The co-op story is one to tell
Celebrating values, honesty and member control
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
- June 22, 2004
There's something in the air. I can feel it. Leaves in shades of gold, auburn and red are sailing off the trees. Days of humidity and hot weather have been replaced by dry, cool air with the faint scent of chimney smoke. And who can ignore the echo of high school football announcers that reverberates throughout neighborhoods on Friday nights?
But there's something else in the air. It's the spirit of 48,000 co-ops throughout the nation marching to the beat of their seven guiding principles:
- Voluntary and open membership
- Democratic member control
- Members' economic participation
- Autonomy and independence
- Education, training, and information
- Cooperation among cooperatives
- Concern for community
As the calendar page flips to October, we celebrate these principles and the many positive attributes of cooperatives. Yes, it's Co-op Month, and I can't think of a better year to honor an old, tested and proven way of doing business. As we watched the Enrons of this world collapse into a pile of rubble, the cooperative business model stands firm - stronger than ever, bolstered by the integrity of our member-owners.
Abraham Lincoln coined the phrase, "a government of the people, for the people, by the people" during his famous Gettysburg Address. Remind you of anything? Cooperatives were founded on many of the same democratic principles that our country was founded upon. Those values haven't changed. Together, families of co-ops, united through ideals and people, serve 40 percent of Americans with some service, including electricity, food, healthcare, phone service and much more. Cooperatives generate $500 billion annually in economic activity.
Skeptics have questioned the co-op way of business since its inception, but repeatedly, the wisdom of a business run by its own members has proven viable - just look at our record of successes. And rural electric cooperatives are no exception. Electric cooperatives operate nearly half of the electric distribution lines in the United States and provide electricity for 35 million people in 46 states - that's one in 12 Americans. Of that number, Basin Electric's 124 member systems ultimately serve 1.7 million consumers.
This month I write to you as a member of my electric cooperative, Capital Electric, an employee of an electric co-op, and an avid believer in the cooperative way. I celebrate every cooperative across this country by saying, co-ops are here to stay until the pigs fly; the fat lady sings, and the cows come home. Not only are they here for good, they're here to make a difference.
Headquarters
1717 East Interstate Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58503-0564 USA
Phone: 701.223.0441
Basin Electric Power Cooperative will provide cost-effective wholesale energy along with products and services that support and unite rural America.
