NRECA is challenging a U.S. Postal Service proposal that would further raise mail delivery prices in the coming years, saying the plan “would harm not only America’s electric cooperatives but also the 42 million Americans they serve.”
The proposal follows other recent postage rate increases that “are forcing our members to make difficult decisions about whether and to what extent to continue mail service for myriad services they utilize, most notably the cooperative magazines,” NRECA Regulatory Affairs Director Stephanie Crawford said in a March 2 letter to the Postal Regulatory Commission.
The proposal calls for either removing a price cap on the Postal Service’s rate authority or allowing a 22% rate increase over five years.
NRECA asked the commission to reject the petition, saying it would have “a significant, negative impact on America’s electric cooperatives and more broadly on rural America.”
Electric co-ops rely on mail for a variety of important communications, including sending bills to consumer-members and distributing co-op magazines in 42 states. Co-op mail contains critical information for members, such as notices of annual meetings and director elections, information on how to wisely use energy and participate in co-op programs, and planned maintenance that may impact electric service.
More broadly, co-op members use mail for a range of other essential purposes, from receiving medication to getting equipment for their businesses.
But the Postal Service’s proposal would compound pressure from other recent rate increases and service changes affecting rural America, including the termination of evening mail service for post offices more than 50 miles from designated regional processing distribution centers.
In its March 2 letter, NRECA explained that co-op members bear disproportionate harm from mail rate increases and postal service changes. Electric co-ops serve 92% of persistent poverty counties in the U.S., and any postage rate increases for co-ops are ultimately borne by consumer-members.
“These members at the end of the line should not be forced to endure slower mail service … on top of shouldering increased postal rates imposed on their electric cooperatives,” Crawford said.
The Statewide Editors Association, which represents 32 electric co-op statewide magazines that reach nearly 20 million readers monthly, also asked the commission to reject the Postal Service’s petition.
The SEA said circulation among its magazines has dropped by 3.6 million copies annually, or about 300,000 per month, since the Postal Service’s July 2025 rate increase.
“This reduction is directly related to postage increases, as our cooperatives continue to face the challenge of increased operating costs, tariffs and energy prices, and must make cuts to ensure electricity is kept as affordable as possible,” SEA said in its letter to the Postal Regulatory Commission. “It goes without saying that these cuts are hurting member engagement at a time when being informed is essential and many members will be disenfranchised.”
The group said many of its members lack access to the internet or find it unaffordable, making their magazines “a vital source of news and information to rural America, which is rapidly becoming a ‘news desert.’”
But rising postage rates mean many statewide magazines “have no choice other than to make drastic changes to control cost,” from reducing the number of pages due to postal penalties on advertising to cutting the frequency of printed magazines.
“We urge the commission to consider the impact the magnitude of USPS price increases have on organizations such as ours in considering proposals for changing the USPS rate system,” the group’s letter stated.
Molly Christian is a staff writer for NRECA.