A Vision For How to Live
I have been getting electricity from Washington Electric Co-op for over five decades, starting in 1971. I have lived in my home on Bliss Road, East Calais, Vermont two-thirds of my life now.
I first got involved actively at the end of 1973 during the oil embargo, when Vermonters and folks all over the country were waiting in lines at gas stations. I began working with other Co-op owner-members, who wanted to see our Co-op move away from nuclear power and invest in renewable energy, efficiency/conservation, and be more transparent with our members.
Unfortunately, the Co-op Board and General Manager at that time took owner-member input as a threat. We were partially successful in stopping the Co-op from increasing their purchase in the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, and our Co-op built their first hydro plant, Wrightsville. However, it was not until 1990 when a new majority was elected by WEC owner-members, who supported a major change in direction, resulting in WEC becoming a leader in Vermont, a yardstick to measure other electric utilities.
WEC divested its ownership in Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, became the first Vermont electric utility to have a 100% renewable power supply (generated primarily in state), and was an early supporter of the net metering legislation in 1998. Some WEC members have said our Co-op can not rest on its past laurels. My response to that is: leadership on issues of value, community, and fairness for our members and Vermont ratepayers is never out of date—and as a member-owned cooperative, is as important to our 41-town community as is providing electricity from sources that are renewable, affordable, as close to home as possible, and with environmentally sound practices.
WEC and the nearly 1,000 electric rural coops and public power companies in the US have had a century plus of looking out for the interests of the people they serve and not the private equity of their stockholders. A few stories I recently read and would like to share illustrate community interest over self interest:
- In Zambia, in Southern Africa, of 20 million people, only 8% of their rural population have electricity. This is not so different than rural America in 1935 when 10% of rural America had electricity, before the creation of the Rural Electric Administration (REA) under President Roosevelt. The National Rural Electric Association (NRECA) (of which WEC is a member and WEC Director Don Douglas is a Board member) has an international arm, worked with two Zambian rural villages to set up their own electric co-ops, and string wires and set poles, with solar generation and batteries, so those two villages have electricity for the first time. Ironically, these two projects were funded by grants from the USAID (United States Agency of International Aid), which was recently closed down by Elon Musk.
- Former President Jimmy Carter, who just passed away at 100, remembered getting electricity as an early teenager, at his parents’ farm in rural Georgia, as one of the biggest changes of his early life. His father Earl and their minister signed up folks to become members of their co-op and Earl served on the co-op’s board.
- Frances Perkins, from 1933 to 1945, served as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor, becoming the first female US Cabinet member. She was born in Massachusetts but considered herself a Mainer. A major force in the New Deal, she spearheaded the creation of Social Security, the 40 hour work week, a national minimum wage, and unemployment insurance. She was as committed to ending child labor. These are things most Americans take for granted, but Elan Musk’s DOGE may cause havoc with them, jeopardizing the livelihood of tens of millions of seniors.Â
I found that these three stories of present and past, along with the true value and benefits of WEC to our 41-town community, are about what is never to be taken lightly. We didn’t get involved in the Co-op just to turn it around financially. We got involved because we had a vision for how to live.
Barry Bernstein
East Calais
Barry Bernstein is a former Board member and President of WEC.