In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with Doug Gilmore, Power Resources Manager at Flathead Electric Cooperative in Kalispell, Montana, to explore how one cooperative turned a complex challenge into an innovative opportunity.

Flathead Electric serves one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. Kalispell was recently voted the fastest-growing micropolitan city in the United States. In just five years, the cooperative added 8,300 meters while facing another challenge: members were asking to install their own solar systems and feed power back to the grid. The easy answer would have been "no."

Instead, Doug and his team asked three questions: What do our members want? How can we enable that? What guardrails do we need?

The result was a thoughtfully-designed net metering policy that balances member autonomy with system reliability. Rather than simply reacting, Flathead Electric created six key policy components that serve the cooperative's needs while giving members what they want. Flathead is proving that innovation and safety can coexist, and they now manage nearly 300 (and growing) net metering applications annually.

Featured topics:

• How to say "yes" to complexity instead of defaulting to "no"
• Net metering policy design: six components that work
• Managing the "duck curve" and the challenges of solar generation
• Time-of-use rate design and how to align incentives with system needs
• Cost-of-service analysis to ensure no rate class subsidizes another
• Economic development through smart rate structures
• The power of the cooperative network: sharing ideas across regions and states
• Working in a cooperative where membership ownership changes everything
• The challenge of rapid growth and how planning prevents problems

Doug shares how the cooperative principles of member ownership, democratic governance, and the willingness to collaborate create space for thoughtful innovation.

When you work for a utility where neighbors are members, decisions take on deeper meaning. When you're part of a network of co-ops across the country willing to share best practices, everyone gets smarter.

This is a story about embracing complexity, serving members well, and how cooperatives thrive by thinking outside the box while staying true to their core values.

The Co-Op Heroes podcast brings you real stories from electric utility operators: the people who work around the clock to keep our communities powered and served.

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with Zach Anderson, Chief Operating Officer of Wolverine Power Cooperative, to discuss one of the most significant achievements in cooperative energy history: the restart of the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station.

When Palisades entered decommissioning status, it seemed like a closed chapter. But Wolverine Power Cooperative and their partner Hoosier Energy saw something different: an unprecedented opportunity to secure carbon-free baseload power that could serve their members for decades.

What followed was a bold move that had never been successfully executed in the United States: bringing a nuclear plant that was going to be decommissioned back online.

The cooperative difference shines through this story. Unlike investor-owned utilities that must seek board approval and navigate complex profit motives, Wolverine's member-owned structure allowed leadership to move quickly and decisively. When Holtec, the plant's owner, needed three things: NRC approval, DOE loan support, and a committed power partner, Wolverine stepped up. That partnership became the catalyst for the entire project, ultimately securing long-term contracts for 100% of Palisades' output.

Featured topics:

• The history of G&T cooperatives and their role in providing reliable power supply
• How cooperatives can move faster and more decisively than traditional utilities
• The unprecedented challenge of restarting a decommissioned nuclear plant
• Creating a balanced energy portfolio: wind, solar, natural gas peakers, and baseload nuclear
• Local economic impact: $10 million annually in tax revenue and 600 six-figure jobs
• Rate stability and price competitiveness for member cooperatives
• How decarbonization and reliability work together as partners, not competitors
• State-level support behind the Palisades restart

Zach shares how Wolverine's decision to secure this abundant, carbon-free power source leaves the cooperative in its strongest position in nearly 80 years. The impact cascades through the entire cooperative network: members get price stability, clean energy, and reliability, while the state gains crucial decarbonization leadership. This is cooperation in action, where bold decisions by one G&T benefit the distribution co-ops and consumers it serves.

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, hosts Pablo Fuentes and James Tanneberger sit down with Chad Mertz, Vice President of Strategic Communications at Hoosier Energy to explore the challenge facing the entire cooperative movement: communicating with the next generation. Chad dives into the creative solution that's changing how communities understand the difference co-ops make.

Hoosier Energy is a Generation and Transmission cooperative, one of 45 G&T co-ops across the country that provide the backbone of power supply and transmission for member cooperatives like South Central Indiana REMC. When Chad joined Hoosier Energy four years ago, board members and member CEOs raised an urgent concern: younger people simply didn't understand what a cooperative was or why it mattered.

The numbers told the story. A survey revealed a stark generational divide: 93% of adults over 65 had a positive perception of co-ops, while that number dropped dramatically with each younger demographic, creating what Chad calls "a diagonal line" of declining awareness. Recruiting young talent became difficult. Events lacked young attendees. The cooperative message wasn't reaching the generations that already aligned with co-op values, whether they knew it or not.

Rather than resort to traditional advertising, Chad's team recognized something powerful: young people are naturally attracted to cooperatives because of their values: local decision-making, democratic governance, and reinvested margins instead of corporate profits. These values reflect what Gen Z and Millennials actually believe in, they just didn't know co-ops embodied those ideals.

Featured topics:

• Why younger generations are naturally aligned with cooperative principles
• The challenge of communicating co-op value in an investor-owned utility world
• Crafting authentic stories from real member communities
• Using multimedia and geo-targeting technology to reach local audiences
• How storytelling builds long-term relationships where traditional marketing falls short
• The spring campaign featuring customized videos highlighting local cooperative heroes

Discover how the cooperative movement thrives when people understand the real difference it makes, not through selling, but through authentic stories that reveal the human side of community service. This is how you bridge the gap between mission and market, between legacy and future.

The Co-Op Heroes podcast brings you real stories from electric utility operators, the people who work around the clock to power and serve our communities.

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, host Pablo Fuentes heads to the Hendricks County Fairgrounds to speak with Tommy Nance, VP of Operations at NineStar Connect, about the fourth annual Indiana Lineman Rodeo, an event born from a simple vision that has become a beacon for community for linemen across the state.

Five years ago, during the height of COVID, Tommy and fellow cooperative leaders asked themselves an important question: what if Indiana's electric cooperatives created their own space where linemen could safely showcase their skills, network with peers, and let their families finally see what they do every single day?

The result is a day of intense competition where linemen face timed challenges like: bucket truck rescues, transforming heavy equipment, and "hurt man rescue" drills. But beneath the competitions lies something deeper: the chance for families to witness the danger, precision, and brotherhood that defines this profession.

Featured topics:

• The real day-in-the-life of a lineman: 8-hour shifts plus constant on-call for storms, accidents, and emergencies
• How linemen network, compete, and push each other to be better through friendly rivalry
• The evolution of the rodeom, from bouncy castles for kids to hand-crafted trophies that honor the year and the craft
• Lessons learned year-over-year about creating meaningful community experiences
• The future vision: uniting all 38 Indiana co-ops and competing nationally

Tommy shares how the cooperative spirit thrives when linemen see each other beyond the apprenticeship classroom, and when families understand why their loved ones miss birthdays and work Christmas. This is a story about competitive excellence serving a bigger purpose: connecting the people who keep our communities powered.

You can learn more about the Indiana Lineman Rodeo at https://www.indianaec.org/safety/indiana-electric-cooperative-lineman-rodeo/

---

The Co-Op Heroes podcast brings you real stories from electric utility operators, the people who work around the clock to keep our communities safe.

In this forward-thinking episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, hosts Pablo Fuentes (CEO of Bloom Spatial) and James Tanneberger (CEO of South Central Indiana REMC) explore what makes electric cooperatives uniquely positioned to innovate and push boundaries that investor-owned utilities often cannot.

James explains how his perception of electric cooperatives completely changed when he entered the industry eight years ago. Rather than the "sleepy organizations" he imagined, he discovered dynamic institutions driven by a single mission: improve the lives of our members. This mission, combined with cooperative structure, creates unique advantages for innovation.

The cooperative innovation advantage:

• Self-governance through member-elected boards rather than regulatory oversight
• Non-profit structure allowing investment in community benefit over profit maximization
• Ability to move quickly on opportunities without lengthy regulatory approval processes
• Willingness to take calculated risks when downside is minimal but upside is transformational

Real-world examples: James shares how Indiana cooperatives transformed the state's connectivity landscape. When state leaders trusted co-ops to bridge the digital divide, 25 out of 38 utilities built fiber networks. But cooperatives didn't stop there...30 organizations connected their networks to create Accord, a regional data superhighway that moved Indiana from 32nd to top 5 nationally in connectivity. This model expanded nationally through Tapestry, now supporting 12 states.

Managing innovation risk: James outlines his approach to risk management: only pursue opportunities where the downside risk is minimal but the upside could be transformational. He shares the story of building a fiber connection to a regional hub that seemed like a modest efficiency gain but opened unexpected doors, including a partnership with Indiana's I-light network that more than paid for the entire project.

The next big opportunity: The episode reveals an emerging opportunity that could reshape rural economic development: distributed data centers. As mega data centers face community opposition due to massive power consumption (200-500 megawatts) and water usage, cooperatives have identified an alternative model. With substations typically running at 50% capacity and fiber already connecting their networks, co-ops can deploy smaller 10-megawatt data centers on 1-3 acres without water consumption or major infrastructure upgrades.

This distributed approach offers multiple benefits: it's less disruptive to communities, utilizes existing capacity, improves co-op load profiles by adding consistent daytime consumption to balance residential peaks, and positions rural America as a competitive player in the AI economy.

Key insight: James argues that for cooperatives serving heavily forested territories with reliability challenges, the greater risk is not innovating. Standing still means accepting poor reliability and high rates, while calculated innovation creates paths to better serve members.

This episode challenges the perception of cooperatives as traditional utilities and reveals them as innovation leaders tackling some of rural America's biggest infrastructure challenges.

The Co-Op Heroes podcast brings you real stories from electric utility operators: the people who work around the clock to keep our communities powered.

In this special roundtable episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with five co-op vegetation management leaders at the Trees and Utilities Show in Knoxville, Tennessee. Each person shared a story about the heroic actions and the community impact of their vegetation management team.

Featured Guests:

• Anthony Lindfors - Matanuska Electric Association (Alaska)
• Cindy Musick - Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (Virginia)
• Kevin Perkins - CORE Electric Cooperative (Colorado)
• Amanda Opp - Flathead Electric Cooperative (Montana)
• Jeff Wissing - Holy Cross Energy (Colorado)

Stories Shared:

Anthony introduces the "Hooded Llama Award," an internal recognition for crew members who go above and beyond, inspired by a Matanuska crew rescuing a llama with a feed bag stuck on its head during subzero weather.

Cindy recounts how a tree crew saved an elderly woman's life after spotting her in a ditch during a routine trim job. The crew had repositioned their bucket truck multiple times that day, and only from that specific angle could they see the barefoot woman who had wandered from her home. The story demonstrates both divine timing and the quick thinking of crews working through interpreters.

Kevin discusses the increasing volume of member calls about dead trees in Colorado, with requests jumping from 3-4 per week to 8 per day, and recognizes a utility forester on his team for his dedication to responding to every member concern.

Amanda shares the emotional story of his veg management administrator, who arrived for a scheduled appointment to find a member unconscious in his bathroom. Despite performing life-saving measures, the member did not survive, but Kyle's presence provided crucial support to the family during a difficult moment.

Jeff tells two stories: first, how his tree crew rallied around a young lineman's girlfriend after his sudden death, moving her entire household back to her family in southern Colorado; and second, about an old-school line superintendent who showed up after work to help dig footers for Jeff's father's garage.

Key Themes: The episode illustrates how vegetation management crews serve as eyes and ears in their communities, often being the first responders in emergencies simply by being present in rural areas. The stories demonstrate the cooperative difference, employees who don't just complete their assigned tasks but actively care for the communities they serve.

This roundtable format captures the collaborative spirit of the Trees and Utilities Show and the broader utility arborist community, where co-ops regularly share best practices and support one another across regional boundaries.

For more information about the Utility Arborist Association and regional events, visit uaa.org

The Co-Op Heroes podcast brings you real stories from electric utility operators, the people who work around the clock to keep our communities powered.

In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, host Pablo Fuentes sits down with Keith Taylor, Professor of Economic Development at UC Davis and self-described "People's Professor," to explore how electric cooperatives are leading innovation in rural America.

Keith shares the remarkable story of Anza Electric Cooperative in Southern California, which defied industry experts who claimed rural broadband deployment was impossible at reasonable costs. While incumbent telcos insisted it would cost $300,000 per mile to lay fiber, Anza accomplished the same task for just $30,000 per mile, a 90% cost reduction that has inspired cooperatives and community choice aggregators across the country.

Key Insights Discussed:

• How Anza Electric overcame infrastructure challenges by combining microgrid development with fiber deployment
• The concept of "public entrepreneurship" and why cooperatives fill gaps left by government and private enterprise
• Why cooperatives consistently deliver better local economic impact than investor-owned utilities
• The role of cooperatives as "classrooms and incubators of democracy"
• Emerging opportunities in distributed data centers and digital public infrastructure

Academic Perspective: Drawing from his book "Governing the Wind Energy Commons" and extensive fieldwork, Keith explains how cooperatives create community wealth, overcome political divisions, and provide stability in essential services. He discusses his research comparing cooperative-owned versus investor-owned wind farms.

Future Vision: The conversation explores Keith's work developing the Institute for Cooperative and Civic Innovation at UC Davis, which aims to foster international collaboration and help cooperatives compete in an increasingly concentrated economy. From platform cooperatives to employee stock ownership plans, Keith outlines how the cooperative model can address modern economic challenges.

This episode offers both inspiration from successful cooperative innovation and academic analysis of why the cooperative business model remains relevant in today's economy. Essential listening for anyone interested in rural development, cooperative theory, or community-driven solutions to economic challenges.

Contact Keith Taylor at keitaylor@ucdavis.edu or learn more about his work at UC Davis's Institute for Cooperative and Civic Innovation.

Keith's book "Governing the Wind Energy Commons" can be found at https://wvupressonline.com/node/782

Other contacts and resources from this episode:

Kevin Short, General Manager, Anza Electric Cooperative - kevins@anzaelectric.org

Shawn Trento, Telecommunications Manager, Anza Electric Cooperative - shawnt@anzaelectric.org

Jessica Nelson, General Manager of Golden State Power Cooperative - goldenstatepowercooperative@gmail.com

Gina Schaefer, Ace Hardware, https://ginaschaefer.com/

The Co-Op Heroes podcast brings you real stories from electric utility operators: the people who work around the clock to keep our communities powered.