Southwestern Electric Cooperative

Your Energy, Your Future

At a critical moment in the energy debate, Southwestern CEO Kerry Sloan urges members to fight for reliable affordable electricity

It seems like every time America discovers it has a crisis on its hands, our government proposes a crash program to fix it.

On occasion, a crisis pushes us to great heights—literally. In 1958, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first orbiting satellite, President Kennedy responded by committing the talent and resources America needed to put a man on the moon.

But not every crisis response has lead to a positive outcome. Many Southwestern members aren’t old enough to remember the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, or those that followed over the years to come. Each time we were hit with high prices and short supply, our leaders pledged to develop a national energy policy that would free us from foreign oil’s hold over us and our economy.

Yet every attempt to formulate a serious national energy policy crumbled under the stress of competing special interests pulling policy makers in first one direction, then another.

Today, as Congress considers various approaches to dealing with climate change, lawmakers are already hearing from many of the same special interests.

The goal of addressing greenhouse gas emissions may pose a more difficult challenge than reaching the moon. True leadership on climate change will require balancing competing goals, all of which serve the public interest. Keeping electricity affordable and reliable is just as much in the public interest as mitigating climate change.

As we race to develop technology to limit carbon dioxide, we must also demand that Americans have the energy they need, not just in their homes but also to grow the economy

Some of the legislative proposals under consideration, however, put at risk the current system that gives nearly every American access to dependable electricity. Congress needs to see the broader picture.

Each of us has a role to play in influencing this debate—a debate that will likely result in new laws on climate change soon after the new administration and Congress begin their work in 2009.

Each of us has a responsibility to make sure elected representatives remember their obligation to protect the public’s interest by ensuring we have affordable, reliable electricity.

Responsible leadership on energy and climate change means answering hard questions about the economic impact on all of us. Congress must not only examine the consequences of proposed legislation—lawmakers should engage in an honest conversation about those consequences with their constituents before taking action.

What they should not do is institute arbitrary, unrealistic emissions targets set in the distant future—when many of them will no longer hold office.

Over the next 20 years, electric utilities must increase generating capacity by 30 percent just to keep up with projected demand. The excess capacity we enjoyed for decades has been used up. At the same time that lawmakers address climate change, they need to address an impending electricity shortage, which in some parts of the country could be here as soon as 2011.

Some people say we can meet future demand through efficiency and renewable energy. Electric co-ops have had great success in those areas. We’re quickly integrating new renewable energy resources, deploying demand side management tools, increasing system efficiency, and promoting conservation and efficiency at the consumer level. But these measures, cumulatively, are a drop in the bucket.

We must remind Congress that energy efficiency alone won’t solve the climate change challenge. Nor will renewable sources of energy suffice. Today, nationally, just over 11 percent of co-op power comes from renewable sources. That percentage is growing daily, but renewables are a long way from becoming a major reliable source.

Simply put, significant reductions in carbon emissions over the long term will not happen without the same kind of massive—and expensive —investment in research and development that took Americans to the moon in 1969. Without leadership at the federal level, this investment isn’t going to happen.

Some people have proposed capping carbon emissions and letting the price of electricity rise. By letting the price rise, they argue, utilities could afford to pay for the new technology they need to meet growing demand and capture carbon.

But this approach puts the burden for mitigating climate change on those least able to pay for it. Consumers, particularly those retired or on fixed incomes, will not be able to afford electricity.

Please help us remind our representatives that the climate change debate is a debate with real consequences for real people…and that your interests must be heard and taken into account in reaching a balanced solution to this complex problem.

Here’s what you can do. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) has launched a grassroots campaign called “Our Energy, Our Future: A Dialogue with America.” It has one purpose: to encourage open discussion between electric co-op consumers and your elected officials about the challenge of keeping the lights on.

Nationally, electric cooperatives have more than 40 million members. I can’t speak to all of them. But I can speak to you. I’d like each of you to communicate with your elected officials. You can help them understand that when the ink dries on any new legislation addressing climate change, our goals of keeping electricity affordable and reliable must be the foundation upon which that legislation is built.

Please log on to the Internet and go to www.ourenergy.coop. There you’ll find three core questions to ask, as follows:

1. Experts say that our nation’s growing electricity needs will soon go well beyond what renewables, conservation and efficiency can provide. What is your plan to make sure we have the electricity we’ll need in the future?

2. What are you doing to fully fund the research required to make emissions-free electric plants an affordable reality?

3. Balancing electricity needs and environmental goals will be difficult. How much is all this going to increase my electric bill and what will you do to make it affordable?

From the Web site, you’ll also be able to send a sample letter to members of Congress recommending that they seek out a balanced solution to energy and climate change. The letter may be sent electronically or printed for regular mail.

Far too often, questions don’t get asked of or by policymakers until plans go wrong. You can help your elected officials “get it right” by having this conversation now.

If we are united and clear about what we want policy makers in Washington to do—and I believe we are—then we will be on the phone today, on the Internet tonight, sending e-mails tomorrow, or text messaging legislators every day.

We need a climate change plan that people can live with today even as they deal with the climate change issue of tomorrow.

We need a plan as carefully executed as FDR’s New Deal or JFK’s race to put a man on the moon. Public-private partnerships have worked in the past and they will again. But all efforts will require our elected officials to provide guidance and support to those charged with the heavy lifting.

To be successful, an “energy and environment” plan must be developed with the input of all parties, especially electric co-op member-consumers, and it must offer a balanced solution to climate change issues.

Anything less will be a radical departure from the goals established for cooperatives by Congress over 70 years ago and supported by the actions of each succeeding Congress over the decades.

I urge you to log on and send a message. The future of your electric bill depends on it.

Your Energy, Your Future
Current legislative proposals for curbing greenhouse gas emissions may jeopardize your access to reliable, affordable energy. Click here to protect your future.