Electric Co-op Today

They have plenty of guns, but do not yet produce enough food to feed a rapidly growing population. They live in a country the size of France, but there’s only 62.1 miles of paved roads. They are still overcoming a sense of being under constant siege after living in a country torn apart by 50 years of civil wars.

Possibly one of the first women lineworkers in South Sudan (at left) poses with a friend during the country’s first independence day. (Photo By: Bob Dalton)

And soon, residents of three villages in South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, might be without the help of NRECA International as they struggle to bring electricity through the cooperative model to one of the least developed countries on Earth.

On Sept, 30 a three-year grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to the government of South Sudan to develop electric systems is set to expire. NRECA International used the grant to help the South Sudanese overcome significant obstacles in the pursuit of reliable electric service.

A TOUGH PLACE

“In my 25 years of working on rural electrification, South Sudan is the most challenging country I’ve ever worked in,” said Dan Waddle, senior vice president of NRECA International.

“Our team was forced to not only build electric distribution networks, but also power houses, utility offices and residences,” said Waddle, who’s worked for NRECA International on projects in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East.

“Work crews couldn’t do a full day’s work because they were malnourished. So we had to make sure they had enough to eat.”

NRECA International would like USAID to extend the grant but given the federal funding climate that is uncertain. An extension would give it more time to train local administrative staff and lineworkers and to solidify the gains they’ve accomplished in South Sudan, which marked its official independence from northern neighbor Sudan in July.

“In retrospect, three years is not a long time to design, order materials, build an [electrical] system, warehouse, office, and to train all of the workers to build and operate these systems,” said Bob Dalton, an electrification engineer in Maridi, one of the three towns receiving NRECA technical assistance.

CLOSING THE GAP

Regardless of the USAID’s decision, NRECA International can point to a proud record of accomplishment that’s helped to narrow the tremendous gap between the electricity haves and have-nots. Currently, less than 2 percent of a population of eight million have access to commercial electric power.

With significant participation of each community, NRECA International built from scratch self-sustaining, consumer-owned electric utilities in three “market” towns on the southern borders of Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Together, the three utilities serve 1,630 residents, businesses and organizations.

NRECA volunteer Jerry Rodgers gives on-the-job training on a de-energized line to a lineman in Kapoeta, South Sudan. (Photo By: NRECA International)

NRECA International hired and trained dozens of South Sudanese to manage the facilities, and, today, they connect new customers, read meters, climb poles, fix outages, do the books, operate the generators and handle customer questions. And, like U.S. electric co-ops, each utility is governed by a community-elected board of directors.

Jerry Rodgers volunteered in all three towns, often for a month at a time. Rodgers, a retired lineworker from Lane Electric Co-op, Eugene, Ore., said he was amazed “at what is possible to get done in such a remote place with so little equipment.

“To see the pride in the work and the determination to do whatever it takes to get the job done, has been one of the reasons I wanted to return to South Sudan and do what I could to help them.”

Each utility has a generation plant with multiple 400-kilowatt generators, each serving about 32 miles of medium- and low-voltage distribution lines. Yei Electric Cooperative (YECO), which began commercial operations in 2006, is the oldest utility and is South Sudan’s first rural electric cooperative, according to NRECA International officials. It serves about 1,200 customers but it likely benefits about 17,000.

Kapoeta Electric Co. and Maridi Electric Co. began commercial operations in January 2011, during the same month that residents of South Sudan voted for independence.

BREAKING THE MOLD

The project’s successes also go beyond bricks and mortar achievements. NRECA employees say that one of their proudest accomplishments is building capacity in an unskilled labor force—some of whom are refugees and ex-guerrilla fighters—the idea they transform themselves from a community in conflict to one that can direct its own social and economic future.

A country the size of France, the new nation of South Sudan has only 62.1 miles of paved roads. (Photo By: NRECA International)

“Each of these three local communities directly participate in providing desperately needed infrastructure through the efforts of their own sons and daughters, beginning as an unskilled labor pool but resulting in trained utility managers, administrators, commercial specialists, lineworkers and power plant operators,” said Waddle.

“As a manager, I look at the people on staff, who can now climb poles, print bills, manage assets and keep these utilities working,” said Dalton, who noted that he’s had the “privilege” of training what he thinks is the first woman lineworker in East Africa.

“She’s cute, strong and one of our best linehands,” he said. “If she had more than a third-grade education, she would be the first choice for crew chief. It is really a sight to see her tear into the guys when they make mistakes or slack off.”

A central feature of the South Sudan project, much like the legacy of NRECA in other countries, has been to ensure that local leadership buys into the electric system and wants to govern it, said Waddle.

The goal is to achieve a “seamless process between the community and its participation in the project, to make sure there’s community input and decision-making,” said Waddle.

Towards this end, the NRECA International Foundation has played a pivotal role in providing board and management training in the case of YECO as well as to other participants from South Sudanese institutions.

That capacity-building approach will be instrumental in keeping the three co-ops humming after NRECA leaves. “If you can build diverse capacity and resources into the people on site, it works out better,” said Francis Mills, an electrification engineer who’s worked full-time in Kapoeta since 2009. “It’s like having a car in good shape.”

TYING LOOSE ENDS

Meanwhile, Mills, Dalton, Rodgers and other NRECA International staff in South Sudan are in wind-down mode, making sure as best they can the legacy of power and self-help they helped create survives.

“It’s a race to the finish line, making sure that everything gets done before the contract expires,” said Mills. “We’re trying to set up warehouse operations in Kapoeta, trying to build power lines and put the finishing touches on the power station, just trying to make sure all the keys, locks and rules—all the mundane details—are taken care of so that people can get their jobs done efficiently.”

NRECA has requested additional financial support from USAID for ongoing assistance to the management and staff of the three fledgling utilities. While it’s still too early to determine whether USAID can afford to continue activities in South Sudan, the needs in these three towns, and elsewhere, are enormous, said Waddle.

“It will take several decades to achieve significant electric coverage in South Sudan, but the model that has been established in Yei and replicated in Kapoeta and Maridi has demonstrated that with guidance and training, local Sudanese communities are able to support themselves.”

Tags: International