Communities in Appalachia are starting to make progress reforming their electric co-ops to be more democratic and transparent in their governance.
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Stake a claim in your electric co-op!
The 2020 election season is over. But wait, there’s more! Next year in Virginia, you have the opportunity to run for your local electric co-op board.
Scorecard shows lack of transparency, high fixed charges at Tenn’s electric co-ops
Fewer than half of Tennessee’s electric cooperatives allow their member-owners to attend board meetings, and only three offer community solar programs. These are two of the findings in a new report released today by Appalachian Voices and two rural community…
TAGS: American Chestnut co-op cooperative Cumberland electric coop energy democracy Powell Valley REC rural electric Tennessee TN
Tenn. electric co-op members condemn board’s actions
CONTACTS: Bri Knisley, Appalachian Voices Tennessee Field Coordinator 865-219-3225, brianna@apvoices.org Ewing, VA.- Actions by leadership at Powell Valley Electric Cooperative (PVEC) during the co-op’s annual membership meeting last Saturday have left many member-owners outraged at what they are calling an…
Virginia electric co-ops fight to keep doors closed to members
Rural electric co-ops were set up as democratic institutions, but have increasingly become unresponsive to their customers, who are also owner-members. In Virginia, members of two co-ops are challenging the status quo.
TAGS: electric co-op electric coops energy democracy Energy Efficiency Powell Valley Rappahannock rural electric Tennessee
In Tennessee, Powell Valley Electric Co-op members speak out
Electric co-ops are governed by boards who are democratically elected, and therefore supposedly responsive to their customers, who are also co-owners of these utilities. The Powell Valley Electric Cooperative in east Tennessee has stirred grave concern with its herbicide spraying policy, and members are speaking out.
O’ TVA where art thou?
The Tennessee Valley Authority was created in the 1930s to bring cheap electricity to the most rural reaches of the Tennessee River valley. Almost a century later, many residents are struggling to pay electric bills that can be hundreds of dollars a month for their modest homes. Utility-sponsored financing to help with energy-efficiency improvements would go a long way.
TAGS: claiborne county Energy Efficiency Energy Savings Powell Valley southern alliance for Tennessee Tennessee Valley Authority TVA weatherization
Keeping energy through the generations
“We do everything we can to keep energy,” Barbara Taylor says as she heads down the stairs to the basement of the home she has shared with her husband, Paul, in New Tazewell, Tennessee since 1980. Outside it’s a humid 78 degrees, but in the narrow basement room that houses the Taylors’ heat pump it’s cool and dry.
TAGS: electric co-ops Electric Cooperatives energy conservation Energy Efficiency energy efficient Energy Savings Powell Valley Tennessee weatherization
