We represent people, not profit

Following a three-year pandemic-related interruption from in-person meetings, the 2023 National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Legislative Conference resumed and boasted a full house of attendees recently in Washington, D.C. More than 2,000 electric cooperative representatives from across the country met April 16-19 to discuss a slate of critical issues with their Senators and Congressmen.

Key among electric utility concerns is maintaining a reliable electric grid amid decreasing generation plants (primarily due to base load generation plants being closed without like replacements) while simultaneously increasing demand. As Jim Matheson, CEO of NRECA, said, “Demand is going up and supply is going down, and that’s not a good trend if you want to maintain system reliability.” Without adequate base load generation coming online to offset the accelerated retirement of existing generating plants, rolling blackouts, similar to those that occurred in 13 states last December, may become more frequent in the future. Our request to Congress was to recognize that time is needed for technological development to balance adequate, reliable power supply and demand for energy. Policies should include an ‘all-energy sources’ approach to maintain reliability and affordability.

A second, and equally critical, issue involves supply chain challenges, particularly with transformers -- a fundamental component of electric systems. A report released by the American Public Power Association (APPA) in December 2022 stated, “Between 2020 and 2022, average lead times to procure distribution transformers for all voltage classes rose from about two to three months pre-2021 to about 12 months in 2022. Some utilities reported being quoted lead times of more than three years.”

Added to the pressure for needed transformers is the proposed rule from the Department of Energy (DOE) to heighten the energy-efficiency standards of transformers. If adopted, the new standard “would increase the efficiency of transformers by one-tenth of one percent by requiring the transition to a different type of steel,” and one that is “mostly foreign-sourced,” according to a November 2022 joint letter from NRECA and APPA to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Currently, there is only one domestic steel producer able to manufacture transformers under the proposed rule. We urged Congress to take actions that would help train, hire and retain workers to boost output in the sector; take action to give manufacturers confidence to invest in long-term capacity; and to reconsider the new standard from the DOE.

When it comes to Washington, D.C., our government relations team at NRECA works on a nonpartisan basis because it’s important to work with everyone who understands and supports rural America. Our national association represents 42 million rural electric members, and Congress is reminded by NRECA that their decisions affect people, especially “people at the end of the line.” As one conference speaker noted, “When we go to the Hill and advocate for electric cooperative members, we emphasize the fact that we don’t represent profit, we represent people.”