Industry, Trends, Reports & Analyses
Co-ops Must Be Energy Visionaries
MINNEAPOLIS—Ray Beavers was right upfront when he took to the stage at the Rates Summit here.
“I’m not an expert,” said the CEO of United Cooperative Services, Cleburne, Texas. “But I’m very passionate about the cooperative program.” And with that, the 30-year co-op veteran offered food for thought in the opening general session titled, “What is Energy Innovation and Why is it Important to Co-ops?”
“When I see challenges ahead of us like we’ve been seeing the last few years, and it’s starting to be more of a reality, I even get more passionate,” he said. “We’ve got to do something.”
Beavers said the challenges all boil down to cost, and for co-ops that means looking out for consumer-members: “Remember, we’re the good guys. We do the right things for the right reasons.”
That includes what he called “the wave of the future,” embracing renewable energy.
“Wind farms and solar—we’re going to have to be more open,” he said. “We’re going to have to be more visionary.
“We’re going to have to look at ways that we can put our arms around it and make it work best for our members.”
Already it has worked in Texas, where Beavers said in the past few months there have been many days when it was “a lot cheaper to buy wind energy than it was to power our generating plants whenever the price of gas was 10, 11 dollars.”
He acknowledged that for decades, co-op financial models have often been based on selling more power, and that some in the co-op world are concerned about telling members to use less. But he sees a solution.
“When it comes down to it,” Beavers said, “innovative rates are going to be one of the first, and probably the most basic things that we do that sort of bridge the supply side of the past and the demand side-supply side partnership of the future.”
Beavers said co-ops must take the lead on energy innovation in order to “remain in control of our own future.” And, he cautioned, “We really don’t have a choice in this matter.
“Doing nothing is not an option. We have got to establish our own course,” Beavers said. “If we don’t do it, and we don’t do it right, it’s going to be forced upon us.”
Tags: Energy Conservation, Power Rates, Renewable Energy, Trends Reports and Analyses