NRECA’s Straight Talk
Editorial/Leadership Column
A solid investment in your electric co-op
By Anne Prince
As a member of Blachly-Lane Electric Cooperative, you make an investment in the co-op every time you pay your bill. This collective investment in the co-op benefits you and the community immediately and over time. So what exactly is this monthly investment, and how do you benefit from it?
The electric system charge is a monthly investment that helps your co-op cover the expenses of maintaining the overall electric system. Combatting cyber security threats and maintaining poles, wires, substations, and co-op equipment takes strategic planning and significant resources. The electric system charge essentially ensures that all equipment operates properly, and staff is trained and ready so the lights turn on when you need them.
Regardless of how much electricity a particular family uses, the cost of delivering power to that house is the same. As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, we believe the operational costs should be spread fairly and equitably across all of our members, regardless of the level of electricity use. That is why every member pays the electric system charge each month to cover basic operational costs. All members are charged the same amount for the cost of operation by rate class, since all members benefit from the same service. In essence, this gives each co-op member an equal share in Blachly-Lane Electric Cooperative’s operation.
Your monthly investment ensures you have access to safe, reliable, and affordable power when you need it. We appreciate and value the investment that you make in the co-op each month, and we strive to use that investment wisely for the benefit of all members of our community.
Anne Prince writes on consumer and cooperative affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Arlington, Va.-based service arm of the nation’s 900-plus consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperatives.