From the Top with CEO Patrick Grace

You might not know this, but electric cooperatives were born in politics. Our entire American history can be traced back to the grassroots efforts of 1930s farmers. If you're a reader, I encourage you to read the book Power Plays by Ted Case. He outlines all the legislative battles won (and lost) for co-ops to be where we are today. It's a fascinating read and might enlighten you to why we are still so involved in politics.

The cooperative business model has been around for almost a century. It was a very natural idea that farmers in the 1930s would take that idea to provide themselves an essential service when no one else would. What's most fascinating to me, as an engineer, is those who started co-ops started with a blank sheet of paper — no computer model, no spreadsheets. Just pure willpower to get it done.

Our statewide and nationwide associations exist mainly to be that continued voice for millions of rural Americans who still must fight for everything we have today. Bringing a broadband network to our members has not been easy and reminds us of what our pioneer members went through to create OEC.

Today's issue, however, looks a little different than it did in the '30s and '40s. Many co-ops are suffering some unintended consequences of federal tax law changes in 2017 and are hoping to avoid paying taxes on federal funding they've received as a result of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dollars or broadband loans. You can read more about this on page 6.

The good news is Oklahoma's delegation understands the issues and is acting quickly to fix it. No call-to-action is necessary from us at the moment. We trust when and if we ever need you to act, you will carry the torch, just as you and our earliest members have always done.