For state wildlife biologists, building roosting lines to support a bevy of mourning doves in a remote and rugged wildlife area was a daunting challenge, technically and financially.

To Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, helping out the state was just being a good neighbor.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources called on the Pickens-based co-op this spring to install roosting lines as a way of creating new dove habitat fields in the Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area. Mourning doves need roosts to serve as a resting place and lookout for predators; biologists need them to count the resident dove population to set annual hunting limits.

The co-op in April sent a contract crew to the wildlife area to build two roosting areas using inactive power line strung across 30-foot poles. One roost is three spans totaling 1,400 feet of line along four poles, and the other spans 500 feet between two poles.

“We really appreciate everything that Blue Ridge did to make these power line structures happen,” said Tammy Wactor Waldrop, a state wildlife biologist. “A contract crew for Blue Ridge worked all day to put these lines up. SCDNR does not have the equipment or expertise to do this, and it would have been very expensive. This just goes to show you how community-oriented Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative is.”

The co-op has lent a hand to the natural resources department on other projects. When the agency built an observation tower on Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in South Carolina, Blue Ridge Electric trimmed trees help promote local tourism and to provide the community with better views to Tennessee and North Carolina.

“We try to help them out when we can,” said Sam McMillan, the co-op’s vice president of operations. “We have a good relationship and support DNR and support wildlife. That supports the community.”

The department established the dove fields last year as the only ones open for public hunting in Greenville County. McMillan noted that the crew that trekked to the dove fields in the wildlife area 30 miles away from town enjoyed the change of pace. The habitat improvements also benefit a variety of other birds and wildlife in the area.   

“We were just helping them do a little project,” he said. “We were just being a good neighbor, that’s it.”

Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.

Electric cooperatives, which serve some of the most remote and economically disadvantaged communities in the country, will have a new challenge this summer: postal rate increases well above inflation.

Effective Aug. 29, the U.S. Postal Service will increase rates for nonprofit marketing mail by an average of 7.8%. Until recently, the agency had been required by law to tie increases to inflation, which has been about 1.5% to 2% in recent years. 

But a new Postal Regulatory Commission ruling will allow the USPS to deploy a new pricing formula that is far more onerous to nonprofit groups, according to a report by the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers (ANM).

Increases include 5.7% for first-class letters, 10.4% for flats (including magazines) and 8.6% for parcels.

The new rates will hurt the bottom lines of electric co-ops, which use the Postal Service for critical functions like billing, distributing director election materials and meeting notices, and mailing their widely read statewide magazines to members. Some state laws require mailed notices for certain communications, and a lack of adequate internet service in many co-op territories means that moving billing and other outreach to online-only is not an option.

“Rural communities that rely on the postal service will be especially hurt by these rate hikes,” said Bobby Hamill, NRECA’s government relations director on this issue. “A mailing cost increase well above inflation really puts co-ops and their low-income members in a bind.”

NRECA joined ANM in February 2020 in urging the Postal Regulatory Commission to reconsider its inflation-rate ruling and has advocated strenuously for USPS not to use its full rate authority. They argued that the Postal Service is now in a much better financial position because of a windfall of COVID-19 relief funds and that future shortfalls ought to be addressed with structural changes rather than rate hikes, Hamill said.

“USPS is at a point where it is no longer necessary to impose these postal increases, especially on not-for-profit entities,” he said.

Co-ops and statewide associations across the country are concerned about what this jump in postal costs will mean for their budgets and their members.

“We want postal rate-makers to know the importance of written communication to electric co-op members,” said Lou Green, executive vice president of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, based in Cayce.

“It’s vital that communication remains affordable for millions of member-owners. In our state, South Carolina Living magazine is an irreplaceable link between members and their co-ops.”

The Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives said the increase raises its rates by about 8% in addition to the consumer price index increase by USPS in January.

“The USPS appears to be targeting rural areas with unprecedented increases well beyond anything we’ve seen in the past,” said Valerie Cheatham, vice president of communications at the Springfield-based AIEC.

“We do everything we can to keep the rates of our statewide magazine affordable and it’s increases like this that negatively affect us and our readers.”

Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.

Nearly 60,000 western wildfires destroyed more than 10 million acres in 2020, making it one of the worst seasons ever. As another begins, battled-tested electric cooperatives are readying strategies to prepare and mitigate damage.

“It comes down to prevention and protecting our members,” said Dave Markham, president and CEO of Central Electric Cooperative in Redmond, Oregon.

Unlike tornados that devastate in single short spurts or hurricanes that may be predicted weeks in advance, wildfires can spark at any time and often go unnoticed until dangerously out of control. These fires gain strength and size as they consume woody debris and other fuel in their path and can spread destruction for weeks or even months.

In northern Colorado’s drought-plagued mountains, Poudre Valley REA experienced its greatest devastation ever from wildfires in 2020: 400 distribution poles and 20 miles of power line were destroyed, and a substation was severely damaged.

As what came to be known as the Cameron Peak Fire began to spread in August 2020, the co-op worked simultaneously to support first responders, protect infrastructure and restore electricity.

“Preparing for the fire and restoration was challenging due to the fire’s unpredictable nature,” said John Bowerfind, chief operating officer at the Fort Collins, Colorado-based co-op.

“We created and followed our plan while remaining flexible, with the ability to pivot and change course as the fire conditions changed.”

That meant lots of communication with fire authorities and members about when an area would be repaired and re-energized. The co-op used social media, livestreamed events and local media coverage to share the latest developments.

The blaze began about 15 miles from the Red Feather Lakes community served by PVREA. It roared into the co-op’s service area in waves, appearing to recede then raging back in short bursts when the weather turned drier and windy. The wildfire was not fully contained until December.

Fire incident command called for the largest public safety power shutoffs PVREA had ever experienced. Because the co-op had asked suppliers in advance to have materials readily available, damaged segments were repaired and lines were re-energized quickly.

“Every natural disaster is different—our response plan provides a starting point and must remain flexible,” said Bowerfind. “We were planning for the restoration and rebuilding efforts before facilities were destroyed by the fire.”

In Oregon, more than 1.5 million acres burned in 2020, making it one of the most destructive wildfire seasons in the state’s history. Flames along the Cascade Range whipped by 70 mph gales threatened CEC territory, but the co-op was spared when winds diminished.

“We dodged a potential catastrophe,” said Markham. “But we realize it is getting drier and hotter and there are more dead and dying trees.”

With more than half of CEC’s service territory across federal lands, Markham has testified before Congress on how delays in approvals for right-of-way upgrades, maintenance and improvements can have serious consequences. It took over a year to receive approval from the U.S. Forest Service to replace 131 aging power poles and remove encroaching vegetation along a 13-mile overhead power line route on federal land, he said.

“We are in a significant drought,” he said. “Going into summer, this is the time of year we will get lightning storms.”

CEC’s wildfire plan covers inspection and maintenance, operational practices, situational and conditional awareness, and response and recovery. Brad Wilson, who as director of operations and engineering heads the co-op’s wildfire mitigation efforts in the field, calls the plan “a living document.”

“While we will annually review the plan and update as needed, events in real-time may require some flexibility in its execution,” he said.

Listen to an August 2020 podcast episode on co-ops and wildfire mitigation:

Cathy Cash is a staff writer at NRECA.

Researchers at Colorado State University are predicting a more active hurricane season than normal this year for the Atlantic Basin with 17 named storms, including eight reaching hurricane strength and four developing into major hurricanes. But the early forecast falls short of last year’s unusually active season.

The researchers predict about 80 named-storm days for the Atlantic season, compared to just under 60 for an average year. They rate the probability of landfall along the U.S. coastline at about 130%, based upon 38 years of data.

Hundreds of electric cooperatives serve members within 400 miles of the U.S. coastline, from Texas to Florida along the Gulf of Mexico and between Florida and Maine along the Atlantic coast.

Climatologists with the university’s Tropical Meteorology Project, in their earliest preseason forecast ever, on April 8 cited projected atmospheric patterns as factors that could lead to increased storm formation.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1 and continues through Nov. 30. Storm development is affected by a combination of ocean temperatures and atmospheric wind patterns.

La Niña conditions—when surface water in the equatorial Pacific becomes warmer than average and east winds are weaker than normal—may transition to neutral by this summer, wrote Phil Klotzbach, a principal researcher in the university’s department of atmospheric science. He added that the odds of a significant El Niño seem unlikely.

 “Sea surface temperatures averaged across the tropical Atlantic are currently near average, while subtropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures are warmer than normal,” wrote Klotzbach.

The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was unusually active with 30 named storms, including 13 that developed to hurricane strength with sustained winds topping 74 mph. Of that number, six reached major hurricane status of Category 3 or higher, with winds topping 115 mph.

For the 2021 season, researchers warn of an “above-average probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the continental United States coastline and in the Caribbean.”

“Coastal residents are reminded that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season for them,” Klotzbach wrote.

Colorado State forecasters will begin issuing their monthly updates in June, before increasing to biweekly updates in August. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center will issue its 2021 hurricane season forecast in May.

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

Seasonal tree-trimming of rights of way helps prevent power outages, and crews can be ruthless about staying on schedule. But an Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. team recently took a little time for extra care and kindness to protect an unusual pet.

Senior foreman Chastin McLain and mechanized trimmer operator Rodney Etheridge were working a job for Intercounty Electric Cooperative not far from the distribution co-op’s Licking, Missouri, headquarters.

At 44 feet long and nearly 11 feet high locked down, their 12-ton aerial trimmer and transport trailer can’t just park anywhere. So, Maj. Josh Campbell, a ranking officer with the Missouri State Park Rangers, gave them full access to his property to get their work done.

During the visit, Campbell’s hand-raised duck took an interest in McLain and Etheridge, following them around the property and quacking loudly at their heels as they worked. When the men finished up, the duck stayed close by as they loaded the rig on its trailer and prepared to drive off in their crew truck.

“Instead of kicking at the duck or just leaving the duck to fend for itself, they did something above and beyond,” said Campbell, who witnessed the incident on video from one of his security cameras. “The passenger picked the duck up and relocated it to the yard before they pulled away.”

Campbell, impressed with the kindness, wrote a letter to AECI heaping praise on the pair.

“To find an employee who will go above and beyond when no one is looking is almost unheard of,” wrote Campbell, who says the Missouri mallard is more than just a family pet. “For one, no one was looking and, for two, most don’t take the time to recognize great effort if they do see it.”

Taking a little extra time was not a problem for the crew, and the payoff was pulling back onto the road knowing that the duck was safe at home.

“We were trying be mindful of their pet,” said foreman McLain. “We were trying to be extra safe.”

“My neighbors have had ducks that wander onto our property, so I have had quite a bit of practice at handling them,” said Etheridge. “When we were leaving the jobsite, I held the duck until Chastin backed up and we left.”

Details of the tree crew’s actions spread to AECI’s senior management and were shared in the employee newsletter.  

“We always appreciate it when our crews go above and beyond and do the small extra things that illustrate the values of all of our employees,” said Joe Richie, AECI’s director of utility services.

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

A Michigan electric cooperative’s employees are rolling up their sleeves to get inoculated against the coronavirus and helping to defeat the pandemic by supporting vaccine distribution in their service territory.

Cassopolis-based Midwest Energy & Communications recently held a vaccine clinic for employees and will host a drive-in site for its regional health department.

“We’re working with the Van Buren/Cass District Health Department to help Michigan meet its pandemic vaccination goals,” said Patty Nowlin, MEC’s vice president of corporate communications.

Nearly half of the co-op’s 130 staff received their first shots of the Moderna vaccine Jan. 15. A second round of vaccines is set for Feb. 12. 

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer drafted an executive order as guidance for the state’s COVID-19 response plan last May. It outlined operational changes and resource allocations for first responders, including health care providers and public safety personnel.  Certain utility workers, including some electric co-op employees, were placed in an essential category and designated for inclusion among the next groups eligible to receive vaccines.

By the time COVID-19 vaccinations began nationwide in December, the co-op had months of ongoing interaction with local public health officials.

“The local health department reached out to us several months ago,” said Nowlin. “Michigan has a statewide vaccination goal to get 50,000 shots in arms every day. To try to achieve that goal, they modified the plan to begin inoculating the first and second categories of eligible individuals at the same time.”

When the local health district notified co-op officials that vaccines would be available, a voluntary participation program was opened for MEC employees. The co-op immediately began a staff awareness campaign, providing publicly available information to help staff decide whether to participate.

“I know a lot of people are very afraid; it’s so unknown. But I also know there are a lot of people who want to be part of the solution,” said Nowlin. “We have to step forward and start doing something proactively to return to some sense of normalcy, and the experts say vaccines are a step toward that goal.”

Once vaccines are available to help meet the needs of the general population, the co-op plans to host drive-in clinics in the vehicle bays, said Nowlin, adding that public health officials will supply and administer the medication.  “We’ve got extensive parking just outside of the vehicle bays where people can sit for their 15 minutes, so they can be monitored after they’re vaccinated.”

Read More:

FERC Urges CDC to Give Key Electric Utility Workers Early Access to COVID-19 Vaccine

Once nearly extinct, the red-cockaded woodpecker is making a comeback, but Central Electric Power Cooperative will continue its proven conservation efforts as it navigates a new power line through federal forestland the bird calls home.

The generation and transmission co-op headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, is prioritizing preservation of the woodpecker’s habitat in its plans for a transmission route through Francis Marion National Forest. The co-op says it will continue its efforts even if federal protections for the bird are eased.

“Our focus is to ensure the ongoing maintenance standards adopted are sound, balance what the electric utility is required to do for maintenance and to preserve and enhance the population of the species,” said Mark Svrcek, Central’s senior vice president of member solutions and operations support.

With population numbers on the rise, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to “downlist” the federally protected woodpecker from “endangered” to “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

USFWS also is proposing a “4(d) rule” to ban activities that could result in accidental bird deaths. They include operating vehicles, mechanical equipment, lights at night and other human activities in habitat areas during the bird’s breeding season. Exceptions may be granted for required maintenancefor the safe operations of existing infrastructure, such as rights of way.

Central is studying three potential corridors for the 115-kilovolt power line that will serve the area adjacent to the McClellanville community in Berkeley Electric Cooperative’s service area. The G&T has been working with multiple stakeholders including the USFWS, the U.S. Forest Service and the Rural Utilities Service, which will ultimately decide the line’s route.

By being proactive, Central hopes that potential risks and mitigation options will be identified early to protect the bird and avoid project delays.

“Engagement with federal agencies is critical,” Svrcek said. “Understand their management plan, their restrictions, and engage on the front end on new projects to avoid surprises.”

Elsewhere in its territory, including the Sumter National Forest, the G&T has practiced targeted, less disruptive mechanical mowing in existing rights of way.  They also have conducted species studies and reconnaissance for possible habitat and been flexible with new development to avoid sensitive areas.

“For new construction, we practice silviculture to benefit the species,” said Tommy Jackson, supervisor of environmental services for Central. “We only remove the vegetation that will interfere with the operation of the transmission line. All other low-growing vegetation are mowed and allowed to grow.”

Teams also do fieldwork to isolate potential woodpecker habitat. “We can identify that pine growth early on and avoid it, period,” he said. “We intend to treat the threatened and endangered species the same.”

Central has worked with former forest service official and species expert Ralph Costa, who said he sees the co-op’s preparations for the new line as “a flagship on how a co-op deals with a species on the public land.”

Decades of habitat loss from forest overgrowth and hurricanes nearly wiped out red-cockaded woodpeckers, who get their name from the pinch of scarlet that males sport on their black cap.

While other woodpeckers drill nests into dead trees, the red-cockaded species is unique in its preference for live longleaf pines found in the coastal Southeast. The nesting process can take up to six years.

Today, artificial cavities installed in thousands of pines across the region, including in the Francis Marion National Forest, are enabling a growth spurt for the species.

USFWS is accepting public comment on its proposed downlisting of the red-cockaded woodpecker until Dec. 7. A final decision may come as early as the end of next year.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer at NRECA.

Louisiana’s electric cooperatives were still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Laura when Hurricane Delta slammed into the state on Oct. 9, dealing another blow to co-op members already coping with damaged or destroyed homes.

Once again, Jeff Davis Electric Cooperative in Jennings and Beauregard Electric Cooperative Inc. in Deridder were hit hardest, losing 100% power for the second time in about six weeks. But, with help from hundreds of co-op lineworkers from a dozen other states organized by the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives, they restored power to many of their consumer-members in less than a week.

“Electricity is life,” said Mike Heinen, general manager of Jeff Davis EC, a small co-op with 11,000 meters and 49 employees. “No matter how exhausted we all are, you can’t say ‘no, I’m not going to do it today.’ If we don’t do our jobs, our members can’t get back up.”

Jeff Davis EC, which had restored power to about 75% of its system when Delta hit, was back up to about 50% power on Oct. 14 and to nearly 80% power by Oct. 18. Beauregard EC, which has 42,800 meters, completed its restoration work by Oct. 16.

“The good news is Delta wasn’t near as bad as Laura,” said Beauregard EC General Manager Kevin Turner. “We’re coming back a whole lot quicker.”

During Laura, about 4,000 of Beauregard’s power poles were knocked to the ground. In contrast, Delta brought down only about 50. However, Delta soaked parts of the service territory with 10 to 17 inches of water, requiring the co-op to use airboats and off-road vehicles to reach flooded areas where repairs were needed, Turner said.

“That slowed us down some,” he said. “It’s taken a few days longer this time to get the water to drain all out.”

Heinen estimates his co-op will be putting its system back together through December. Jeff Davis EC lost nearly 100 miles of transmission line during Laura and had just started rebuilding it when Delta hit. Fortunately, the rebuilt lines survived the second hurricane, he said.

“The most important thing is that nobody got hurt,” Heinen said. “Everything else can be replaced.”

Each co-op has had help from about 700 lineworkers who rushed in from co-ops in other states to help their Louisiana colleagues restore power after Delta. After Laura, about 1,200 out-of-state lineworkers came to help Beauregard EC and about 750 came to help Jeff Davis EC.

“You cannot do it without help from your brother and sister co-ops,” Heinen said. “Not this time. Not this big.”

But welcoming the out-of-state crews has been more complicated this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Turner said.

“It’s like working with one hand tied behind your back with COVID,” he said.

More tents were required for visiting lineworkers to ensure social distancing—only 300 people could be housed in tents meant for 600. The co-op also had to find parking places for up to 1,200 trucks instead of 400 during Laura because crew members can’t ride in the same truck.

“You’ve got to fuel all those extra bucket trucks and diggers,” Turner said. “And fuel was already in short supply during the storm.”

Local co-op employees put in 16-hour days getting things ready for the visiting crews and working with them to restore power. A total of 18 employees from both co-ops lost their homes in Laura or Delta.

“But they all showed up here the next day,” Turner said. “It’s kind of in everybody’s DNA around here to keep working ‘til we get the power back on.”

Heinen said a young lineworker came to him one evening, tired after a day spent restoring power to a substation.

“When the lights came on, a family came out on their porch and cheered and thanked him,” he said. “That lineworker told me, ‘Now I know why I’m here.’”

In some cases, the crews are restoring lines to empty lots where homes have been flattened by the hurricanes, Heinen said.

“But those folks will be back,” he said. “This is their land. This is their home.”

Erin Kelly is a staff writer at NRECA.

Tropical Storm Beta is expected to slow or stall efforts by electric cooperative crews this week to restore power to co-op members after Hurricane Laura slammed into their service territory late last month.

“In the midst of this recovery, we have another storm headed for the region, and in an abundance of caution, we’re moving all of our people and equipment out of harm’s way,” said Mike Heinen, general manager of Jeff Davis Electric Cooperative. “We’ve made the decision to dismantle the man camp and move it from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Lafayette.”

That means about 750 lineworkers, vegetation management personnel and support staff will leave Lake Charles’s Chennault International Airport on Tuesday and drive 60 miles east to the Cajundome Convention Center.

“While Tropical Storm Beta is not expected to be a major wind event, floodwaters are already rising,” said Heinen. “We cannot risk crew safety or the safety of the specialized equipment they use to restore power. We have to keep them safe.”

The convention center is further east than Beta’s projected track and is 20 feet higher than the airport property. It’s also less subject to structural damage from the storm’s gale-force winds in excess of 40 mph.

“The Cajundome is large enough to be able to support everybody who needs to go there, plus all of the equipment on wheels can be moved there and parked until the storm passes,” said Heinen.

Jeff Davis EC officials began discussing the plan with senior leadership from the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives on Friday. They also reached out to Lafayette-based Southwest Louisiana Electric Membership Corp. to assist with the arrangements with Cajundome management. Plans for the move were firmed up over the weekend, and all the gear for the existing encampment will be disassembled and stored beginning Tuesday.

“We have a lot of work left to do that takes more than just a couple of weeks,” said Heinen. Nearly half of the co-op’s 11,000 meters are still out of service as repairs to both distribution and transmission systems continue.

“With weeks or months of work remaining, there was no way I could see releasing so many skilled personnel,” said Heinen. “They will stand down with pay and be in a position to quickly return to the field Friday once our severe weather passes.”

Beauregard Electric Cooperative has not suspended its restoration work, but crews concluding their mutual aid commitments will depart this week and fresh crews will postpone their arrival in the co-op’s territory until after Beta’s threatening conditions subside. Power to nearly 80% of the Deridder-based distribution co-op’s meters has been restored.

“Beauregard EC has been monitoring Beta and has made preparations to relocate crews if necessary,” said Kevin Turner, the co-op’s general manager.  “With any type of storm, we ensure our linemen refrain from working in winds more than 40 mph, lightning or any other hazardous situations.”

Beauregard will house some of its mutual aid crews and contractors at the Cajundome temporarily, and some will be sheltered at other locations.

ALEC remains in contact with other electric co-op statewide associations involved in coordination of interstate mutual aid.

“With so much debris still laying around from Hurricane Laura, it is too dangerous for us to leave personnel inside a tent city,” said Aarron Graham, ALEC’s director of loss control. “It is hard to predict how strong the winds will be for Tropical Storm Beta, but any debris could easily become flying deadly projectiles. We can’t have our out-of-state crews living in harm’s way.”

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

More Hurricane Laura Coverage:

Co-op Communities Show Appreciation for Lineworkers in Aftermath of Hurricane Laura

Unique Challenges: Rebuilding Transmission Following Major Storms

In Hurricane Aftermath, Pregnant Co-op Employees Press On as Due Dates Approach

Q&A: Louisiana Co-op Leader Gives Firsthand Perspective on Hurricane Laura Recovery

Hurricane Laura: Tracking the Co-op Response

Roman Gillen is the CEO of Consumers Power Inc., a 23,000-meter distribution cooperative based in Philomath, Oregon. The co-op’s territory has seen devastation from the region’s ongoing Beachie Creek and Lionshead wildfires, which have torched nearly 400,000 acres and destroyed or damaged some 850 homes.

After touring the region and the ongoing restoration work this week, he wrote an emotional email Thursday to the CPI board detailing what he’d witnessed and the heroic work of the line crews.

Below is that note in its entirety.

CPI Board:

Power is restored to Detroit, Idanha, and Marion Forks as of 7:30 last night. This is nothing short of a miracle performed by our own crews combined with those of Midstate Electric Co-op, Oregon Trail Electric Co-op, Hood River Electric Co-op, and Salem Electric Co-op.

I spent the day yesterday in the area with Billy Terry, visiting crews, contractors, support personnel, emergency responders, etc. The damage is unspeakable. A lot of the area is just smoking ruins. I know you’ve seen it with your own eyes from pictures. Being in the middle of it takes it to a whole different level. Small flames were still licking the hillside as we passed Detroit dam and the smoke was so thick that I couldn’t see the electric lines along the road as we came into town. Billy said that the air was much better, but I didn’t believe him, not really, although I know he was telling me the truth.

But I want to tell you what I really saw yesterday. I saw a brand new electric system—tall, straight poles with straight, properly sagged wire between them— and all of it sprang up virtually overnight. I saw a lot of proud but tired faces that have spent days and many nights breathing that polluted air as they labored up incredibly steep, treacherous hillsides carrying their equipment and lugging the materials they need to work their magic and that worries me a great deal. Many of them have not seen their families for a couple of weeks, including some with newborn children and another who’s getting married this weekend, yet not one word of complaint has reached my desk, neither from our employees nor those who volunteered to help us. I marveled at how clean all of the linemen (and I mean all of them) looked in such a grimy environment. I heard expressions of gratitude from the emergency management people who live in the area for the organized, professional, cooperative, efficient, and effective process that the combined electric cooperative crews established as they worked quickly to restore power throughout the affected area. Just as important, not a single injury was sustained during this dangerous mission.

Special mention needs to be made of our contract tree crews and underground construction crews. Working with these folks for years really paid off in our time of great need. To a person, every employee poured their energy and skill into the restoration effort as if they were working for our members like our own employees, which of course they were. They did whatever we needed them to do and whatever we asked:  pull wire, lug materials, run errands, etc. They were a critical part to the success of our mission and I am every bit as proud of them.

The work we have done this week clearly demonstrates the power of the cooperative network, and it is an amazing power that enables us to achieve the impossible. We have brought to the people of these fire ravaged areas a big, bright ray of hope. We are now busy getting ready to respond to dozens of requests (demands) for power as we and they face months and years of rebuilding. For now, everyone is looking forward to a much-deserved, long overdue reunion with their families, topping it off with a much-anticipated wedding. What a great end to a terrible but wonderful week.

Sincerely,

Roman

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.

In the latest episode of Along Those Lines, 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.

Listen to the episode below:

You can also listen and subscribe to Along Those Lines on your preferred podcast service:
Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube

Related Content:

Co-op CEO to Congress: Wildfire Risk Made Worse by Slow Federal Action

Find out more about NRECA’s podcast. Questions or suggestions? Email us at AlongThoseLines@nreca.coop.

Electric cooperatives across the South have already seen massive storm damage across their systems, and the 2020 hurricane season is just now getting started. When outages are  too much for one co-op to handle, neighboring co-ops from within their state and across state lines are quick to lend a helping hand to get power back up and running quickly and safely.

Martha Duggan, who oversees NRECA’s state and national coordination initiatives, and Michael Kelley, safety and loss director at the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives, talk us through how co-op mutual aid is coordinated and what it looks like on the ground, even with the added challenges of a global pandemic.

You can also listen and subscribe to Along Those Lines on your preferred podcast service:
Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube

Related Content:

Michael Photo Gallery: Scenes from Co-ops’ Storm Response

Find out more about NRECA’s podcast. Questions or suggestions? Email us at AlongThoseLines@nreca.coop.

Members of a Florida electric cooperative are making masks to help protect first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they’ve included employees of Peace River Electric Cooperative among the recipients.

In the early days of pandemic response, residents of a condominium complex talked in their community park about the shortage of masks and began making and sharing them.

“As COVID-19 spread throughout America, we realized the greater need outside our park,” said Sandy Hanson, a co-op member.

Twenty-three women who live in the condo community in Zolfo Springs eventually got involved and began producing masks at a faster pace.

“They all helped wherever they could or were needed by cutting fabric, ironing and pinning straps, sewing the masks and taking items from house-to-house while we practiced our social distancing,” Hanson said.

In less than 10 weeks, they’ve made and distributed more than 4,400 masks. Recipients have included local sheriff’s deputies, fire and emergency management personnel, local delivery drivers and the PRECO staff.

“This kind of support from our members really makes a difference,” said Daniel Moore, the Wauchula-based co-op’s safety coordinator. “They donated about 100 masks directly to PRECO.  We greatly appreciate their commitment to include us among the people in their community that could use the help.”

The masks went to the co-op’s lineworkers, member services representatives assigned to drive-thru payment duty, warehouse staff and control room employees.

“Having extra masks available will certainly be of help as we begin to look at bringing more of our regular services back to our offices,” said Moore.

The condo volunteers have also sent masks to New York City hospitals, the Cleveland Clinic and Coast Guard and Navy personnel in California and Hawaii.

“The ladies have been very generous, and we appreciate their commitment to our community and others,” said Moore.

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

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Read More on the electric co-op response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Updated: March 27, 2020

The $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress will bring help to electric cooperatives and their consumer-members by offering millions in aid for families struggling to pay their utility bills and billions in grants for small businesses.

At the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture took action to provide greater flexibility and certainty for co-ops that rely on the Rural Utilities Service for loans and other financial assistance.

NRECA urged Congress and the Trump administration to include aid for co-ops as part of federal relief efforts aimed at boosting the struggling U.S. economy in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. CEO Jim Matheson wrote letters to congressional leaders and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue asking for specific measures to help co-ops and their consumer-members.

The Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act on Wednesday, and the House approved it Friday by voice vote. Congress is expected to pass more relief legislation in the weeks ahead.

Here are some of the key provisions for co-ops in the nearly 900-page bill:

• Adds $900 million for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps low-income and moderate-income consumers pay their utility bills.
• Adds $100 million for grants through the USDA RUS ReConnect broadband program and $25 million for the RUS Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant program to expand investments in telemedicine and distance-learning services in rural areas.
• Adds $45 billion for the disaster relief fund administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Co-ops often rely on these funds to restore power after storms and other emergencies.
• Creates a $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program that provides federal government loan forgiveness (under Small Business Administration Section 7(a) loans) for small businesses to pay up to eight weeks of basic expenses, including electric, telephone and internet bills.
• Creates a $10 billion SBA program to provide grants of up to $10,000 to small businesses to pay their workers and pay rent or mortgages, among other uses. Co-ops with fewer than 500 employees may be eligible for this grant program if they plan to apply for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Certain restrictions on those loans have now been waived.

The legislation does not include a federal moratorium on disconnecting consumers who fail to pay their utility bills. Some states have already imposed moratoriums, while others have asked utilities to voluntarily suspend disconnections during the coronavirus emergency. Many co-ops have already stopped disconnections and deferred bill payments for members who are experiencing financial hardships.

Earlier in March, President Trump signed legislation that would expand emergency family and medical leave and paid sick leave for co-ops and other small businesses with fewer than 500 employees. The CARES Act clarifies payment limitations for those programs. It also waives the 10% early distribution penalty for employees who withdraw up to $100,000 from their 401(k) retirement savings or from their Individual Retirement Accounts.

The USDA also announced this week that it is providing relief for borrowers through its RUS program. The department extended for 60 days the deadline for telecommunications and electric program borrowers and grantees to submit their annual audits, which normally are due by April 30. It also waived borrower covenant requirements for loan agreement financial ratios for the entire 2020 calendar year.

The agency is waiving all financial reporting requirements associated with existing RUS loan and grant covenants through June 30. USDA also will help electric program borrowers gain access to funds more quickly at current low interest rates by considering extensions of loan terms on a case-by-case basis.  

“For over 80 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and America’s electric cooperatives have partnered—not just to keep the lights on—but to promote the overall well-being of all rural America,” Matheson wrote to Perdue. “In this extraordinary and challenging time, when those communities are threatened, our partnership is more important than ever.”

Erin Kelly is a staff writer at NRECA.

Read more on the electric co-op response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

See NRECA’s COVID-19 hub on cooperative.com for key resources for co-ops, including guidance on business continuity planning and communication, as well as event schedule changes.

Recognizing that small fire departments are often strapped for resources, Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative and Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange are turning to virtual reality technology to bolster training opportunities.

Their production of 360-degree, high-definition videos on electrical safety, viewable online or on VR headsets, grew out of a larger OTEC initiative to leverage VR to improve the regional economy in the four counties it serves.

“We’ve realized it can be difficult to reach rural, volunteer-only fire departments that are often the first ones on the scene,” said Lea Gettle, manager of administration and strategic services at the Baker City, Oregon, co-op. “The videos provide an opportunity to learn on their own schedule and in a more memorable way than PowerPoint presentations or written pamphlets.”

The smaller the community, the more likely it relies on all-volunteer fire departments, according to 2017 data from the National Fire Protection Association. All-volunteer fire squads serve about 45% of communities with populations of 5,000-9,999, 74% of communities with populations of 2,500-4,999, and nearly 93% of communities of fewer than 2,500.

While the Baker City Fire Department offers refresher training courses, a high-tech option would “enable more trainees to access a better learning platform” at a time of higher 911 call volume over the past few years, said Fire Chief John Clark.

“People are used to interactive technology, and the 3-D aspect makes it more realistic,” said Clark, who oversees a crew of 26, including 10 volunteers.

Downed power line safety is the topic of the first VR course, and the fire department has been heavily involved in production. “The video goes over what to do and what not to do when a car hits a power pole and the do’s and don’ts for bystanders,” said Clark. “We had to set up the scene and make it as live as we could.”

Other videos cover topics such as electrical hazards on farms and electric vehicle fires.

The technology puts “you right in the middle of the action,” said Corey Parr, vice president of safety and loss prevention at Federated. “You can look over the whole facility and better see the hazards. We really had strong interest in the farm and ag community and I can see other applications in the near future [focusing on] removing trees off lines, day-to-day line work, troubleshooting situations.”

And there’s no doubt the technology will allow faster and cheaper delivery of safety training. Clark will post the content on the Oregon Fire Chiefs Association website so that “first responders in other parts of the state will be able to access training on this important subject.”

As the technology improves, even more first responders will have access, said Parr. “[The] 360 technology is an immediate hit. If created the right way, you won’t even need the goggles.”

Victoria A. Rocha is a staff writer at NRECA.

A Minnesota electric cooperative is making its renewable energy projects even more environmentally friendly by adding a pollinator garden that officials say will benefit wildlife for years to come.

Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association has three solar arrays at its headquarters and recently began conversion of a buffer along a portion of its service drive to pollinator habitat.

“This is a demonstration project, covering about 1.25 acres, along the edge of two of the solar arrays,” said Andrea Unger, marketing and member service director for the Rockford-based co-op. “It’s a steep hill and we see this as an opportunity to put it to productive use. This is a great chance to do something better with the land.”

The vegetation being planted on the site includes varieties common to Minnesota’s northern prairie landscape before development, which makes it suitable for bees, butterflies, birds and other wildlife native or migratory to the area, Unger said.

“Members and local community leaders frequently visit our grounds to see our solar arrays,” said Wright-Hennepin CEO Tim Sullivan.  “Like other co-ops across the country, this is one more way we’re showcasing a tangible commitment to environmental stewardship.” 

The co-op has been working with a landscaping firm that’s been involved with naturalization projects on Great River Energy’s main campus in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Contractors began site preparations earlier this autumn before the existing turf grass and vegetation entered dormancy, and they plan to return in early spring to begin plantings on the site.

“Contractors will work with us on weed control and cultivation for a few years to ensure that the plantings get established,” said Unger. “After a few years, we expect the site to be virtually maintenance-free.”

Read More:

Arkansas Co-ops Greening Up the Grid With Sustainable Habitat Projects

Decision on Federal Protection for Monarch Butterfly Pushed to December 2020

Co-op Plantings Host Monarch Butterfly Migrations

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

They call her “the snail lady.”

And Sara Hamilton takes it as a compliment.

The nickname, she says, recognizes the work that Florida Keys Electric Cooperative Association does to conserve tree snails, a vulnerable yet vital species.

“U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission look to us as experts,” said Hamilton, FKEC’s environmental affairs manager. “They … truly think that without some of our work and data, the population would not be doing as well in the Keys as it is.”

The co-op, with offices in Tavernier and Marathon, has relocated some 85,000 tree snails from 11 miles of right of way going back to 1994. They include the state-protected Florida tree snail and the Stock Island tree snail, which is listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. 

A highly invasive predator, the New Guinea flatworm, may make the co-op’s conservation efforts more important than ever.

“Several populations in Miami-Dade County area have been decimated,” said Hamilton. “If the flatworm takes off, we can’t predict what may happen.”

With a spiral tower shell, the tree snails thrive on lichen and fungi attached to pigeon plums, wild tamarind and other smooth-bark trees. The Florida tree snail’s shell comes in 59 color varieties, while the Stock Island species’ shell is basically brown and white.

They grow to just under 3 inches over an eight-year lifespan that begins as pea-size eggs buried in leaf litter at the bottom of trees. Their excrement plays a critical role in replenishing soil nutrients on the hard-rock island.

Each winter, the co-op carefully trims trees in the right of way flanked by Old State Road 905 and the Dagney Johnson State Botanical Park. Hamilton and crews search every branch and triple-check every cutting for the tiny animals.

The snails are inactive during these non-humid weeks and seal themselves to branches. Hamilton places these “hibernating” snails in thermal coolers in her car until the warmth “wakes them up.” Then she relocates them to trees 20 to 100 yards from the right of way. With a spritz of water on the bark, the snail reattaches to its new home for the season.

Over the past several years, the co-op crews helped USFWS locate three new populations of the Stock Island tree snail.

“U.S. Fish and Wildlife really appreciates that our crew goes above and beyond,” said Hamilton. “They know our work. They call me the snail lady.”

What does she recommend for other co-ops with potentially threatened species in their service territory?

“Being a good community partner is my No. 1 advice,” said Hamilton. “These agencies see what FKEC does and appreciate it. They come to value and acknowledge our work and how we value these critters.”

With a widespread wildfire now 95% contained after three weeks, crews from the Matanuska Electric Association are busy helping their members get the power they’ll need to repair their homes in south-central Alaska.

As the fire grew to more than 3,000 acres, more than 2,000 residents in the immediate area evacuated from their homes, according to the Alaska Wildland Fire Information Office.

Co-op crews worked closely with more than 500 firefighters over the past few weeks, and damage to co-op lines in some areas was substantial. Matanuska EA lost at least 30 poles on its system and is still rebuilding lines. Co-op crews have also assisted firefighters with tree and debris removal.

“Power was initially out to more than 450 members, and that number grew to more than 500 members as lines were de-energized to assist responding fire crews and to mitigate any hazards,” said Jennifer Castro, the Palmer-based co-op’s public relations manager.

The blaze claimed 52 homes, parts of three businesses and more than 80 other structures, and co-op members are now trying to rebuild before colder weather sets in.

“We have been able to re-energize our primary line and restore power to members in a progressive manner,” said Castro. Restoration has been a slow process due to safety concerns, she said.

As evacuees have been cleared to return to their property, some have discovered that their damaged homes must be repaired before electricity can be safely restored.  But the co-op is moving quickly to restore service once these repairs are complete.

“MEA is covering all costs of infrastructure replacement up to the member’s meter base and typical temporary service and reconnection fees will not be charged,” said Castro. At least 50 homes may need major repairs or reconstruction.

“During this crisis, it was inspiring for our cooperative to join a community of professionals and volunteers pulling together to help our members,” said Matanuska EA CEO Tony Izzo. “From the initial response from our line and clearing crews to the longer-term restoration assistance from our engineering and member service staff, it’s been a true team effort.”

ARLINGTON, Va. – National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson issued the following statement on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) rulemaking package from the Interior and Commerce departments. The rulemakings clarify criteria used to designate critical habitat, distinguish how threatened species are regulated and will generally make agency consultations more efficient:

“Today’s announcement is an important step toward modernizing endangered species protection, including making permitting for infrastructure more efficient while protecting our nation’s threatened and endangered species. These improvements will ensure that limited agency and co-op resources are focused on better species conservation by allowing protections to be tailored to the needs of each species. Co-ops are committed to protecting the nation’s natural resources, while providing responsible, reliable, and affordable power to America’s rural communities.”

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.

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Updated: June 4, 2019

Electric cooperatives serving members along some of the nation’s most important rivers are facing some of the worst flooding in more than a quarter-century. 

Co-op crews in at least six states have been working to minimize damage to their systems even as they remain committed to restoring service to flood-ravaged communities as quickly as possible.

Arkansas River

“People remember 1993 as a record year for flooding along the Arkansas River, and this is very close to that,” said Sid Sperry, director of public relations, communications and research for the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives.

A series of severe storms that spawned high winds, tornadoes and heavy rain continued throughout May, and National Weather Service forecasters have warned that conditions are ripe to sustain that pattern through at least early June.

Precautionary disconnections have been underway for weeks in low-lying areas where waterways have yet to crest, even as crews completed repairs needed after high winds and tornadoes ripped through some areas.

“While repairs to windstorm-damaged areas often begin as soon as conditions improve, flooding can last days or weeks,” said Sperry. “Once floodwaters subside, transformers and other equipment have to be repaired, and in many instances members have to hire licensed electricians to check their systems before service can be restored.”

That’s the situation facing hundreds of members of co-ops in parts of northeastern Oklahoma, where flooding in the Arkansas River watershed is now in its third week.

“Three of our co-ops serving members in the Tulsa metropolitan area and surrounding counties are dealing with the aftermath of flash flooding and major historic flooding along the Arkansas River,” said Sperry. 

High water has been even more severe in parts of Arkansas, where Little Rock-based generation and transmission cooperative Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. shut down some hydroelectric facilities and one baseload power station for several days. 

The Thomas B. Fitzhugh plant near Ozark, Arkansas, was built to withstand flooding and has been returned to service. The Arkansas River has crested near two of the G&T’s hydro facilities, but high water has isolated a third. Those sites will be placed back into operation once river conditions improve and engineers ensure they are operational.

Three Arkansas distribution co-ops have de-energized hundreds of meters due to high water in flood-prone areas, said Roedel. “We’re also actually looking at some areas for additional precautionary disconnects that are beyond normal flood-prone areas because of the historic water levels.”

Missouri River

In Missouri, Boone Electric Cooperative pulled its line crews from overdue seasonal construction and system work to help sandbag communities west and south of its headquarters.

“Our communities keep a close eye on the river, particularly our farmers with fields along the river,” said Todd Culley, general manager and CEO of Columbia, Missouri-based Boone EC.

“We got a call last week and they said, ‘we need some help, and we think we need it pretty quick,’ so we responded.”

While the larger rivers get much of the attention, smaller tributaries are also swollen beyond their banks following weeks of wet weather.

“Our co-ops have been pulling meters in flood areas for months, but it has gotten much worse over the last week,” said Jim McCarty, editor of Rural Missouri magazine and a spokesman for the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives.

Some areas that were devastated by the 1993 flooding benefited from government buyouts, which eliminated much of the development in areas now inundated by high water, said McCarty.  “After the flood of 1993, many [co-op] facilities were moved to higher ground, so that has helped.” 

Mississippi River

Rainy weather and a delayed spring thaw have led to flooding in the Upper Midwest and high water levels along parts of the Mississippi, according to officials from several electric cooperative statewide associations.

“Illinois co-ops are monitoring the Mississippi River level closely and some have de-energized lines to a few members,” said Valerie Cheatham, vice president of communications for the Illinois Association of Electric Cooperatives.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could announce mandatory evacuations in some co-op-served communities this week, leading to more precautionary disconnections in low-lying areas, Cheatham said. “Since the flood of 1993, our co-ops have far less members living in the bottom areas of the river.”

Co-ops serving members farther south in Mississippi and Louisiana will continue watching the river for the next few weeks.

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

The monarch butterfly is in trouble. With its numbers in decline for decades and its habitat rapidly disappearing, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is set to rule soon on whether it should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

The monarch’s unique lifecycle and migration pattern bring it to locations throughout electric co-op territory. Co-ops across the country know this and have been doing their part to try and save this iconic species.

In the latest episode of Along Those Lines, we’re joined by Janelle Lemen and Stephanie Crawford, both from NRECA’s regulatory division, and Brad Foss, environmental impact manager at Dairyland Power Cooperative in Wisconsin. They explain what’s making it difficult for monarchs to thrive, what an Endangered Species Act listing would mean, and what steps co-ops have been proactively taking to conserve the monarch.

Editor’s Note: On May 24, 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it has postponed its decision on the status of the monarch butterfly until Dec. 15, 2020.

Listen to the episode below:

You can also listen and subscribe to Along Those Lines on your preferred podcast service:
Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube

Related Content:
• RE Magazine: The Butterfly Effect
• New Federal Conservation Agreement on Monarchs Would Credit Co-op Action
• Got Milkweed? Pollinator Week Is a Time to Shine for Co-op Preservation Efforts
• Co-op Pollinator Success Begins With Education

Find out more about NRECA’s podcast. Questions or suggestions? Email us at AlongThoseLines@nreca.coop.

As we spend the month of April recognizing the efforts of lineworkers, the latest episode of Along Those Lines zeroes in on safety and what it takes to ensure that crews don’t come into contact with live lines.

Heath Martin, who’s now the safety director at Northfork Electric Cooperative in Oklahoma, shares the harrowing story of a mistake early in his career as a lineworker that could have cost him his life—and the lessons he took away from the incident.  

We’re also joined by Bud Branham, NRECA’s safety director, and Corey Parr, who runs the safety and loss control program at Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange, to discuss the hazards of the work that line crews do and good practices for staying safe.

Listen to the episode below:

You can also listen and subscribe to Along Those Lines on your preferred podcast service:
Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube

Related Content:
• Oklahoma Living Magazine: Safety Miracles
• Cooperative.com: Commitment to Zero Contacts Initiative Targets Lineworker Injuries and Fatalities

Find out more about NRECA’s podcast. Questions or suggestions? Email us at AlongThoseLines@nreca.coop.

ARLINGTON, Va. – NRECA CEO Jim Matheson today issued the following statement after President Trump announced a new infrastructure executive order that will expedite the permitting process for power line right of way maintenance on federal lands.

“Today’s announcement paves the way for electric co-ops to enhance system reliability and reduce wildfire risk by improving access to maintain and upgrade electric systems located on federal lands,” Matheson said. “Permitting delays often pose long-term safety and reliability challenges for electric co-ops that need approval to conduct vegetation management and power line maintenance on federal lands.  By reducing bureaucratic red tape, today’s announcement helps prevent permitting delays and promotes the safety and reliability of our power supply.”

The new infrastructure executive order includes language directing the secretaries of Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce to collaborate on the development of a master agreement that expedites renewals to federal land rights of way to enable maintenance and vegetation management.

Electric cooperatives constantly work to improve system reliability, including on federal land. But federal permitting delays pose serious restrictions. For example, Benton Rural Electric Association (BREA) in Prosser, Washington had a Special Use Permit that allowed them right of way access through federal land to prevent danger trees from contacting the co-ops’ power lines. Despite submitting an application for renewal in August 2015, BREA’s permit expired that December. USFS officials took 15 months to review the renewal application and propose that the co-op pay for an expensive new environmental assessment. Benton REA is currently operating under a temporary permit but is still seeking a resolution for the long-term permit issue.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.

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When Craighead Electric Cooperative staffers look at rural rights-of-way, they see big potential for wildlife habitat in addition to poles and wires, and they’re partnering with environmentalists and outdoor recreation enthusiasts to make that happen.

This spring, Craighead EC is working with volunteers from Quail Forever to help transform rights-of-way, the grounds around its substations and other facilities into low-maintenance habitat.  Instead of turf grass, they’re planting native grasses, wildflowers, forage and cover plants suitable for quail, pollinators and other wildlife.

“The organization is particularly interested in establishing habitat around renewable energy developments,” said Monty Williams, vice president of marketing and communications for the Jonesboro, Arkansas-based distribution co-op. That has prompted an alliance involving Craighead EC, Today’s Power, an enterprise subsidiary of Arkansas Electric Cooperative Inc., and local Quail Forever volunteers.

Craighead EC’s 11-acre Solar One project near Brookland, which includes a one-megawatt photovoltaic array, was planted with a selected seed blend in early March.

The plant species used will top out at 2 or 3 feet high, providing cover and producing blooms and seeds from spring through autumn for foraging wildlife.

“We’re using native grass species like little bluestem and sideoats gramma along with a mix of wildflowers including black-eyed Susan, butterfly milkweed, purple coneflower and 14 other flowering forbs,” said Williams. “This mixture of grasses and wildflowers create brooding habitat for quail, nesting habitat for grassland songbirds, and pollinator habitat for beneficial insects.”

The relatively compact growth patterns of the selected vegetation will eliminate the need for mowing, said Williams. “We can easily trim under panel racks and around other components at the site to perform maintenance on the equipment.”

Partnering with Quail Forever on the project gives Craighead EC an opportunity to make a lasting local impact on wildlife habitat across its service territory.  The organization maintains full control over locally raised donations, selects its own projects and coordinates with local community groups to recruit volunteers for plantings and other events.

Quail Forever chapters are also working with Today’s Power on two other solar array planting projects in the region to help bobwhite quail and other species.

“Native pollinators have experienced declines throughout North America, especially in agricultural areas like the mid-South,” said Jennah Denney, marketing and public relations coordinator of Today’s Power.  “Insects like butterflies, moths, honeybees, native bees, and beetles are critical for native plant reproduction through pollination and plant community health.” 

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

It won’t produce a lot of power, but a new cooperative solar project could play a major role for butterflies, bees and bobwhite quail that live or migrate through Arkansas’s Delta region.

Craighead Electric Cooperative has just turned on a 1-megawatt solar array, but the landscaping work just getting under way will give a huge boost to wildlife for years to come.

“We’ve built the array on land that’s been used to grow soybeans and other crops for generations,” said Monty Williams, vice president of marketing and communications for Craighead Electric Cooperative Corp.

Jonesboro-based CECC developed the array on an 11-acre site near Brookland. While it’s only expected to produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 135 average homes in the co-op’s service territory, the site’s habitat management plan could improve conditions for a number of species found in Arkansas’ Delta region.

“The Craighead Electric board of directors and management emphasized that their members must receive economic as well as environmental benefits, and this solar system accomplishes both,” said Michael Henderson, president of Today’s Power Inc.

Little Rock-based TPI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc., builds and maintains photovoltaic systems, energy storage projects and electric vehicle charging stations.

“Our solar systems are customized around a utility’s wholesale billing [cost factors] and load characteristics specifically to produce maximum value for the customer,” said Henderson, noting that TPI has now built 18 such projects in Arkansas. “We have five more in the planning stage that will be announced soon.”

Craighead Electric and TPI worked with the City of Brookland and the conservation group Quail Forever to meet several environmental goals for the project’s design.  They include sustainable pollinator habitat for bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects, and cover and forage for cottontail rabbits, bobwhite quail and indigenous and migratory songbirds.

Community partners including 4-H, FFA and scouting groups will be assisting with plantings and other improvements at the site in the coming months.

“This project shows Craighead Electric’s commitment to providing a low-cost source of energy to our membership,” said Craighead Electric CEO Brian Duncan, adding that the project underscores the co-op’s commitment to the environmentally responsible use of renewable energy.

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

A Federal Communications Commission panel will call for the regulation of power poles owned by electric cooperatives as one way for states to accelerate broadband deployment, drawing serious concern from NRECA.

The FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) included a dozen other provisions that the association said threaten co-op operations as part of a model code for states to employ as laws and regulations for delivering high-speed internet.

BDAC is expected to give final approval to the state model code by late August or early September. NRECA has had a seat on the committee that is dominated by telecom representatives since its launch in 2017.

“When the BDAC approves the model code, state legislatures will be encouraged to take it up as how the FCC believes broadband should be deployed,” warned Brian O’Hara, NRECA regulatory issues director.

State model code provisions opposed by NRECA involve rights of access to existing network support infrastructure and rights of access to poles in the communications space. One of the most troublesome articles would classify electric co-ops as infrastructure “owners” and subject them to regulations under the code.

“The state model code, as drafted, ignores current exemptions from pole attachment regulation allowed by Congress for electric co-ops. It also ignores that all 20 states that have enacted laws streamlining attachments for small cell/5G networks allow that same exemption for co-ops,” said O’Hara.

The committee on July 27 failed to reach final agreement on the state model code and is revising the draft. The final state model code, however, is unlikely to allay concerns by NRECA, said O’Hara.

“We do expect it to eventually pass. We do not anticipate the provisions with which NRECA has concerns to be improved,” he said. “Once adopted by the BDAC, we fully expect the telecom industry to push hard for adoption of the model code in state capitals across the country.”

NRECA supported the only three articles it felt would assist rural broadband. One that established a broadband assistance fund remained in the document. NRECA managed to get co-ops and other non-incumbent telecom providers included as eligible participants.

Another provision that would create a state broadband infrastructure manager and Broadband Infrastructure Advisory Council was struck from the code. The third, to allow co-ops and municipalities to partner to deliver broadband, was set aside for possible reconsideration.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer at NRECA.

Editor’s Note, Aug. 20: Hear firsthand from the workers involved in the dramatic pole-top rescue of Shelby Electric Cooperative’s Kevin Carlen in this new video produced by the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives.

Shelby Electric Cooperative’s Kevin Carlen had completed “hurt man” rescue training and was on his way down when he lost consciousness at the top of the pole.

At 22 feet in the air, the forestry foreman had suffered sudden cardiac arrest.

“He kicked back so hard that his feet came out of the pole. Basically, he was just laying in his belt,” said Thad France, a safety instructor at the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives in Springfield.

France was conducting annual pole-top rescue training at the Shelbyville, Illinois, co-op in mid-May when the incident occurred. He stood, horrified, at the base of the pole with the rest of the group.

“When he first kicked back in his belt, people thought that I had set this up for the training. But I saw the color of his face and it was gray,” said France, whose father has had a heart attack. “I knew immediately what had happened.”

Within seconds, the group sprang into action. Each person chose a role. Because a training exercise had been in progress, a trainee was already up in a bucket ready to retrieve Carlen. Another put on his climbing tools to go up the pole. Someone ran to get the AED kit, and once the Carlen was safely on the ground, two others administered CPR. France applied the automated external defibrillator (AED).

No life-saving detail was too small.

“The guy who called 911 had enough wits about him to go out in the road to meet EMTs because [construction work] was blocking the normal entrance. He had EMTs come a different way,” France recalled.

“It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my 24 years as a lineman. Every time I yelled to someone to do something, he was doing it. It was boom, boom, boom. Everyone did the right thing. As far as the actual rescue, even the EMTs said that the group of guys did better than most of his fire department.”

Regular training enabled crews to save Carlen’s life, said Josh Shallenberger, the co-op’s president and CEO.

“We learned a few things that day,” said Shallenberger, who ran out to the training yard that day to provide backup support. “We were very thankful that Kevin was wearing a BuckSqueeze belt for fall protection. Also, once the guys realized this wasn’t a joke, they jumped to action and what they’ve been trained to do over the years just came out naturally.”

Carlen, 54, is recovering at home awaiting surgery to repair a clogged artery and is looking forward to going back to work. “Someone called it the ‘perfect storm’ to have the [heart attack] happen here at the co-op office,” said Carlen. “I could have been by myself or in a right of way with one other person.”

The real-life lessons of that day remain with France still. “Even afterwards [when EMTs took Carlen to the hospital], we all looked at each other and said, ‘I guess this is why we do the training every year.’”

Victoria A. Rocha is a staff writer at NRECA.

North Dakota is a prairie state, but an electric cooperative project is helping establish stands of trees and shrubs across several counties to enhance wildlife habitat and expand ecological diversity.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative is working with landowners, local governments and state agencies to plant sustainable patches of trees and shrubs in five western North Dakota counties. The Bismarck-based G&T is committed to meeting vegetation replacement obligations related to major transmission projects completed in late 2017.

“The state requires that we inventory the trees and shrubs removed from our right-of-way and replace them, two-for-one,” said Cris Miller, senior environmental administrator for Basin Electric. “About one-third of the affected landowners requested trees and shrubs to be replaced on their property outside of the transmission right of way.”

That means the remaining trees and shrubs are available for planting projects within public spaces. Some of those projects include landscaping around ballparks, picnic sites and local parks. Thousands of trees and shrubs are being planted on undeveloped public lands, including parcels managed by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

One Big Job and Lots of Little Sites

The G&T sought approval of 225 miles of new 345-kilovolt transmission to serve Bakken Formation oil and gas development, and the North Dakota Public Service Commission stipulated vegetation replacement with three years of monitoring. Trees and shrubs that don’t survive may require replacement.

“This ultimately involved 37,000 trees and shrubs,” said Miller. “Affected landowners had the first opportunities to replace trees on their property outside of our transmission corridors.”

Miller added that many of those landowners opted for border patch plantings between field acreage sections. Those stands of trees and shrubs are commonly seen along the edges of fields and pastures and serve as natural windbreaks and shelter for wildlife.

The patches, roughly 30 feet wide, are designed to provide cover and help meet the nutritional needs of indigenous songbirds, migratory fowl and upland game species such as pheasants and grouse. The white-tail and mule deer inhabiting the area will also benefit.

After identifying planting opportunities, Basin Electric relies on the County Soil Conservation District’s expertise to select the trees and shrubs that have the best opportunity for survivability based on the soil types present and achieve the intended purpose of the planting.

Fauna Friendly

About two-thirds of the total planting stock was made available to public agencies, including some who tapped the resource to enhance habitat near recreational space and reclaimed mining sites.

“You’ll see a lot of smaller shrubs, denser planting to provide food source and shelter for animals,” said Sarah Tunge, manager of the Mercer County Soil Conservation District. The district began planning for the two Mercer County projects in January, and plantings there took place in late May.

“We worked with North Dakota Game and Fish on this one to provide the most benefit. We looked at water sources and other habitat in the area,” said Tunge. “Deer, grassland birds, pheasants, song birds of all types, pollinators, are all going to use this new habitat.”

And it shouldn’t take long to see results. Tree species selected for bare-root planting top out at about 12 feet in height because naturalists involved in the planning aren’t interested in providing roosts for raptors.

Reshaping the Landscape

The Harmony Lake site is a former surface coal mine that predated the current state’s strict surface mine reclamation regulations. The 45-acre lake is surrounded by 450 acres of restored prairie and wetlands.

Reclamation work began in the area in 1998, and the ownership of the area was transferred to the state and opened for recreational use in 2003. At least 17 species of wildlife live in the area. Previous plantings at the site were completed to obscure and cover spoil piles left over from early surface mining operations.

“Wildlife actually like the spoil pile areas, so these trees will add to their habitat, and they will make a snow trip to keep the snow from filling in those spoil piles,” said Arvid Anderson, a resource biologist with North Dakota Game and Fish Wildlife.

Dense growth on the spoil piles will provide cover for deer and other wildlife moving between open areas, said Anderson. “It makes for better aesthetics for the public driving by, as well.”

More Work Ahead

On each of the projects, Basin Electric picks up the costs of all plantings, and the native trees and shrubs stock used are purchased from a state-owned nursery in order to ensure their hardiness. Weed barrier fabric is also laid out around the planting zones to discourage grassland encroachment while the bare-root trees and shrubs get established.

Cold, wet spring weather compressed 2018’s available planting schedule to just three weeks. Work began in late May and was suspended in mid-June.

An assessment survey of planted sites is expected to take place in September, but Basin Electric is already preparing for a series of projects with the North Dakota Department of Transportation for 2019.

The highway beautification effort will provide a visual barrier along the edges of highway right-of-way, and the trees and shrubs, once established, will be a natural snow fence, reducing drift accumulations during North Dakota’s blustery winters.

“There are four or five such projects scheduled for next year,” said Miller. “That will complete the bulk of our planting efforts.”

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

National Pollinator Week kicks off this year (June 18-24) amid talk that the federal government could designate the monarch butterfly, whose numbers have been in decline for decades, as endangered or threatened.

Electric cooperatives with territories that overlap critical monarch breeding areas and migration routes are devoting land and labor to reverse the decline of this and other key pollinator species.

East Kentucky Power Cooperative is building a 1.7-acre monarch waystation at its Winchester, Kentucky, headquarters to grow milkweed, black-eyed Susans and other native flowers where the butterflies can lay their eggs and rest on the long flights to and from their overwintering grounds in Mexico.

“We’re developing a monarch waystation to help,” said Chris Carpenter, a biologist at EKPC. “If monarchs are listed, that could significantly affect us.”

The habitat, adjacent to a 60-acre solar farm that went online in November, is also home to four hives of 25,000 honeybees, which, while not a native species, are key pollinators.

Members who tour the co-op campus “like the fact that we are helping out species that are pollinators and plants that are native,” said Josh Young, EKPC’s natural resource and environmental compliance supervisor.

EKPC is also looking into developing pollinator plots at its H.L. Spurlock Station, a coal-based plant, and Bluegrass Station, a natural gas plant.

Dairyland Power Cooperative, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, first caught the pollinator preservation bug in 1994 when it prepared to cover a closed 40-acre coal ash landfill near a power plant. General practice at the time was to plant grasses, but the co-op expanded that to native prairie of grasses and pollinator plants.

The G&T is developing large plots at all 18 of its solar farms to host monarch butterflies, bees and other pollinators. The combined 250 acres of habitat contain a diverse mix of milkweed, black-eyed Susans, sunflowers, lupine, cornflowers, forbs and other species. Fifteen sites are already up and running.

Brad Foss, Dairyland senior environmental biologist, said efforts to sustain the monarch butterfly have “ramped up in the last few years, with the plight of pollinators” becoming more known. The rusty patched bumble bee, a Wisconsin native, was listed as “endangered” by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in January 2017.

Dairyland recently planted two pollinator plots of 1.5 to 2.5 acres and identified a 3-acre site in Minnesota. Plans include interpretive walking trails and information kiosks about the benefits of pollinators and the plant species.

The co-op is also working with the Mississippi Valley Conservancy on an 8-acre bluff within a conservation easement to remove invasive species and return the land to native plants, including pollinator species.

“We want to develop high-profile sites, such as those located by subdivisions, for pollinator signage to educate the public on what we are doing and why we’re doing it,” said Foss.

NRECA is also getting involved, partnering with the Energy Resources Center at the University of Illinois-Chicago to develop a voluntary conservation agreement to aid the monarch butterfly population along utility and transportation rights of way. The partnership involves 24 organizations with pollinator projects across 1.8 million acres in 45 states.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has recognized such conservation agreements as regulatory mechanisms to encourage non-federal landowners and managers to adopt practices that help pollinators. As a representative for the gas and electric sector, NRECA will provide comments on draft documents and key elements that should be incorporated into the agreement, including what types of utility activities should be covered.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer at NRECA.

Fill in the blank: Pollinators are responsible for one in every __ bites of food.

That’s one of many weekly pollinator trivia questions that Casey Shepard, an environmental engineer at Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp., posed to co-op staff leading up to National Pollinator Week.

The answer? Three.

“Aside from fruits and vegetables, there are nuts, jellies, salsas, coffee, chocolate,” said Shepard, ticking off the food products that require pollination by bees and butterflies to come to fruition.

“Pollinators are not only critically important to our food chain but also to our economy,” she added. “Pollinator products are responsible for $20 billion worth of revenue in the U.S. each year. They are pretty significant. But their populations are declining globally.”

Electric co-ops across the country have been developing better ways to protect the bees and butterflies—known as “pollinator programs.” These include pollinator gardens and projects on their campuses, along rights of way and intermingled with their solar energy farms. With the potential for the monarch butterfly to be listed as threatened or endangered next year, co-ops are stepping up their efforts to conserve pollinators.

Winners of AECC pollinator trivia quizzes received a peat pot, packets of Arkansas native wildflower seed blend and a packet of milkweed seeds from Save Our Monarchs. (Photo By: AECC)

Shepard, president of AECC’s new 14-member Cooperative Green Team, is helping spread the message through educational projects.

Co-op volunteers are cultivating a pollinator garden at a city park near the G&T in Little Rock. Small areas in rights-of-ways are being explored for other possible gardens.

Winners of the trivia questions received small peat pots and packets of Arkansas native wildflower seeds, including cone flowers and black-eyed Susans. A bee “condo” is on display in the headquarters’ lobby with free seed packets of milkweed—the sole food source for the caterpillars that turn into monarch butterflies.

“Cooperatives recognize how important these pollinators are and, with as many as 40 percent at risk of extinction, we are ramping up efforts to ensure their continued protection,” said Shepard.

National Pollinator Week takes place June 18-24. Find out more information on the Pollinator Partnership’s website.

Cathy Cash is a staff writer at NRECA.

The Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives is lauding recently passed state legislation that addresses existing utility rights of way and easements to deliver broadband internet access to co-op members at the end of the line.

“This is a crucial step in bringing high-speed internet service to rural people across the state who desperately need it,” said Caleb Jones, AMEC vice president. “It took a true grass-roots effort to make this happen. Getting this legislation passed this quickly is a testament to the hard work of our legislative staff and the entire Missouri Co-ops grass-roots team who descended on the Capitol several times to encourage their elected officials to support it.”

Easement considerations have received increased attention as electric co-ops consider running fiber optic cable, leasing their unused fiber, or allowing other providers to attach fiber or 5G wireless equipment to their poles to provide broadband service.

NRECA encourages co-ops to carefully review their state laws and easements whenever adding anything beyond electric poles and wires or using existing facilities for non-electric purposes.

Jones noted that getting the bill passed was extremely difficult because of the complexity of easement issues. “We had to overcome a lengthy and heated Senate committee hearing, two Senate filibusters and had to engage in some very stressful negotiations on amendments in order to keep moving forward.”

In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam signed a law in March clarifying that an electric co-op can use existing infrastructure for delivery of high-speed internet access. The law stated that “any easement owned, held, or otherwise used by the cooperative in pursuit of a primary purpose may be used for any secondary purpose.”

“Ensuring co-op electric easements can be used for broadband services was a huge win for Tennessee co-ops,” said Mike Knotts, vice president of government affairs at the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association.

“Not only does it reduce the risk of lawsuits, it helps co-ops deploy broadband in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. That means more people get connected to modern high-speed internet and they get connected sooner,” said Knotts.

In April 2017, Haslam also signed into law the Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Act, which allowed electric co-ops in the state to provide, through a subsidiary, broadband and other similar services within their service territory.

“In so many places across rural America, quality broadband service is the No. 1 challenge facing our communities,” said Knotts. “Electric co-ops are uniquely positioned to help solve this problem.”

5G is coming.

The much-anticipated next generation of wireless communication, expected to be launched as early as later this year, promises to deliver on a host of futuristic technologies, including self-driving cars, real-time virtual reality, and smart cities and towns.

“With the proliferation of mobile technology and the growing popularity of data-intensive services like video streaming, 5G represents the next generation of communications,” said Michael Leitman, an NRECA strategic analyst.

It’s a promising development, but one that has brought some consternation to electric cooperatives and other utilities, whose distribution poles will likely bear part of the burden of the expanded infrastructure.

“Any foreign attachment that departs from the design and construction of the original overhead line may introduce significant engineering, safety, and reliability issues which must be considered,” said Robert Harris, senior principal engineer for NRECA’s Business and Technology Strategies department.

“Co-ops and other utility providers are concerned about the added weight on the poles, and how that will affect their stability and integrity during wind and ice storms, or prolonged rain events,” said Harris.

The technology is expected to take root at first in densely populated areas, before extending into nearby suburbs. It could be several years before it arrives in rural communities distant from major metropolitan areas, and it will not likely ever be extended to isolated locations.

5G will be able to deliver extremely fast speeds, low latency (responsiveness), and high capacity in part because it will rely on a dense network of small, connected antennae. A single 5G antenna weighs only a few grams, but some parts of the system are designed for so-called block-matrix mounting, where hundreds of the devices are housed in arrays.

“The 5G attachment that will be placed in the communications space on a pole is being sold as pizza-box-sized equipment,” said Tammy Embrey, an NRECA senior legislative adviser.  “The reality is that when you factor in the total amount of equipment that will be added, this could add 300 to 400 pounds of weight to a pole.”

Additional equipment includes control units, auxiliary backup batteries and other support equipment housed in metal or composite refrigerator-sized boxes.

“This equipment is fundamentally different than any other type of attachment we’ve ever put on our poles,” said Embrey. “There’s more weight, wind and ice loading involved, there are reliability and worker safety issues, and most designs include a communications conduit running the length of the pole.”

Servicing that communications equipment is also a major concern, said NRECA’s Harris.  “Some of that equipment could be near or above energized lines, so training, safety and potential service reliability issues need to be considered.”

Keeping Connections Local

The race to 5G could have a major impact on pole attachment oversight and cooperatives’ local control, as the wireless industry pushes for streamlined and uniform pole attachment procedures and lower rates nationally. That could lead to increased federal regulation of right-of-way relationships electric cooperatives have spent decades developing with private landowners and state and local jurisdictions.

NRECA and its member cooperatives are supporting a resolution opposing regulatory authority over pole attachments by the Federal Communications Commission.

“Congress long ago recognized the consumer-focused nature and democratic local control inherent in the cooperative business model and exempted electric cooperatives from federal pole attachment regulation,” said Embrey.

Over the last few years, 19 states have enacted legislation to streamline pole attachment policies and reduce rates for small cell and 5G deployment.

“Legislators in all of those states have had the foresight to make sure these rules do not apply to electric cooperatives,” said Brian O’Hara, NRECA’s senior director of regulatory issues, adding that several states have excluded electric utilities more broadly from new pole attachment regulations, citing their critical infrastructure status.

“In some cases, the addition of foreign attachments may necessitate installation of taller or stronger poles, relocation of poles, or additional poles, increasing costs to the electric cooperative members,” said O’Hara.

“Each cooperative is unique and faces specific challenges and costs.  Pole attachment rates should reflect the actual cost of providing attachment service.”

According to NRECA, receiving full compensation for pole attachment costs cannot be guaranteed with a uniform regulatory policy. Artificially low rates could burden co-op members with undue costs, effectively subsidizing large, for-profit telecommunications companies.

NRECA has joined several entities representing utility, telecommunication and communications technology interests in calling for cross-industry compromises on spectrum issues related to 5G technology and its deployment. A letter outlining their position was submitted to the FCC on May 9. It includes measures that will help ensure options of some local involvement in how the technology is deployed and administered.

Derrill Holly is a staff writer at NRECA.

ATLANTA—Northfork Electric Cooperative’s Heath Martin survived a 7,200-volt shock, and he’s the first to admit the accident was his fault.

Martin and his co-worker, Chad Crompton, had worked all night but were then called to a routine outage near the Sayre, Oklahoma-based co-op.

On Martin’s mind was an upcoming fishing trip with his buddies. “I was in a hurry, but it was no reason to take a shortcut,” said Martin, who suffered severe burns to his hands and face resulting in skin grafts, multiple surgeries and physical therapy.

Remarkably, Martin retooled his career at the co-op and as its safety director talks about his experiences. “Grounding that line down would have taken me maybe five minutes at the most and…I just made a bad decision that day.”

That fateful day was nearly two decades ago. Today, the number of serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) among co-op lineworkers remains stubbornly high even though the overall injury rate has fallen. A nationwide survey of 51,000 co-op employees conducted annually between 2006 and 2015 found an average of more than 23 SIFs each year.

Contact with energized lines and equipment caused more than 40 percent of the incidents.

It’s a trend that safety leaders across the country want to stop through Commitment to Zero Contacts, an initiative of NRECA and Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange launched at the 2018 Safety Leadership Summit. The voluntary initiative provides field guides, a downloadable job briefing app and other resources to help eliminate injuries by electrical contacts.

Serious injuries and fatalities for co-op lineworkers

In the past decade, the overall injury rate has fallen among co-op lineworkers, but high rates of serious injuries and fatalities persist, a national survey found.

The factors that increase the likelihood of SIFs vary, but creating a strong culture of safety helps mitigate the risk at all levels of an organization, NRECA CEO Jim Matheson told safety professionals April 27.

“If you have a strong organizational culture, it creates better teamwork, improves communications and reduces injury rates,” said Matheson.

“Those electric cooperatives that are top performers in this area keep a close eye on cultural aspects of their organization. They measure it and never lose sight of it,” said Matheson. “They intentionally onboard new employees into that culture with a sharp focus on safety. They’re always looking for potential gaps in that culture and, above all, are always looking for ways to strengthen that culture.”

Typically, the worst accidents happen during routine jobs where risk awareness declines and complacency is most likely to occur, said Bud Branham, NRECA director of safety programs.

Combined with people’s natural instinct to favor the “fast brain” even during situations that require analytic thinking and reasoning, the factors can lead to deadly consequences.

“Research shows that you can have the best injury rates in the world, but you can still fall victim to a catastrophic incident. We must all remain focused,” said Branham, adding that persistent SIFs are an industry-wide problem.

Commitment to Zero Contacts suggests that co-ops avoid a “bad cop” mentality and instead focus on a systemwide approach that helps them:

• Clarify and define life-saving rules.
• Verify use of life-saving rules.
• Create effective job planning on all jobs.
• Form a structured safety management process.
• Seek employee involvement.

“When you change attitudes, there will be a lot of naysayers. It’s a tough job. But this is doable,” said Phil Irwin, president and CEO of Federated. “We have the tools and the training.”

Already, co-ops are pledging to work safer and smarter. At least 30 percent of Federated members have downloaded the smartphone app, S.A.F.E. (Stop and Focus Everyday).

The three-day Safety Summit also featured 20 “safety improvement talks” from co-ops with innovative safety ideas and stories. Among them:

• Clarifying organizational roles and responsibilities for safety at the Merom Generating Plant operated by Hoosier Energy in Bloomington, Indiana.
• Engaging employees in the “I Will” pledge program at the North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives in Raleigh.
• Creating an effective incident management system at Cooperative Energy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Co-op leaders can make the commitment to join the nationwide initiative at cooperative.com/ZeroContactsForm.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Four years later, it still haunts Jason Siegfried.

“I’ll never forget the look on Jeremy’s face when his wife and I walked into that burn unit,” said Siegfried. They were there that December 2013 day to see Jeremy White, a lineman at Southern Pine Electric, who came into contact with a power line while on a service call.

“He was lying there, missing part of his left arm and both legs below the knee. He couldn’t talk for all the machines hooked up. But his expression, as he shrugged his shoulders and looked at his wife, said clearly, ‘I’m sorry.’”

White died Jan. 11, 2014. He was 36 and left behind a wife, daughter and son.

It might not be a typical thing to hear about at the NRECA Annual Meeting, but Siegfried made clear it needs to be.

“I believe there is not a single topic to be discussed during this annual meeting that’s more important than the safety of the men and women at our co-ops,” he said to applause from the packed room at the Feb 26 opening session.

As CEO of Taylorsville, Mississippi-based Southern Pine Electric, Siegfried called on fellow co-op leaders to “band together to annihilate complacency, and place accountability front and center.” He said it’s the only way to accomplish NRECA’s goal of zero contacts.

A moving video, “A Lineman’s Call—The Story of Jeremy White,” was played at the general session. It’s told by his widow, Liz, and the colleagues he left behind.

“I want you to know that creating that video was hard. As many times as I’ve watched it, it never gets any easier,” said Siegfried, who often wonders why White was in such a hurry that he overlooked several safety rules.

“I’ll admit I was angry. It never should have happened,” said Siegfried.

“But at some point I realized that instead of asking why Jeremy did the things he did, I need to focus on what can I change.”

To that end, Siegfried urged meeting participants to think long and hard about what they need to do when they return home.

At Southern Pine Electric, “We demanded that each person, no matter rank or tenure, take complete ownership in holding themselves and others accountable,” said Siegfried. “No more shortcuts. No more covering for anyone regardless of how small or minor the violation may seem.”

He acknowledged it isn’t easy. But neither is going to a burn unit—or a funeral.

“I’ve looked some people in the eye and said some pretty harsh words about what safety violations will mean moving forward. And here today I’d like to look you in the eye and say this is where a movement can begin to lead this industry.”

This video is the property of Southern Pine Electric Cooperative and may be used for safety training only. Its use for any other purpose is strictly prohibited.

NRECA’s Safety Leadership Summit takes place April 25-27 in Atlanta. Details are available on cooperative.com.

Michael W. Kahn is a staff writer at NRECA.

In his decades of experience as a lead electric cooperative lineman, Cal Wolterman has had more than his share of close calls with motorists zipping by work sites on highways.

Take the time Wolterman, his crew and their bucket truck from Estherville-based Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative were sandwiched between two speeding vehicles on a two-lane highway in northern Iowa. They had blocked off a lane when a tractor-trailer and another vehicle approached from opposite directions.

“Instead of one vehicle waiting to use the other lane, they both used the other lane and the shoulder to go around our truck, barely missing the outrigger on the truck,” said Wolterman, who escaped without injury. “We’ll have signs and cones up, and we’ll have a guy out there with a ‘slow’ sign, and they’ll still fly by us at 60 miles per hour.”

Signs and orange cones have failed. But Iowa electric utilities are hoping penalties under the state’s new “Move Over or Slow Down” law will do the job.

The law, which took effect July 1, expands a 2002 law that covered emergency vehicles by imposing fines and penalties for failure to change lanes or reduce speed when passing utility vehicles.

“I sure hope people abide by it, move over and slow down,” said Wolterman. “It’s kind of crazy out there.”

Electric utilities launched a campaign to promote the law and are taking extra steps to make sure it sinks fully into people’s consciences. A news conference featuring Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds kicked off the effort, along with catchy signs promoting the campaign on the sides of utility vehicles.

Organizers want to get at “why a driver wouldn’t instinctively move over or slow down when approaching a stationary utility vehicle with flashing lights,” said Erin Campbell, director of communications at the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives in Des Moines.

“We want to proactively change drivers’ behavior to prevent close calls or incidents from happening in the first place,” said Campbell.

Drivers can go to the Move Over website for information and sign an online pledge that shows “they are consciously making a decision to alter their behavior by agreeing to move over or slow down,” said Campbell.

And for behind-the-wheel multi-taskers, organizers use a humorous touch with ads that utilities can customize on various outlets. “Bad time to search for those missing Skittles” reads one ad. “Bad time to text Chris about Friday night” reads another.

While all states have “move over” laws, about a dozen specifically protect utility service vehicles. Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens recently signed a measure to add utility vehicles to a list of other emergency vehicles for which motorists must pull over. It takes effect Aug. 28.

Co-ops without protections for utility service vehicles aren’t waiting for their legislatures to act. They are helping each other.

The Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives in Baton Rouge created “Hang Up and Drive. Lives are on the Line,” a multimedia campaign and video to combat texting and driving. Its efforts have inspired co-ops in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to take action.

Line crews at Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative in Sussex, New Jersey, have affixed ALEC-designed bumper stickers on trucks. And Claverack REC in Wysox, Pennsylvania, designed an on-screen ad for local movie theaters with a no texting and driving message and is considering creating its own video.

Line crews hope the focus on driver conduct helps because the problem is getting worse.

In the ALEC video, an apprentice lineman from Beauregard Electric Cooperative in DeRidder, describes a scene that’s increasingly familiar to line crews.

“We’re set up on [the] side of [the] road, we’ve got our cones out, our lights are flashing, maybe we have a lane of traffic blocked, and yet we have a distracted driver either texting or flying right by us. We have to worry about them and still continue to do our job,” said the co-op’s John Hobbs.

Victoria A. Rocha is a staff writer at NRECA.

A pair of electric cooperative priorities have passed the U.S. House of Representatives and are headed to the Senate.

For the second time in less than two years, the House approved a measure that would make it easier for co-ops to maintain rights of way on federal lands. The Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act, H.R. 1873, cleared the chamber June 21 on a bipartisan 300-118 vote.

On June 20, the House passed legislation to provide more equitable treatment of nonprofits, such as co-ops, that own nuclear power projects. H.R. 1551, sponsored by Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., also eliminate the 2020 construction deadline for new nuclear power plants to be eligible for tax credits established under a 2005 law.

NRECA CEO Jim Matheson praised the House votes and said they represent important steps in helping co-ops to continue to provide affordable and reliable power to their members. He noted that both the nuclear tax credit legislation and vegetation management bill were spotlighted at this year’s NRECA Legislative Conference.

“Passage of this legislation demonstrates that co-op leaders from across the country make a difference when they come to Washington to meet with their elected officials,” he said. “We’re pleased that the House has approved these bills and look forward to advancing them in the Senate.”

The rights-of-way bill seeks to correct problems co-ops have had securing permits to control vegetative overgrowth and trees that can topple onto power lines, causing fires and outages.

Utilities could receive preapproval from federal agencies to remove trees that could affect transmission and distribution line rights of way instead of waiting for authorization. It shifts liability to federal agencies if they deny permission to manage vegetation and a fire ensues.

The bill includes a floor amendment supported by NRECA to ensure Interior Department staff involved in rights-of-way management issues are trained on how unmanned technologies can help identify and reduce wildfire risks.

The tax legislation would enable four reactors currently under construction to benefit from production tax credits beyond the current timetable. It also could help the development of small modular reactors, a technology option that interests some co-ops.

NRECA and other trade groups wrote House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on June 19, the day before the vote, urging favorable action on nuclear power as “a strategic national imperative.”

Steven Johnson is a staff writer for NRECA.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) today filed comments with the Fish and Wildlife Service arguing against listing the Lesser Prairie Chicken under the Endangered Species Act. In its filing, NRECA pointed to scientific data showing that the Lesser Prairie Chicken population is stable, thanks in part to the extensive voluntary conservation measures already underway by public and private stakeholders.

“The range-wide conservation plan approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2014 along with other measures, are working,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “America’s electric cooperatives have continued to engage with state wildlife agencies and additional co-ops are enrolling in conservation plans to help the species.  As the huge swath of available habitat – more than ten million acres in five states – continues to grow, the best available data show the Lesser Prairie Chicken population has stabilized.”

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 private, not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide service to 42 million people in 47 states.

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In offering testimony today to members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works’ Fisheries, Water and Wildlife Subcommittee, National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition (NESARC) Chairman Ryan Yates outlined the Coalition’s concerns with proposed changes to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Mitigation Policy.

Reiterating many of the points included in NESARC’s written comments to FWS earlier this year, Yates highlighted NESARC’s concern that the agency lacks the statutory authority for implementing the Mitigation Policy. According to Yates, “[t]he proposed revisions to the Mitigation Policy, and the Administration’s other recent policies addressing mitigation, test the boundaries of agency authority and likely exceed the scope of the applicable statutory framework without offering clear and transparent guidance to the regulated community.”

Yates also took issue with the imposition of a “net conservation gain” standard in the status of affected resources. “[T]he Mitigation Policy fails to provide the basis and authority for imposing a net conservation gain requirement and needs additional clarification on how the implementation of such a requirement would occur in practice,” he said. “Federal agencies cannot, by fiat, attempt to impose a net conservation gain as an absolute mitigation requirement, absent a clear grant of such authority from Congress.”

In his testimony, Yates contended that the Mitigation Policy’s landscape-scale approach is overly expansive and fails to consider the role of states and local jurisdictions in species conservation. Specifically, he testified that “FWS cannot incorporate landscape-scale mitigation into permitting decisions or authorizations without explicit statutory authority that requires such a broad ecological approach. Further, FWS’s definition of landscape and its reliance on a landscape-scale approach are not conducive to consistent application and would undermine the role of States and other local jurisdictions in the management of species and habitat.”

Finally, Yates called for flexibility and innovation to encourage conservation. “Assuming that FWS demonstrates the requisite statutory authority, to be successful, the Mitigation Policy must provide incentives and reduce the barriers for landowner participation. FWS must recognize voluntary conservation planning efforts that are associated with a particular species, habitat, or activity and allow such efforts to be applied as mitigation under the Mitigation Policy,” said Yates.

FWS proposed the changes to the Mitigation Policy earlier this year in response to directives from the President and the Secretary of the Interior. NESARC’s written comments on the proposed changes may be found on the Coalition’s website at http://nesarc.org/nesarc-files-comments-onproposed-changes-to-fws-mitigation-policy.

Earlier this month, the agency published a draft Endangered Species Act Compensatory Mitigation Policy (CMP). According to Yates, “the CMP contains many of the same issues and deficiencies that are inherent in the general Mitigation Policy.” NESARC is still reviewing the proposed CMP in order to submit comments and is awaiting FWS’s response to its request for an extension of the comment period.

NESARC is the country’s oldest broad-based, national coalition dedicated solely to achieving improvements to the ESA and its implementation. The Coalition includes agricultural interests, cities and counties, commercial real estate developers, conservationists, electric utilities, energy producers, farmers, forest product companies, home builders, landowners, oil and gas companies, ranchers, water and irrigation districts, and other businesses and individuals throughout the United States.

The National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition (NESARC) expressed frustration with the most recent announcement that the environmental community intends to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in an effort to drive the listing of hundreds of additional species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This week’s “notice of intent” to sue the Federal government calls for listing decisions on 417 species for which petitions have been filed with FWS, which, if pursued, would be one of the largest ESA lawsuits in the statute’s 43 year existence.

“Environmental groups continue to use the courts to drive listings under the ESA to serve a narrow and radical agenda,” said NESARC Chairman Ryan Yates. “By continuing to employ ‘sue and settle’ practices, these organizations are forcing the Federal government to expend limited resources that otherwise could be directed toward the recovery of listed species and the pre-listing conservation of candidate species and species-at-risk,” said Yates.

This week’s announcement is reminiscent of the “mega-listing” litigation that was filed in 2010 to force listing decisions on 251 candidate species, as well as hundreds of other species determinations and designations of critical habitat. The outcome was an unprecedented settlement agreement in 2011 between FWS and several environmental groups, which set the stage for a 20% increase in listed species in the five years following agreement on the settlement.

“The Coalition fundamentally disagrees with the use of litigation to drive FWS species listing decisions. Litigation should be a last line of defense and not the first course of action,” said Yates.

NESARC contends that the uptick in litigation signals more significant flaws with the law itself that must be addressed by Congress. Specifically, the ESA requires that FWS — or the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for most marine species — make a finding within 90 days of receiving a petition as to whether or not there is “substantial information” indicating that the petitioned listing may be warranted. If this preliminary finding is positive, a 12-month status review is conducted. FWS must make a further finding that the listing either is or is not warranted within one year of receipt of the petition.

NESARC has long argued that these statutory deadlines are far too short, especially given the significant increase in petitions received by FWS and NMFS over the last decade. Missed deadlines account for the much of the litigation that ultimately drains limited resources that should be used for promoting species conservation and recovery.

“This latest action once again highlights the long overdue need for Congressional action to improve the ESA. Statutory and regulatory flaws need to be addressed through legislative reform to prevent unnecessary litigation and ensure that species recovery is primary objective of the ESA,” Yates said.

NESARC is the country’s oldest broad-based, national coalition dedicated solely to achieving improvements to the ESA and its implementation. The Coalition includes agricultural interests, cities and counties, commercial real estate developers, conservationists, electric utilities, energy producers, farmers, forest product companies, home builders, landowners, oil and gas companies, ranchers, water and irrigation districts, and other businesses and individuals throughout the United States.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA) implements four treaties that provide for international protection of migratory birds. Read about it’s impact on co-ops, NRECA’s position and the status of the issue.

Migratory Bird Treaty Act Fact Sheet (PDF)