from the top We are in this together.
Folks, let me be honest with you. I'm worried. I've been at the helm of OEC over 30 years and I've seen ups and downs. I was here when President Carter mandated utilities stop using natural gas for electric generation. (Yes, that's right. Stop using natural gas. A federal mandate telling utilities what fuel they were and were not allowed to use created a boom in coal plant production.) I was here through the 1980s when central Oklahoma was bustling with construction. Boy, we built in service to lots of new housing additions and business complexes—we just about doubled our membership in those years. Yes, I've seen a lot, and my experience tells me we are in for another bumpy ride. T e Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
proposed rule regulating emissions on existing coal- fi red power plants is scheduled to be released this month. T e problem is the EPA is asking us to comply with regulations based on a technology that has not been proven at commercial power plants. T is carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology may look good on paper or in the lab, but it is not ready to place into the very power plants we depend upon to keep the world running. Our fuel reliability is too important to trust to an unproven technology. According to a 2012 Congressional Budget Offi ce
report, engineers have estimated CCS technology will increase the cost of producing electricity from coal- based plants by 75 percent. Who can aff ord that? T e end result is existing coal power plants will shut down, leaving us with natural gas generation for base loads. Dependency on natural gas delivery makes us
prisoner to the whims of the market and the weather (natural gas does not fl ow if it is too cold or if others closer to its source buy up the stores). Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, our generation and transmission
OKLAHOMA ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Your Touchstone Energy®
Cooperative MAX A. MEEK, CEO AND GENERAL MANAGER
co-op, is putting in a natural gas storage tank to help combat delivery uncertainty, but the amount of natural gas needed to meet demands during peak seasons well exceeds the amount of gas any one co-op can keep on hand. Coal is the only aff ordable fuel source we can store where we need it so it is available when we need it. We are in this together, folks. No one wants
electricity prices to go up. T e EPA will open a period for public comment this month, as they are required to do by law. I urge you to go to
www.Action.coop and make your voice heard. [40-014-112-01]
June 2014
News Magazine
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