SAN ANTONIO, Texas—Electric cooperatives must work together to make progress and keep the lights on for members who depend on them, NRECA President Tony Anderson told co-op leaders at the 2024 PowerXchange.

“We all have different personalities in our network and even in our boardrooms, but we all work as one to make decisions that drive co-ops forward,” Anderson said. “Our co-ops are stronger together. We have to keep showing up for each other and do the hard work if we want to have a positive impact and get things done.”

NRECA is an example of “getting up and going to work before anyone else,” he said.

“Our association fights long and hard battles on our behalf,” said Anderson, the retired CEO of Cherryland Electric Cooperative in Michigan.

“The proof is in NRECA’s positive reputation in Washington and successes like the $9.7 billion New ERA program, $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and passage of direct-pay tax credits for new energy technologies.”

NRECA CEO Jim Matheson has also pushed to increase nationwide safety programs for co-ops, Anderson said.

“NRECA knows that we can’t keep the lights on if we’re not doing it safely,” he said. “In partnership with Federated [Rural Electric Insurance Exchange], we will now have an annual safety summit.

“Jim Matheson and [Federated CEO] Phil Irwin could have maintained the status quo with the great safety efforts already in place. Instead, they said, ‘Great is not good enough. We need to do more. We need to be better. We need to lead on safety.’”

He said co-ops also are banding together to help employees’ families through tough times. Co-ops in 14 states have recently lost a total of 21 employees, whose deaths from a wide range of causes have left behind 44 children, he said.

“But we’ve been showing up for each other through the Cooperative Family Fund,” said Anderson, who came up with the idea for the fund that launched in 2023.

“Due to the generosity of many individuals, cooperatives, statewides and national organizations, the fund raised over $800,000 in its first year. Every one of the 44 kids has a $10,000 investment waiting for them when they turn 18.”

Co-ops have big opportunities ahead of them, including putting new federal funds to good use for their members, Anderson said.

“What we do now has big implications for the future,” he said. “We keep getting up together. We keep showing up together. We keep the lights on together.”