We’re Baaaaack
A few days after this magazine landed in your mailbox, a group of Kentucky electric co-op leaders was scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C.
Their mission? To remind elected officials about keeping your electricity reliable and affordable.
It�s an annual trip going back more than 50 years, as you see from the Time Capsule in Commonwealths.
This unusual tradition flows from the unique nature of electric co-ops.
Because electric co-op utilities are owned by their customers, co-op leaders take it personally when state or federal policy threatens the quality and cost of electric service.
The agenda for the meetings this year focuses on a deluge of federal rules that would add enormous costs to electricity generated by burning coal. That especially concerns Kentuckians since nearly all electricity generated in our state comes from coal.
Two years ago in early May, this group of co-op leaders warned Kentucky�s senators and representatives about plans to put a �cap� on carbon dioxide emissions and allow the �trade� of those industrial emission allowances on Wall Street. Those warnings helped Congress kill the plan that would have raised electricity costs.
The intent of that �cap and trade� proposal is now back in the form of increasingly restrictive and costly federal rules. But electric co-op leaders are back as well, making sure Kentucky�s elected representatives understand how action in the nation�s capital will affect co-op members back home.
Monumental memories
This month�s cover story features a different kind of journey to Washington. Honor Flights regularly carry members of the �Greatest Generation� to visit the monuments, especially the WWII Memorial. The trips are filled with the deepest kinds of memories, and heartfelt appreciation from people on every leg of the trip.
Honor Flight begins the words and pictures describing one of those flights.
The veterans on the Honor Flights and the co-op leaders delivering a message about electricity all went to Washington with different business in mind, but they�re both part of the American story. The co-op leaders feel free to face their government representatives�thanks to the sacrifices of people like those on the Honor Flights.
