CO-OP PEOPLE

Collective voice

Co-ops and their members have representatives’ ears through their support of ACRE.

BY JEFF MCCALLISTER

Allen Heindel of Celina says he’s not particularly both in total number of members (more than 6,200) and active politically, beyond voting for issues and total annual amount contributed to the cause. candidates that represent his views. “Our cooperatives made a concerted effort to put the However, as a member of St. Marys-based Midwest issues in front of our members a few years ago, when there Electric, Heindel were some specific things understands that in front of Congress that there are political “When you, as a legislator, get would have been especially issues that affect the donations from a group like costly to them, because cooperative and, as those issues may well have a result, also affect ACRE, you can be sure that caused the shutdown of his own individual group’s voice is going to be our power plant,” says Matt interests. Berry, general manager “I feel that Midwest does a nice job keeping us informed about what’s happening legislatively and how those things might affect the cost of electricity,” says Heindel, an engineer with of Midwest Electric. “We got that information out, the members agreed that our position needed to be communicated to our representatives, and we got hundreds of members to sign up almost overnight.” heard loud and clear.” — Brian Hill, Guernsey-Muskingum Electric Cooperative general manager Crown Equipment Corporation in New Bremen. “It just That kind of grassroots involvement from similarly makes sense for electric cooperative members to have a motivated individuals can have a significant impact on voice in the legislative arena, because these are things that legislation, according to Brian Hill, the general manager affect us every day.” of New Concord-based Guernsey-Muskingum Electric Heindel says his parents, also Midwest members, were active participants in ACRE — the Action Committee for Rural Electrification, which was founded in 1966 — and he and his wife recently decided to join, through ACRE’s Coop Owners for Political Action (COPA). They make a small Cooperative. Before he took over as GMEC’s general manager, Hill represented the 97th district in the Ohio House of Representatives for six years and served another few months in the Ohio Senate. His campaign was the recipient of donations from ACRE. donation to the political action committee (PAC) each “No one should have any illusions that their donation is month through an addition to their electric bill. going to buy anyone’s vote — that’s not what it’s all about,” ACRE is the federal PAC of the nation’s electric co-ops. It supports political candidates who will speak for and protect the interests of electric co-ops and their members around the country. Through COPA, co-ops can invite their residential consumer-members to be politically says Hill. “But when you, as a legislator, get donations from a group like ACRE, a truly grassroots organization that might not have a huge amount of money but has a large number of contributors, you can be sure that that group’s voice is going to be heard loud and clear.” engaged in ACRE and in other important grassroots “ACRE is a completely nonpartisan organization,” says advocacy initiatives. Marc Armstrong, director of government relations at More than 35,000 individuals nationwide make an average annual contribution of $65 to be members — and Ohio, in fact, is the national leader in co-op members’ participation, Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives, the statewide organization that provides services to Ohio’s co-ops. “The idea is to support candidates who have shown that they support the issues that we also support.”

Several co-ops in Ohio hold events for their members — such as this ACRE breakfast hosted by Firelands Electric Cooperative — to help members become familiar with the candidates and issues supported by ACRE (photos by Tracy Gibb).