News

4/6/2009

Running Out of Time

Imagine you are running. The path ahead is narrow, closed in by a dense forest all around. But you have plenty of room and the sky above is blue, the air fresh and cool. It feels good to be running.  Then, suddenly, you notice someone running beside you. You look back and see several more people gaining on you.  So you run faster. But, soon, there are many more runners, closing in around you, hundreds in number now, all running with you down that narrow path.  You can feel the crowd closing on all sides, hear the cries of others as they stumble and fall. The path has become too constricting, the runners too many. You try to run faster but your legs falter and, suddenly, you are out of breath. The race, it seems, is lost.  And you didn’t even know you were in a race at all. But you are.

All Americans are running a race, today—for electricity. After decades of a supply that has exceeded our needs, soon we will find ourselves running short — short on power generation, short on transmission lines to carry the power, short on the ability to provide the energy we rely on to do
our jobs, light our homes, communicate with our neighbors and cook our food. Providing the electricity we will need in the coming years is a race we all have a stake in, especially here in the countryside. And it is one we cannot afford to lose.

The demand for electricity continues to grow. In rural America, the growth is projected to be more than twice as much as in other areas. And it is here where the cost to deliver power is greatest, where there are fewer than seven families connected to a mile of wire, compared to nearly 50 in the city. Out here, small coops are the vital link that powers our homes and our factories and the farms and ranches that are the backbone of our way of life.

Rural electric cooperatives provide power to an area that covers 74 percent of the land in the U.S. and yet they serve only 12 percent of our citizens. For 70 years they have brought electric power to people and places no other utilities  would.  America’s countryside is also home to those places that hold the greatest promise for sources of renewable energy. It is in rural areas, too, where the new corridors lie that will be needed to carry the energy generated from wind and solar to the places where it is used. No one has a greater stake in our nation’s energy future than those of us living in the small towns and farms and ranches farthest from the seats of government where that future is being decided. But we do have a voice.

Those of us living in the countryside, outside the sprawling city limits, must play a part in molding the policies that will guide our energy future in the coming years. Our elected officials, legislators and Congressional representatives, governors and senators and council members and Commissioners, must take the time to craft a plan that will provide for reliable power at an affordable price as we move forward. Research into the development of alternative energy and new technology must be vigorously supported by government and industry as partners. Despite all the clamor about green power, federal spending on energy research is less than 20 percent of what it was in the 1980s. The excess generating capacity we once enjoyed is dwindling and the high voltage transmission lines to carry it are reaching capacity.

Rural citizens must speak to their representatives, call them or write to them, and urge them to give these matters serious, deliberate consideration. We must also act responsibly and do what we can to conserve electricity. It is estimated that the average home can improve energy efficiency by 32 percent with simple weatherization and insulation improvements. Most electric coops,including Harrison REMC, have programs to help home owners conserve power and reduce their energy consumption. Harrison REMC also offers rebate programs and other incentives to help pay for improvements. To find out more about energy conservation programs, please give the REMC  a call at 812 738- 4115 or 812 951- 2323 or visit its website www.harrisonremc.com. You can find out how to contact your elected officials on the website or at www.ourenergy.coop.

As a member of an electric cooperative, you have a personal stake in the success of America’s energy future. Just as those folks did when REA’s first brought power to the countryside, if we all pull together we will win the race for a brighter future.

This article by Ric Soulen of Poudre Valley REA in Colorado appeared in the Colorado newsletter.
 

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