The following article appeared in the June issue of Rural Missouri

Let's Talk!
Co-op leaders take their case to Congress
at annual NRECA Legislative Conference

by Jim McCarty

AMEC Executive Vice President Barry Hart thanks Sens. Kit Bond and Jim Talent for their support on legislative issues crucial to the electric co-op program during congressional visits as part of the 2006 NRECA Legislative Conference in May.

When nearly 3,000 electric co-op managers, directors and key staff arrived in Washington, D.C., for the annual National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Legislative Conference, their timing could not have been better. The issues these rural people needed to discuss with their legislators were being debated during the three days in May the conference took place.

“I think what you are going to find is just how timely your visit is to Washington, D.C.,” Ted Case, NRECA’s director of legislative advocacy, told the group, which included 47 delegates from Missouri. “Right now members of Congress are making up their minds on these key issues. It’s important you are here.”

It’s been said that electric cooperatives were born in politics, and they will die that way if attention is not paid to legislative matters. For this reason the annual Legislative Conference has become an important way for electric cooperatives to share with their elected officials not only the issues that keep rates low for members, but also matters of general importance to rural people.

The gathering also provided an opportunity to recognize Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, who was presented with NRECA’s Distinguished Service Award for her work on behalf of rural people. Emerson led the rural caucus when she took over the job of representing southeast Missouri.

Electric co-op leaders from southeast and south-central Missouri visit with Rep. Jo Ann Emerson in her Washington, D.C. office. During the Legislative Conference Rep. Emerson received NRECA's Distinguished Service Award for her tireless support of rural America..

“I can’t tell you how proud we were as Missourians to see our representative, Jo Ann Emerson, get this award,” says Barry Hart, CEO of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. “She has consistently fought for the rights of rural America. This award recognizes her dedication to rural causes.”

Despite the praise directed at her by a thankful group of electric cooperative leaders, Emerson gave credit for her success to those working back home. “I want to thank you for the tremendous difference you make in people’s lives all across America,” she says. “I will take this award in your honor, knowing that your leadership and the work that you all do every single day not only help rural America have a level playing field energy-wise, but also for everything you do in regard to communities, economic development and trying to lift up our young people.”

For Missouri’s delegates to the conference, the task of calling on Congress was easy. The state’s entire congressional delegation supports the electric cooperative program and already were backing the key issues stressed at the conference.

“Missouri’s co-ops have such a good relationship with lawmakers,” says Gene Dorrel, manager of United Electric Cooperative and chairman of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives Legislative Committee. “I think that is because all of Missouri’s managers and staff and board members get involved in the political process. They may not always vote with us, but at least they listen to our opinions, and if they don’t agree, they tell us why.”

For the first time in nine years, the conference attendees did not have to deal with a national energy bill. That issue was settled last year with many provisions helping electric cooperatives fulfill their mission to provide a reliable supply of power at the lowest possible cost.

The 47-member Missouri delegation to the 2006 NRECA Legislative Conference included managers, directors and employees of electric cooperatives and members of the staff of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives.

“We have put that behind us,” Glenn English, CEO of NRECA, told the group. “We have different issues before us now, challenges that could keep us from doing our job of supplying energy.”

The participants were asked to concentrate on several key topics in their visits. These included:

• Rural Utilities Service funding. Loans made to electric co-ops from this federal agency will finance the next round of power plants. An additional $2 billion in loan funds is being sought.

• Pension reform. Cooperatives are seeking an exemption from changes in pension regulations that would cost millions of dollars each year.

• Clean renewable energy bonds. These bonds offer incentives to help co-ops get into renewable energy projects.

• Power Marketing Adminstrations. Cooperatives are fighting a move by the Office of Management and Budget that would raise rates and bypass congressional oversight on federal hydropower projects.

For the Missouri delegation, the conference offered an opportunity to say thanks to the lawmakers who supported the co-op cause, recognizing that non-profit electric cooperatives are different than other segments of the electric utility industry.

“They worked so long and hard on that energy bill; they really deserved a big thank you,” says Dorrel.

Members of the Missouri delegation from western Missouri meet with Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, whose Kansas City area district includes few electric cooperative members. Even urban legislators like Cleaver were supportive of the cooperatives' positions.

Following an opening session that immersed them in the issues, conference attendees split into groups and headed to Capitol Hill. Sens. Kit Bond and Jim Talent met with all of the Missourians in a group session. Smaller groups headed off to meet with their representatives.

“The meeting with both senators gave us the opportunity to thank them for supporting electric cooperative positions in the energy bill passed in the last congressional session,” Hart says.

Urban members of the Missouri delegation were not ignored. “These urban folks have us outnumbered and they can sway a vote on an important issue,” Dorrel says. “If they don’t have an idea of what co-op folks are all about, we need to help them learn we are an organization they can trust.”

He says Rep. Lacy Clay, who represents St. Louis, and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, from Kansas City, were both familiar with the work of the electric cooperatives from past visits. Cleaver expressed interest in visiting Missouri’s wind energy project that will supply power to co-op members.

When NRECA’s legislative team looks for help in support or opposition to an issue of importance to rural people, they often ask one of the our state’s legislators for leadership. That confidence reflects well on the grassroots efforts of Missouri’s electric cooperatives.

May 23, 2006
For more information, contact:
Jim McCarty, (573) 659-3402
jmccarty@amec.coop