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·  Are Your Rates Ready for Distributed Generation?

Distribution companies normally think of power coming into their system as the source of the revenue you get from customers. In a growing trend, some of that generation may actually be a drain on your revenue. Distributed Generation, or DG, is generation that is located on the distribution system rather than in large scale sites on the transmission grid. Utility customers, particularly agricultural customers, are being encouraged to install DG that operates on alternative fuels, such as wind and waste products. As an enticement, a number of governments are mandating "net metering", in which customers essentially sell the excess output of their DG back to the utility at the retail rate regardless of when it is generated. Therein lies the drain on your revenue. Whether the revenue flows out in a trickle or a flood is largely a function of your rate structure.

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·  Organizational Efficiency Assessment of Your Co-op

Cooperatives are in the midst of an efficiency paradigm shift which was jump started with the deregulatory drumbeats of recent years.  In some states even though that competitive pressure has appeared to wane, co-op managers have decided that the battle cry to consider organizational efficiency and effectiveness has just begun to open a new frontier.  In the past, efficiency has not been a primary focus because rate theory has allowed passing the current level of organizational efficiency (or lack of it) through to the end user-member. In today's environment, the constraint on resources is requiring managers to do more with the same or fewer resources.  Is this possible?  We think so.

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·  Strategic Planning for Electric Cooperatives

Electric cooperatives are facing many challenges these days -- such as evaluating power supply options, potential competition, running profitable diversification operations, and financial uncertainty in today's economy.  One of the tools that many successful cooperatives are using to effectively address these challenges is strategic planning.  Strategic planning can identify key issues facing the cooperative and provide a coordinated "roadmap" for implementing the business initiatives that will most improve operations and create additional value for members.

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·  Activities Heat Up at FERC

There were several recent announcements from the Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) this month that should be of interest to electric cooperatives. On February 20, 2003, the FERC announced that they had acted on several orders involving the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO), a regional transmission organization (RTO). The MISO is one of the more mature ISO's and has several cooperative G&T systems that are members.

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