Grassroots Advocacy

About NRECA Grassroots Advocacy

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Legislative advocacy is more than just lobbying. It means taking an active role in ensuring that our cooperatives and the members we serve are protected in legislation and regulation. Through our collective efforts, we have championed the electric co-op business model and helped keep the lights on for more than 42 million member-owners. Our goal is to never stop fighting for electric co-ops.

It all starts with your participation by the electing of directors and attending your cooperative’s annual meeting followed by the resolutions process. We call that activity “grassroots” activism because you are advocating for change at the local and state level, at the “root” of the organization.

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Education and Engagement

Education

There are two equally important parts of grassroots advocacy--education and engagement. The Federal and State Legislative Issues section of Cooperative.com offers educational information about issue important issues affecting co-ops on the national level.

We encourage you to attend a Grassroots workshop to learn how to interact with legislators or to create a political game plan.

Participating in the NRECA Legislative Conference is an ideal opportunity to meet face-to-face with your members of Congress and their staff. You will receive a detailed briefing from the NRECA Government Relations’ staff so you are armed with facts for your meetings on the Hill.

Engagement

Engagement is the other key component of advocacy. Communicating with your member of congress on important issue affecting your cooperative is a great way to keep your legislators informed. We set up a website where you can do that quickly. We call it ​Voices for C​​ooperative Power​. Want to get your directors, and employees involved? Send them to Voices for Cooperative Power to send their letter to their legislators.​

America’s Electric Cooperatives PAC​ supports congressional candidates, regardless of party, who share public policy goals that are consistent with the mission of member-owned elect​​ric co-ops. In this s​ection of the site, you can find out which candidates are supported by the PAC.

Grassroots Advocacy Resources

Learn More

To learn more about NRECA Grassroots Advocacy or how you can become more involved, please contact Patrick Ahearn, Director, Political Affairs, Patrick.Ahearn@nreca.coop​, 703-907-5850.​​​​