NASHVILLE, Tenn.—NRECA President Mike Partin urged electric cooperative leaders to “ride for the brand” by leading with steadiness, discipline, integrity and “an unwavering commitment to the people we serve.”

“Riding for the brand is an old ranching term,” Partin, the president and CEO of Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative in Tennessee, told co-op CEOs and directors Tuesday during the second general session at NRECA PowerXchange. “Every ranch had a brand burned into the hide of its cattle. But the brand meant more than ownership. It meant reputation. It meant integrity. It meant trust.

“And when a cowboy said he would ride for the brand, he was saying: I will protect this outfit. I will defend its reputation. I will work as hard as it takes. I will put the mission ahead of myself.”

For electric co-ops, the brand began nearly a century ago, he said.

“In the 1930s, when investor-owned utilities looked at rural America and said, ‘Too far, too expensive, not profitable,’ farmers and ranchers and community leaders said something different. They said, ‘If no one else will do it, we will.’”

And because of them, Partin said, “42 million Americans flip a switch today and expect the light to come on.”

Today, co-ops “are living through one of the most transformational periods in the history of the electric industry,” he said.

“Historic load growth. Data centers rising across our territories. Advanced manufacturing reshoring to rural America. Artificial intelligence accelerating demand. Electric vehicles multiplying. Demand is not creeping up, it is surging.”

Co-ops must “lead with steadiness in uncertain times,” Partin said.

“Defend reliability with clarity and conviction. Protect local governance with confidence. And treat one another with respect, because unity is our strength.”

“The next chapter of this industry will not be written for us,” he continued. “It will be written by us. By the investments we make. By the reliability we protect. By the trust we earn. And by the leadership we show when it matters most.”