Illinois
COMMENTRY

Deregulation sparks formation of new electric co-ops

In places as diverse as New York City and rural California people have come together recently to form electric cooperatives. The 1st Rochdale Cooperative in New York City and the California Electricity Users Cooperative will add more than half a million consumers to the already growing ranks of electric cooperatives from coast to coast. These consumers are joining a movement with a long history of success in helping consumers get critical services and in building stronger communities in which to live and work.

Glenn English

I predict that as the next few years unfold, electric cooperatives will become the consumer's bandwagon as more and more Americans rally together to defend themselves against forces in the marketplace that would exploit them.

As the electric utility industry continues to change, electric cooperatives across the country will be developing and testing new ideas and programs to help consumers benefit from changes in the marketplace. Electric cooperatives will continue their commitment to developing new technologies to improve the high level of service they already provide. And electric cooperatives will also continue their efforts to educate consumers about how changes in the energy industry will affect them. We will fight as hard as we possibly can in Washington, DC to make sure that the right kind of change is approved by our elected representatives — the kind of change that helps consumers.

On the legislative front Congress has been considering legislation recently that would repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act. If these proposals are implemented without preserving important consumer protection provisions, Congress will be leaving consumers defenseless.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, proposals that would force state legislatures to pass electric utility restructuring bills by a date certain are being looked at. No state should be forced to act before it is ready. States like Illinois, that have already passed deregulation legislation, should not be forced to change laws that address individual state issues.

Consumers have good reason to be worried about utility deregulation. In the past, Congress has passed laws deregulating airlines, the banking industry, cable television and long distance telephone service. What do we have to show for it? Newspapers and other media regularly report stories about high telephone charges and cable TV bills. Airline prices are up for many passengers, and many communities continue to see a decline in service altogether. Some reports even talk about the "broken promises" of deregulation.

Others in the electric utility business want to squeeze out those who think that providing high-quality energy services is more important than greed. They want to stamp out those who think that serving a community with affordable and reliable electricity is more important than profit.

As consumers all across the country learn more and more about the changes occurring in the electric utility industry, they are beginning to appreciate that belonging to an electric cooperative gives them a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Cooperatives give consumers a way to have a stronger voice to take advantage of the full potential a changing industry offers them.

Glenn English is the fourth chief executive officer of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). He is the chief spokesman for the nations 1,000 consumer-owned, cooperative electric utilities. Prior to assuming the NRECA post, English, served 10 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served on the House Agriculture Committee and was elected chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, and Rural Development in 1989.

4 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING DECEMBER 1998