Mike Partin began his two-year term as NRECA president urging electric cooperatives to embrace innovation and reject the notion of “it's good enough" as the industry undergoes major shifts driven by rising demand and explosive technology development.

“America's electric cooperatives are the drivers of innovation in the communities we serve, and we will continue leaning into that as we focus on new ideas," Partin, president and CEO of Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, told the thousands gathered at NRECA's PowerXchange and TechAdvantage.

“We can never, ever be satisfied with good is good enough. Over my presidency, I will focus on the future with an emphasis on new innovation and new ideas."

Tony Anderson, NRECA's outgoing president and former CEO of Cherryland Electric Cooperative in Grawn, Michigan, passed the gavel to Partin on the final day of PowerXchange.

Partin, whose co-op career spans 27 years, said America's electric co-ops “no longer find themselves at a simple crossroads where we must go one way or the other. We have to go in many different ways to meet the demands of a changing industry."

Co-ops, he said, must find new and innovative ways to connect with members and employees and develop a diverse, reliable power supply for the future.

“We really find ourselves and this industry in a state of transition. The sands are moving under our feet," he said. “We will meet those challenges just like we've done for 90 years."

Partin grew up on the Tennessee family farm where he lives now and shared his passion for antique tractors with a photo of himself driving a 1936 F-12 Farmall with hand crank and steel wheels. When that tractor rolled up, “guys who were following the south end of a northbound mule their whole career" probably believed that “it can't get better than this," he said.

But just as equipment evolved, Partin told the crowd, electric co-ops also will rise to the challenge as energy demand surges toward historic levels from data centers and other factors.

“As leaders of America's electric cooperatives, we can never get to that point where we say, 'It can't get any better than this,' because ladies and gentlemen, indeed it must, and it will," said Partin.
“It's going to take everything we got, all the ingenuity we bring to the table, all the innovation we bring to table, to take and propel America's electric cooperatives to the next level. We can do it. Ninety years of history has proven that we can do it."

Partin noted that the appearance at PowerXchange of new Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins just minutes before his address “proves to us that we have the connections and the ability to look to the next generation."

For example, when national internet carriers deemed the poor service that rural Americans had “was good enough," electric co-ops built and deployed broadband to give members the fastest internet available anywhere.

“We changed the landscape of our nation by being willing to embrace innovation even in the face of what appeared to an insurmountable challenge," Partin said.

“We grabbed the bull by the horns and said, 'We're going to do something that's never been done before.' We knew it was what our members needed. We weren't satisfied with good is good enough."

Partin thanked his family, his co-op staff and his board for their support and the NRECA board for their commitment during unprecedented industry changes.

He compared co-ops' position to President Teddy Roosevelt's famous quote about “the man who is actually in the arena."

“We're not afraid to try. We're not afraid to embrace innovation and new ideas. And together, we will never be satisfied with 'it can't get any better than this,'" said Partin. “I look forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with you as we move America's electric cooperatives into a new era."