Electric Co-op Today

Newly elected electric co-op board members come from many walks of life, and are experts in fields ranging from accounting to ranching to timber. Along with this variety, they share one major attribute—leadership in their communities.

As they begin to work with their board colleagues, newly elected co-op directors can benefit from an orientation course offered by NRECA. (Photo By: NRECA)

Well, two attributes, perhaps. Many newly minted directors are not yet fully conversant with the fundamentals of the cooperative business model and how electric co-ops differ from other utilities. Many could use a fuller understanding of the basic roles and responsibilities of the director position they are about to assume, as well.

Enter NRECA. The association has launched an online program covering all of this information, and more. The program, Orientation for New Directors, is available to registered users of cooperative.com.

The orientation program contains three modules, corresponding to three areas of knowledge:

• “What is a Cooperative?” This section discusses the almost 30,000 cooperatives in the United States, which employ about 2 million people and pay some $75 billion annually in wages and benefits.
• “What’s Special about Electric Co-ops?” This section discusses how the nation’s electric co-ops came into being, how they’re different from other electric service providers and how the roles of distribution co-ops differ from those of their G&T counterparts.
• “What Does the Co-op Board Do?” This section focuses on directors’ fundamental duty of prudently representing the interests of the members as a group in directing and overseeing the business and affairs of the cooperative within the law. It also discusses the board’s functions and the board/CEO partnership.

The introductory program takes approximately 30 minutes to complete, and can be stopped and started again at any time. “The program is available 24/7, whenever it’s convenient for directors to use it,” noted Diane Rhodes-Michaely, NRECA director of learning strategies.

The orientation also includes a help link to guide directors in using the program, she added, and a resources link providing access to additional detail about some of the key concepts discussed.

To access Orientation for New Directors, new co-op directors will need a cooperative.com username and password. For help with setting them up, directors can call the cooperative.com help desk toll-free at 1-877-766-3226.

For further details about the orientation program, e-mail Rhodes-Michaely at diane.rhodes-michaely@nreca.coop.

Tags: Co-op News, Education and Training