's Rachel Hauser gives the perspective from a co-op that's looking to use RDOF funding to make major progress in its broadband efforts.

With a new Congress and new administration in place, how will electric cooperatives engage with the government on their policy priorities—from the immediate COVID-19 health and economic crises to infrastructure to climate policy? Hear from Stacey Alexander, a former congressional staffer and now a political and policy consultant with the firm Subject Matter, and Louis Finkel, NRECA's senior vice president of government relations.

NRECA President Curtis Wynn is coming to the end of his two-year term. When he took office, he set out to focus on how co-ops can navigate the rapid pace of change in our industry. This platform took on new meaning in 2020 with a heightened focus on racial inequality in America. In the latest episode of Along Those Lines, Wynn discusses diversity, equity and inclusion in the co-op workforce and reflects on how the industry is managing change and innovation.

The proliferation of sensors and other downline devices means electric cooperatives now have access to mountains of system data. During the 2020 NRECA TechAdvantage Conference and Expo, NRECA's Venkat Banunarayanan and Rappahannock Electric Cooperative's John Hewa discussed how co-ops are using that data to improve reliability, plan for the future and better serve their members. This episode is sponsored by IPKeys.

In celebration of National Co-op Month, we talk to electric cooperative employees whose routine workdays turned into lifesaving rescue missions as they came to the aid of community members. Crew members describe rescuing a woman trapped in a flooded creek in Tennessee, pulling two men from a fiery armored truck crash in Missouri, and saving an older resident from his burning Mississippi home.

Hear these stories of co-op heroism from Mollie Ingle and Rick Courtner of Mountain Electric Cooperative in Tennessee, Kurtis Brown of Southwest Electic Co-op in Missouri, and Wade O'Briant of Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association in Mississippi.

This episode is sponsored by Hubbell.

The beneficial electrification movement—using electricity to replace fossil fuels for everything from mowing your lawn to powering your car—has gained momentum and led to the formation of the Beneficial Electrification League. With chapters in states across the country and a national board, the league's mission is to increase understanding of electrification's economic, consumer and environmental benefits. The league's co-chair, Gary Connett, formerly of Great River Energy, and Tri-State G&T CEO Duane Highley, who heads its Colorado chapter, chat with us about their goals for the group and how co-ops are getting involved. This episode is sponsored by NRTC.

Wildfires have caused massive destruction in Western states and across the country during recent summers. Electric cooperatives reduce fire risk by maintaining rights of way and keeping equipment up to date, but their efforts are often complicated by the need to coordinate with multiple government agencies that oversee federal lands. We talk to NRECA Regulatory Issues Director Janelle Lemen, Dave Markham, CEO of Central Electric Cooperative in Oregon, and the U.S. Forest Service's Jim Menakis about how these partnerships work and how they plan to make them better.

As local and national campaigns gear up across the country, electric cooperatives work to ensure their consumer-members are informed of the issues that matter most to rural communities and have the opportunity to make their voices heard at the polls. In part two, Stephanie Johnson of Jasper County REMC in Indiana describes what these efforts look like on the ground in her rural service territory. This episode is sponsored by Sensus.

As local and national campaigns gear up across the country, electric cooperatives work to ensure their consumer-members are informed of the issues that matter most to rural communities and have the opportunity to make their voices heard at the polls. In this two-part episode, we talk first to NRECA's Laura Vogel and Nonprofit Vote's Brian Miller about national initiatives and resources for co-ops and possible changes to the election process.

This episode is sponsored by Hubbell.