Staying to course amid policy and regulation changes, Basin Electric remains focused

The one thing you can always count on is change. That might be an old mantra, but it remains true for cooperatives as it does for people.

In this case, a change in federal administration means changes to policies and regulations that often impact cooperatives, including Basin Electric.

Since taking office in January, for instance, President Donald Trump has signed more than 100 executive orders, many aimed at overturning policies from President Joe Biden’s administration, some having to do with the energy sector. These orders bring uncertainty, especially since new policies and regulations – even erasing old ones – often take time to implement.

Erin Dukart, director of Environmental Services at Basin Electric, says while it might be tough navigating changes in policy every time a new administration takes office, there are some positives that come with the shifts.

Something positive so far this year was when Basin Electric Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Todd Brickhouse was invited to provide testimony during a hearing held by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy in Washington, D.C. The March hearing focused on the challenges facing utilities to deliver reliable and affordable electricity to consumers amid the growing demand for power across the United States. The invitation provided an opportunity for Brickhouse to address reliability issues in the nation’s electric grid and the significance of enhancing the ability to generate and distribute power to homes, businesses, and emerging data centers.

Looking ahead, however, there is still the task of maneuvering through the unknowns that stem from a new administration.

Navigating uncertainties

“I think the biggest regulatory uncertainty right now is the pendulum swing between conservative and liberal policies that happens when administrations change,” Dukart says. “Basin Electric generation and transmission resources take multiple years to plan, develop, design, and permit. Once constructed, we rely on those resources for decades to come. It is very difficult to complete this process in the best manner for the membership when we are unable to anticipate huge swings in policy that may come whenever the federal administration changes.”

There seems to be more of an effort now to “go back to cooperative federalism,” which, she says, is traditionally a positive shift, but explains some of those entwined duties “belong with federal agencies, others in state agencies.” Finding balance is important.

“We believe that states are best equipped to regulate the sources in their states because they understand the sources and the region,” she continues. “From the beginning, Basin Electric has been committed to environmental protection. However, we also believe that needs to be done within the constraints of existing laws and should not be done based on rules that have no basis in science or law.”

Ryan Norrell, vice president of Government Relations at Basin Electric, echoes similar sentiments about the changing of the guard in Washington. “That’s one of the hardest parts, trying to navigate all of the unknowns,” he says. “There are a lot of big ideas coming from the Trump administration about enhancing grid reliability, security, and powering new generation. But there are also a lot of questions about how those things are going to come about. That’s where uncertainty comes in.”

Beyond politics

Norrell says if any administration can see beyond politics, important issues would likely align more quickly to the common good.

Case in point, the Empowering Rural America Program (New ERA) was a Biden program that at its core aimed to provide more electricity to rural communities. Unfortunately, the program got tied up in politics. Dukart says while it “provided a lot of funding for rural cooperatives, there were also a lot of potential strings with it. The former administration’s goal was more renewables and clean energy. We’re not against renewables by any means, but that can’t be the only solution.”

“We encouraged policymakers to see beyond the politics, because New ERA was really about powering rural America,” Norrell says. “Why wouldn’t we want more generation for rural America? We’re going to need every electron we can get. Luckily, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Trump administration agree with that assessment and have given the green light for that program to proceed.”

A change to the recent greenhouse gas rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that impacts new and existing power plants, Dukart says, would also be positive.

“If not repealed,” she says, “the EPA will dictate what resources we can build and operate in the future to meet load growth, how we operate existing units, and how long we can operate our existing coal fleet, which would likely lead to huge costs to the membership and put reliability into question.”

Working together

Looking ahead, Norrell says he expects to see some regulatory changes coming about this year, perhaps targeted at carbon-based generation, such as reducing red tape on coal and gas generation.

Norrell said this in advance of April 8, when Trump signed another series of executive orders aimed at boosting the coal industry. In his address to the nation, in which Brickhouse was present at the White House, Trump directed federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, remove barriers to coal mining, and signed a proclamation offering coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from certain Biden-era federal environmental regulations on coal power plants.

Through all the uncertainties with new and changing federal policies and regulations, the team at Basin Electric has found its groove working together. The cooperative tries to be as proactive as possible.

“We work through what we can,” Norrell says. “We also play the listening game, reaching out to contacts in Washington or different member states to ask what they’re hearing. There is advocacy with federal agencies on some programs, as we try to get our line of sight on things. We try to have ideas that we can bring to any administration, if they’re open to ideas.”

He also says the environmental and legal teams at Basin Electric are top-notch, an assessment with which Dukart agrees, also giving a nod to the Government Relations team. This synergy among teams’ communication helps navigate any uncertainties that stem from new policies and regulations.

“When we’re looking at new resources,” Dukart says, “there’s usually cross-departmental teams.” That teamwork helps Basin Electric stay focused on what is best for the cooperative in these times of change.