NRECA CEO Jim Matheson made the following statement on the resignation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt:
“We expect that EPA will continue progress on issues that will protect our environment while promoting a healthy economy. Federal regulation has a significant impact on electric co-ops and small businesses throughout rural America. We hope the EPA, under the new administrator, will continue to soundly review these impacts. Future regulations should allow electric cooperatives the freedom and flexibility to provide affordable and reliable power to communities we serve while conducting our business with concern for the environment.”
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.