Not so typical

BY PAUL WOOD, President/CEO, Georgia Electric Membership Corp.

Pick up a newspaper—any newspaper—and you are likely to find at least one story about an electric co-op improving its community for the member-consumers it serves.

Such stories remind me of Woodrow Wilson’s advice to college graduates: “Every man should save a certain amount of energy above that which he expends upon himself for the advancement of his community, his state, his nation.”

That may as well be the motto of every co-op because it is certainly their unofficial mantra. Consider these examples:

A fire destroyed the home of a young mother with three children. She started to rebuild, but when a car accident took the life of her teenage son, all work stopped. A few years later, a television makeover show heard about it and organized an effort to complete the job. That’s where Amicalola EMC stepped in. Nine linemen volunteered; they soon upgraded transformer service, buried the distribution line and became part of a team that finished the job in seven days.

That’s typical of co-op employees.

By rounding up electric bills to the next dollar, Georgia participants in Operation Round Up provide thousands of dollars every month to help those less fortunate pay their monthly electric bill.

That’s typical of co-op customers.

For more than 40 years, America’s electric co-ops have sent thousands of high school juniors and seniors to Washington, D.C., to observe the political process firsthand. In 2007, Georgia sent 102 students on the tour. Washington Youth Tour alumni are civic leaders throughout the state.

Cobb EMC recently donated two trucks to the Georgia National Guard Youth Challenge Academy. The academy provides at-risk youth with military, academic, work and life skills at military installations around the state.

Georgia’s EMCs have just completed their eighth year of sponsoring Georgia High School Association athletic events. And don’t forget the hundreds of scholarships co-ops award annually.

That’s typical of a co-op’s commitment to youth.

Electric co-ops support countless charities, including Georgia Foster Care Foundation, Race for the Cure, Ronald McDonald House and Toys for Tots.

That’s typical of a co-op’s generosity.

Oglethorpe Power and Georgia EMC joined other corporate interests earlier this year in hosting a dinner to honor the service of every man and woman serving in Georgia’s Air National Guard.

That’s typical of a co-op’s patriotism.

Nine hundred electric cooperatives serve 40 million Americans every day with a strong sense of corporate involvement in their community and a devotion to the common good that would make Wilson proud.

No wonder electric co-ops are often listed among the “Best Places to Work.”

Electric co-ops dismiss media attention with “It’s all in a day’s work.” But, in my view, their typical actions make them atypical businesses.

And, oh yes, we also deliver electricity—reliably and safely every hour of the day.