PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island—Electric cooperatives must keep investing in people, infrastructure and new ideas to get stronger and better, NRECA President Mike Partin said at the first of the 2025 Regional Meetings.

Co-ops have a nearly century-long tradition of serving rural communities and helping each other. Progress means honoring that tradition while embracing change, according to Partin.

“We've got one foot back here in our history,” Partin said Sept. 4 at the Regions 1&4 Meeting. “But we also need to have that one foot that's also into being a little more edgy, being a little more out there, being a little more innovative in our approach.”

Luckily, co-ops are surrounded by opportunities to innovate so they can meet both their own needs and those of consumer-members, he said.

Partin, who lives on his family’s cattle farm, compared the principles of farming to those for co-ops, where “you get out of it what you put into it.”

“Whether it's grid modernization, whether it's broadband expansion [or] new energy technologies, the future is ours to shape,” he told the audience. “The more we invest in our people, the more we invest in our infrastructure, the better we become. The more we invest in new ideas, the … stronger we become.”

NRECA can be a partner in that change, according to Partin, with a Beltway research firm naming the association the most respected and effective trade organization in Washington, D.C., for the third year in a row.

“At the end of the day, our message must be, we are stronger together,” he said. “We can't be on an island by ourselves.”

Partin, who is also president and CEO of Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative, gave examples of how co-ops help each other, such as when South Pittsburg, Tennessee-based SVEC sent crews to Virginia after a winter storm.

Co-ops also help the communities they serve beyond providing electricity and broadband.

Partin highlighted SVEC’s workforce development efforts and grants for local classrooms, including a partnership with the state of Tennessee to form an after-school training program for trade jobs. He also pointed to North Carolina co-ops and employees generating over $300,000 to support communities affected by Hurricane Helene last year.

As NRECA president, Partin said he will support co-ops as they help each other and communities thrive.

“That's what separates us from everybody else,” he said. “Those are the principles that guide us, that make us different. And we're stronger because we work together every day, not just on annual meeting day … not just when it's customer appreciation day. We do it every day.”