Along Those Lines
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's podcast is focused on the important stories from across co-op country about the issues that matter most to rural America and the energy industry.
Episodes
Cybersecurity incidents involving the systems and data of third-party vendors are on the rise for utilities in the U.S. It's a worrying trend that has directly impacted electric co-ops, and industry cyber professionals are working hard to counteract it. In this episode, NRECA's Carter Manucy discusses what co-ops are doing to enhance security and mitigate th...
East Kentucky Power Cooperative's Tony Campbell joined President Donald Trump for a White House ceremony on April 8 to sign four major actions to boost power reliability and affordability. Campbell’s invitation to speak at this event is a high-profile recognition of the role that co-ops have played in shaping the national conversation about grid reliability. Hea...
Earlier this month, Mike Partin was elected president of NRECA at the PowerXchange conference in Atlanta. Partin has been CEO of Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative in central Tennessee since 2015. He joined the co-op in 1998 and has represented Tennessee on the NRECA board of directors since 2019. Hear from Partin about his thoughts on leadership, what the future looks like for electric cooperatives and what specific things he’l...
The 2024 elections were pivotal for policies affecting electric co-ops. President Donald Trump’s victory and Republicans’ majorities in Congress could bring major changes to environmental rules, permitting requirements, funding programs and tax incentives that touch on co-ops’ daily operations. Hear from NRECA's Louis Finkel about what those changes could be and what they mean for co-ops, as well as how co-op ...
NRECA's annual gathering of members is a critical touchpoint for co-ops and a place to exchange ideas and stay connected. 2025 PowerXchange and TechAdvantage come amid a period of unprecedented disruption—soaring demand from data centers and other load drivers, shrinking supply caused by misguided federal and state policies, and increasing changes in co-op leadership and work cu...
The Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan was shut down in 2022 but is on a path to be repowered by late next year—an unprecedented project that wouldn't be possible without the involvement of the two Midwestern generation and transmission cooperatives that signed long-term agreements to purchase power from the plant. Hear from Wolverine Power Cooperative's Eric Baker and Hoosier ...
Electric co-ops in the Southeast grappled with unprecedented damage from back-to-back hurricanes this fall, with Helene and Milton making landfall just a couple of weeks apart. This month, we hear from the CEOs of two of the many electric cooperatives impacted by these storms to talk about their preparation, response and recovery: Matt Stanley of Laurens Electric Cooperative in ...
Electric co-ops have always been energy innovation leaders, but a surge in public funding is taking that to the next level. The Inflation Reduction A...
Artificial intelligence, with its remarkable ability to digest and analyze enormous amounts of data, has nearly limitless positive applications for utilities. But it could be used just as effectively as a malicious tool by hackers and scammers. Co-ops are moving cautiously with AI, finding ways to safely implement new, enhanced systems while marginalizing tools that could increase cyber risk. Learn more from NR...
Nestled along the upper Mississippi River and surrounded by farms and villages tucked into rolling hills, the town of Galena, Illinois, has charm to spare and regularly ranks among the country’s top small towns to visit. Now, with the coming of high-speed internet, Galena is seeing a surge not only in tourism but in new...
Scams that target electric utility consumers have been around for almost as long as the industry itself, with criminals using the latest technologies over the years to defraud victims. Electric co-ops have a unique advantage in combating scams, being locally owned, community focused and eager to share information with one another. Learn more from Monica Martinez of Utilities United Ag...
The 2024 hurricane season could be especially challenging for electric co-ops and their members. NOAA is predicting above-normal Atlantic hurricane activity with up to ...
The EPA recently finalized its new rule to aggressively cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants—a sweeping move that NRECA CEO Jim Matheson called “unlawful, unrealistic and unachievable." Critics across the industry have decried the regulation as a threat to reliability at a time when an already-stress...
In 2021, Branden Bauer was working at United Electric in Pennsylvania as a journeyman lineman with nearly 10 years of experience. During a system improvement project, he made contact with a live conductor that he'd mistakenly thought was a neutral and suffered devastating injuries. Hear from Branden and his wife, Caitlin, about how he's made a mission of telling his story in the ho...
A long-simmering dispute over the Lower Snake River dams burst onto the headlines in November with news of a backroom deal between the Biden administration and plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Bonneville Power Administration and other agencies that manage the dams. The deal has raised fears about the possibility of breaching the dams and ...
The electric utility industry is in the midst of a “skills and people shortage,” brought on by a steady stream of senior leaders reaching retirement age, a marked increase in non-retirement turnover and an evolution toward more advanced technologies that’s making it more difficult to find qualified employees. Electric co-ops are responding with creative initiatives on succession planning and employee developmen...
Artificial intelligence is poised to have a rapidly expanding impact on many facets of our lives—and the power industry is at the tip of the spear. How are electric co-ops already using AI, and how will it shape and change the way we approach operations, member services and our workplace culture in the years to come? Hear from Mike Walsh, a futurist, author and the founder and CEO of the consulting firm Tomorro...
The Achieving Cooperative Community Equitable Solar Sources (ACCESS) project, a three-year, Department of Energy-funded effort in which electric co-ops have worked on innovative ways to bring the benefits of solar power to their low- and moderate-income members, is winding down at the end of the year. Learn more about...
A key piece of the broadband puzzle is the “middle mile,” which connects local networks to the broader web—a particularly critical facet for rural areas. Many electric co-ops in the broadband space are finding it difficult to access reliable, affordable third-party middle-mile networks, and some are starting to take matters into their own hands. Learn more from NRECA’s
The Commitment to Zero Contacts program, a joint effort of NRECA, Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange and statewide co-op associations to eliminate injuries and deaths caused by accidental electrical contacts, hit its five-year mark earlier this year. Phase 2 of the program includes a VR training kit that’s being rolled out to statewide associations across the country. Learn more from NRECA's Bud Branham, Federated's Corey ...
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