Next month, the American people will take to the polls to choose the next President of the United States, members of Congress, and in many cases state legislators and local officials. As electric cooperatives strive to meet our present and future energy needs, we are asking lawmakers what they’ll do to ensure that consumers continue to enjoy safe, reliable, and affordable electric power.  
Today, many policymakers and elected officials believe renewable energy, like wind, solar, and biomass (tree trimmings, farm byproducts, animal waste, and landfill gas), provide the solution to addressing climate change and establishing energy independence. But to keep the lights on and electric rates affordable, electric cooperatives will need to make use of all available generation resources, including renewables, nuclear power, and fossil fuels like coal and natural gas that use the latest environmental technology.
Our nation’s electric system, commonly referred to as the “grid,” relies on a network of power plants, transmission lines, and distribution facilities woven together in an intricate web to provide us with electricity. When a piece of this puzzle doesn’t fit or goes missing, brownouts and blackouts can occur–as many folks in the Northeast remember from August 2003, or those in the West recall twice during the summer of 1996.
Over the next 22 years, demand for electricity is predicted to increase 30 percent, and our country has used up the excess power capacity it once had available. That means we will need to build new power plants, all at a time when costs for construction materials such as steel, copper, and concrete are skyrocketing. The challenges we face are immense.
As a result, electric cooperatives are urging lawmakers to invest in technology that will allow us to help all households become more energy efficient, fast-track plans for building new transmission lines–connecting rural regions where renewable electricity is generated to the population centers where it’s consumed, cut through the red tape that prevents construction of new nuclear power plants (which emit only clean water vapor), and continue to development clean coal technology that permit the use of coal to produce electricity.   America’s coal reserve will help us keep the cost of electricity down and will provide the time for us to develop additional sources of producing electricity.
These steps will strengthen our nation’s electric infrastructure and head off an impending electric power crisis.  Even better they will help us meet our environmental goals while at the same time keeping electricity affordable and reliable.
Now’s the time to make your voice heard. In addition to casting your vote on November 4, you can also help educate and inform lawmakers about these concerns. Electric cooperatives are currently engaged in a grassroots campaign called “Our Energy, Our Future: A Dialogue With America.” Nearly 400,000 letters and e-mails have already been sent to Congress by your fellow consumers from all across the United States, each asking critical energy questions. To join the effort, visit www.ourenergy.coop.
 In partnership with the federal government, electric cooperatives met the greatest engineering challenge of the 20th century–spreading the benefits of electric power to the most remote corners of our nation. The time has come once again for Congress to step up to the plate and make certain we continue to enjoy the electric service we’ve come to expect at a price we can afford.