Legislative conference assembles and amplifies our collective voice

MAY 8, 2019

Last week we joined our cooperative colleagues in Washington, D.C. for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Legislative Conference, where we connected with electric cooperatives from around the country and engaged with our legislators to share our co-op story, the issues we face and the value we add as member-owned electricity providers.

Throughout the week, I was struck by this enduring value of the cooperative model. Our own Tri-State members bring diverse views and opinions to the table, and each month our board gathers together to reconcile these differences and make decisions that keep the lights on at home. We face challenges in this industry, and costs and expectations that can sometimes be difficult to balance. But together, we can turn these challenges into opportunities. We never turn away from our core mission of delivering reliable, affordable and responsible power to our members and their members at the end of the line.

The legislative conference in D.C. was like a 2,000-person version of our own 43-member board. This national delegation brought its own array of views from across the country, but we always come together around the same core belief in the value of the cooperative model and the work we do to serve our member communities. In D.C., we gathered together with our cooperative colleagues to make our collective voice heard, to share our genuine connection to our communities and to advocate on their behalf.

We thank our Senators and Representatives and their staff for warmly welcoming us to their offices and listening to our concerns. We also thank our statewide cooperative organizations for their outstanding work to organize the events.

For those of you who attended to represent your co-ops, thank you. It truly makes a difference to our elected officials when they see that their constituents care enough to travel to D.C. to see them. If you did not attend this year, consider making the trip next year. Together, our voice is stronger, intensifying our message in a way that none of us can achieve alone. United behind our common purpose, our movement becomes difficult for any lawmaker to ignore. 

At Tri-State, we’re in the quality-of-life business for the West. We, with our members, are powering communities and empowering our members to improve their lives. That belief is at the heart of what we do and who we are, and why we took our story to D.C. last week. We – and our cooperative colleagues – were there for the right reasons: working with and for our members.