Representing nearly 900 electric cooperatives serving 42 million Americans, Matheson underscored the critical need for policies that will enable co-ops to keep the lights on in their communities for generations to come.

Key priorities include:

• The urgent need to maintain existing sources of reliable power, by stopping the early retirement of power plants and protecting hydropower from the Lower Snake River dams.
• The importance of reforming permitting processes to streamline the development of energy infrastructure.
• Supporting federal programs that enhance grid resilience, cybersecurity and innovation.

In his testimony, Matheson advocated for legislative reforms to safeguard the reliability of the nation’s electric grid and highlighted the role of electric cooperatives in meeting the energy needs of rural communities. Voices for Cooperative Power will continue to educate lawmakers on smart energy policies that will keep the lights on and keep members informed on the latest ways to protect reliability. We encourage you to stay abreast of important energy issues by visiting voicesforcooperativepower.com or by following them on Facebook.

As a nation, we’re heading toward a future that depends on electricity to power more of the economy. This increased demand must be accounted for as we plan to meet tomorrow’s energy needs.

According to the North American Electric Reliability Corp., the “disorderly” retirement of existing generating assets is directly impacting reliability. The 2023 NERC summer reliability assessment recently highlighted that more of the country is at risk of blackouts than last year. As always-available assets are taken offline, they’re being replaced with less capacity, no capacity or capacity that’s intermediate and not always available. Reliability has been threatened as a result.

The current permitting process that is required to build, site and maintain electric generation and transmission infrastructure is outdated. It is a significant impediment to meeting tomorrow’s energy needs. The electrification push in this country and the retirement of existing assets shines a bright light on the impact of the permitting delays that we face as a sector. We need a more predictable process.

Supply chain delays are contributing to an unprecedented shortage of the basic machinery and grid components essential to ensuring continued reliability of the electric system. Prior to 2021, it took an average of 70 days for an electric co-op to receive a distribution transformer after placing an order.

The same order today takes an average of 340 days to fulfill—nearly five times as long. Additionally, the cost of these components has risen exponentially. These components play a key role in keeping the power on. The United States is increasingly reliant on natural gas for baseload power and as a backstop for intermittent generation sources. The availability of natural gas has been challenged by several recent extreme weather events. The extreme cold on the East Coast in December 2022 revealed severe shortages when natural gas was not available for power plants.

South River EMC advocates on your behalf with federal and state elected officials for common-sense energy policy that keeps electricity safe, reliable and affordable.

Information provided by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Voices for Cooperative Power.