Let’s Go to Buc-Ee’s

Have you ever visited a Buc-ee’s? The chain was founded in Texas in 1982 with a simple concept: clean restrooms, friendly service, and a lot of options. They claim to have the world’s largest convenience store and the world’s longest car wash.

My first visit to Buc-ee’s was in 2021, just outside of Houston. My best friend, Michael Snipes, and I were heading to 1 of our bucket list Alabama away football games — Kyle Field, home of the Texas A&M Aggies.

While traveling, we saw signs for Bucee’s everywhere advertising their next store. Needing some fuel and food, we stopped at 1. I’ve never seen so many fuel pumps. As we entered the store I saw shell corn for sale. I thought this must be a Texas thing.

The accountant in me took notice of the store layout. You know, numbers, details. Access to the restrooms was a huge space straight ahead and just past the checkout clerks. As I walked by the checkout stations, the employees said, “Welcome to Buc-ee’s,” with a very upbeat attitude and a service-oriented outlook. But I was on a mission to the restroom, which was spotless as I discovered.

Back on the main floor just outside the restrooms, I saw more fountain drink stations than they have at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. As I was filling up my gallon cup of Sun Drop, 1 employee shouted, “Fresh brisket on the board,” and the other employees repeated it.

This drew me over to the various sandwich options, some the size of small watermelons. I refrained from purchasing 1 of those, but I did buy a regular-size brisket sandwich, which could still feed a small family.

Buc-ee’s is proof that if you take care of your employees and they supply the customer with great service, people will patronize your business.

This model sounds a lot like the goal of a member-owned electric co-op: to provide outstanding member service and reliable electric service at a reasonable rate. Our employees don’t shout to members when they walk in, “Fresh electric service on the grid.” But we do pride ourselves on being friendly.

SAEC is a member of Touchstone Energy Cooperative. You may have seen our commercials on TV or the logo on SAEC’s building. There are approximately 900 electric co-ops in the United States, and about 750 of them are members of Touchstone Energy.

This July, Touchstone Energy announced that 18 of those cooperatives had received Top 5 ACSI Scores for energy utility services from the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Your cooperative is 1 of them.

I am very proud and thankful for our team at SAEC. This ranking takes all employees working toward the goal of service to our members. Like any good American, we can always look for new ways to improve our service to you, the member. If you see our employees out and about, please thank them for supplying reliable electric service with a friendly attitude. And if there are any ways we can improve our service, please let me know.

After my first trip to Buc-ee’s, Michael and I continued our trip to Kyle Field. We enjoyed the Midnight Yell from outside the stadium since we weren’t brave enough to enter for that event. We took a walk around campus and the stadium, reading about the history of the 12th Man. The tailgating with the A&M fans was special.

Inside the stadium on game day, I never heard such cheering in unison. It was a special sight and event, but the outcome was not special. On that October night, after being behind early, the top-ranked Alabama football team lost to Texas A&M on a last-second field goal, 41-38. I guess the story of the 12th Man is true. But don’t be too sad for us because we stopped off at Buc-ee’s the next day on our way home, so all was well.

When I think about total contentment, I close my eyes and go back to years ago and fishing trips with my grandaddy, Raif Wilson. I can picture sitting in the front of 1 of his Jon boats while we fished the mighty Pea River and the channels leading into West Bay, Florida. And I remember looking back at him in the rear of the boat and seeing the look of total contentment on his face.

That contentment held even when I would hang my Rapala broken-back lure on a submerged log, usually because I was fishing from the side of the boat. Fishing Etiquette 101 says the person at the front of the boat should  fish ahead of it, leaving the side for the person in the rear. But that wasn’t a problem for Grandaddy. His contentment remained as he dropped his paddle to unhang my lure. All he would say was, “Keep your line tight.”

Around the West Bay channels, there are flies called Ceratopogonidae, commonly called “no-see-ums.” These creatures attack with their mouths wide open as they land on you, and you cannot see them biting the rip out of you. I’m questioning my shorts and muscle shirt. My grandaddy is wearing a lightweight, sleeved shirt and lighting up a cigar—the no-see-ums avoiding him—that look of total contentment still on his face.

As I watched the uproar in our country this past spring, I thought about how we could use more of that contentment in our society. There’s nothing wrong with living a simple life of being happy and satisfied. As I watched the protesters at some of our country’s campuses for higher learning, I couldn’t help but wonder if they felt the contentment my grandaddy had.

It brings Ephesians 4:14 to mind: “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.”

The electric industry has its share of crafty people and deceitful scheming. As a cooperative, South Alabama Electric was very satisfied with the completion of the Vogtle nuclear plant outside of Augusta, Georgia. It came online this May after more than 16 years and billions of dollars over budget due to government regulations.

There have been times when government action has worked for the people. The Rural Electrification Act passed in 1936 allowed the government to make loans to rural people to create non-profit cooperatives to bring electricity to rural America. The key word was “loan.” People were willing to step up and pay for that service and took pride in their cooperative because nothing was given to them. The REA program became 1 of President Roosevelt’s greatest successes.

But things are changing. In May, instead of loans, the secretary of energy announced green energy grants for rural areas. It reminds me of President Reagan’s inaugural address in 1981, when he said, “We are a nation that has a government, not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the earth. Our government has no power except that granted it by the people.”

We should not forget this statement when the EPA steps outside of its domain with unrealistic and unachievable rules. They are not working for the people but their own agenda to remove fossil fuel-generated electricity, even as China and India are expanding their coal-red electric generation portfolios.

So, what is the answer? Slow down the retirement of coal-red generation until it’s not cost-effective, not because of EPA rules and regulations. Build a diverse base load of electric generation that is affordable and reliable. You might wonder where green power is in this plan. It’s simply 1 part of a diversified energy portfolio, not base load energy.

My Grandaddy Raif has been gone from this world for over 30 years, but I’m still thinking, talking, and writing about him. I’ll be sure to tell my grandkids all about him, and my youngest even carries his name. I hope the campus protesters will have someone talking about their contentment and character 30 years from now. Until next month, be safe.

Do You Believe in Miracles?

In the Bible, Jesus performs several miracles. His first was to turn water into wine while attending a wedding celebration. Later in his ministry, he fed a crowd of thousands by multiplying a boy’s lunch of just 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. The crowd ate until their navels poked out and couldn’t eat anymore, and the leftovers they gathered filled 12 baskets. Now, those are truly miracles.

In our own lives, we sometimes use the word “miracle” more casually. Back in 2011, when the LSU Tigers were ranked first in football and the Alabama Crimson Tide was ranked second, I made a trip to Tuscaloosa with my best friend, Michael Snipes. Michael and I had been attending Alabama home games for 25 years, and on this day the university was expecting more than 200,000 people for the showdown between 2 unbeaten teams. Parking was going to be a nightmare.

Somehow, we were able to find a spot very close to the stadium with an easy exit after the game. That might have felt like a miracle at the time, but it was just luck. The game definitely wasn’t miraculous, as Alabama lost, 9-6, in overtime.

During that 2011 season, South Alabama Electric Cooperative (SAEC) and PowerSouth Energy Cooperative made a donation to help construct something much more miraculous — the Miracle League Field at the Troy Recreation Center. For those who don’t know, the Troy Miracle League gives local children and adults with disabilities the chance to enjoy the game of baseball. Since concern for community is 1 of the 7 cooperative principles that guide everything we do, supporting the Miracle League Field was a fitting part of that mission.

Little did I know that my oldest grandson, Kristian, would later join the league himself. Kristian was born with impaired vision that kept him from playing traditional youth sports. But through the Miracle League, he has been able to actively enjoy America’s favorite pastime.

At his first game, I discovered that each Miracle League athlete has a sponsor who stands with them on the field. So, Kristian and his sponsor hit the field as the first batter came to the plate. But when I looked at the field, I saw that Kristian was busy talking with his sponsor and didn’t even have his glove on his hand.

Trying to help, I stood up and yelled, “Kristian, Look Alive and Get Ready!” When I sat back down, my wife, both of my daughters, and even my mom were giving me the skunk eye. That’s when I learned about the true miracle of the Miracle League. It wasn’t about the fielding, the ball, or scoring the most runs. It was about the athletes and even their sponsors experiencing the joy and excitement of a game they wouldn’t have been able to play without the Miracle League Field. Later, I asked Kristian, “What were you talking to that girl sponsor about?” He said, “Playing Mario.” I said, “Mario, there’s no place for Mario in a baseball game.” Then I saw the eyes start to turn my way again, so I just shut my mouth. I’m a slow learner!

This year, that field needs major repairs. It truly is not safe to play on in its current condition, and it would be a sad day if the Miracle League athletes lost such a wonderful place to enjoy the game of baseball. SAEC and PowerSouth have been honored to make another donation to help the Miracle League renovate the field.

My SAEC family also makes its own donation to the league every Christmas, in honor of my grandson. It’s 1 of the best gifts I receive from our wonderful employees each year and a true miracle. Later, in January 2012, Alabama got a rematch with LSU in the national championship game. LSU didn’t even cross the 50-yard line as Bama won, 21-0. It still wasn’t a miracle. If you’re able, please consider donating to the Miracle League. You can find the information you need below. Thank you.

The other day I was taking a walk with my oldest grandson, Kristian, and he told me they were learning about the Great Depression in school. That led us to a discussion about the Greatest Generation, and I was proud to inform him that his great-grandaddy, Cecil Godwin, was part of that Greatest Generation. The same generation that started the liberation of Europe on June 6, 1944.

Of course, Kristian was curious how they earned the title of the Greatest Generation. I told him that in order to understand that you first must understand how their character was molded. Most of them were born between 1917 and 1927, a great time for the United States often called the Roaring Twenties. But on Oct. 24, 1929, the stock market crash plunged them into the Great Depression.

As a group, these young people had started their lives with so much only to see it all stripped away. It’s in these situations when we’re left with nothing, that God forges our characters in the crucible of life. As it says in Romans 8:28, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. I believe that the U.S. did love God as a country in those times.

In the decades that followed, God used the Greatest Generation to squash an evil dictator who wanted to rule the world and eliminate the Jewish people. We should remember that the Jewish nation is God’s chosen people, and He will always protect them.

Today, we’ve faced a global pandemic, illegal immigration and runaway inflation. But these times are nothing compared to the challenges of the Great Depression, so we shouldn’t lose focus.

Right now, the electric industry is full of concepts like renewable or zero-carbon electric energy. By 2030, the transportation industry plans to run entirely on electric vehicles. But those plans and policies are made by people who wouldn’t know their foot from a hole in the ground.

Let me share some facts about these policies. Currently, the U.S. has the biggest economy and is the greatest military power in the world. But our political leaders and even some industry leaders are proposing we move entirely away from fossil fuels. Right now, our fossil fuel consumption is less than it was in 1995. But is the U.S. economy smaller today than it was then? Definitely not.

At that point, our total fossil fuel consumption was 2.5 times China’s. Today, China consumes 1.7 times as much fossil fuel as the U.S. Fossil fuel consumption in the Asia-Pacific region of the world, which includes China and India, is also 53% higher than it is for North America and Europe combined.

So, let me ask a question: Who would benefit both militarily and economically if North America and Europe moved to more expensive zero-carbon energy resources? The answer is the Asia-Pacific region and, most importantly, China.

Are we willing to forfeit our economic and military power by walking away from low-cost, reliable electricity? The policies we’re pursuing suggest yes, but the facts should tell us no.

We don’t have to take that path. The U.S. has maintained its level of fossil fuel consumption for more than 28 years. We did that by developing a diversified portfolio of resources including wind, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear, high-efficiency natural gas plants, and, yes, even coal.

I, for one, don’t want my country to lose its economic, military or humanitarian position in the world. My hope is that we don’t have to go through another Great Depression to save ourselves from climate change culture. Maybe God can mold this next generation into the Great Common Sense Generation and save our country from these intellectuals.

Until next month, be safe and seek a common sense path in your life.

Thanks to Mom

I’d like to take a moment at the start of this column to say thank you to my mother, Nan Rae Wilson Roth. Better known as “Nan” to her 3 sons and “Nana” to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she has without doubt been the greatest influence on my life other than my Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

No journey as a mom is perfect, but hers was particularly weighted with various medical issues for her 2 eldest sons. She advocated for above-average medical care for her boys and pushed them to be above average to overcome their medical issues.

She led by example, overcoming the various roadblocks that come at each of us over our lives. She was guided by a simple philosophy: “Put God first. He will carry you through the valleys and over the mountaintops of life.” She is my greatest hero, and I would like to wish her a very happy Mother’s Day this month. I love you for being my mom.

In the electric industry, May marks 1 of the months we call “shoulder months.” These periods, when temperatures outside are usually mild, often run from March to May and can sometimes include the end of September and October.

January 2024, though, was no shoulder month. The weather was so cold that South Alabama Electric Cooperative’s (SAEC) winter demand levels were second only to those in 2022. For PowerSouth, our power supplier, January had an all-time high winter demand.

So, what does this mean for you? Often, by the time we’re billed for that electric usage, the weather has become milder, and we forget just how much energy we used when temperatures were much colder or much hotter. The bill arrives and we have that classic sense of sticker shock. We think, “There’s no way I used that much electricity.”

Fortunately, SAEC has tools to help with that sticker shock. We can assist you to set up text notifications that tell you how much electricity you’re using daily. That way, if your usage increases due to the weather, you can make adjustments in your household in a timely manner before you’re billed.

Let’s say you usually set your thermostat to 68 degrees, but temperatures drop, and someone adjusts the thermostat to 75 degrees and forgets to turn it back down. Your heating system already must work harder to maintain 68 degrees at colder temperatures, and now it’s working at turbocharged mode at 75 degrees. But if you received a text notification that your usage was higher than normal, you’d be able to adjust your thermostat back to normal or lower settings and wear warmer clothes instead. When you make small adjustments to your thermostat, the savings can be big over a 30 day billing period.

It’s important to remember that your temperature at 68 degrees is still 68 degrees no matter how cold it may be outside. Technology can be a great thing if you allow it to work for you, and SAEC has plenty of ways you can use it to stay informed about your usage, your method of receiving billing statements and even check the status of your power when you’re not home.

More and more of our members are choosing to receive their bill digitally, which is significantly faster than the postal service. They don’t call it “snail mail” for nothing, with members sometimes receiving bills in the mail late or even when they’re past due. That certainly doesn’t help the sense of sticker shock. Members can receive bills both ways. E-bills give you the maximum amount of time to handle your monthly payment and provide the exact same information as your print bill, only on your computer or device.

If you’re concerned about setting up accounts and getting this new technology working, we’re happy to help you with that. The main thing to remember is the importance of keeping your information up to date. Keep an accurate cellphone number on file so we can send you text notifications and log the correct account and address when you call in an outage. Providing a working email address is also helpful for sending your e-bill. Rest assured that we will never share your data with anyone. Not even TikTok.

I hope all of you have enjoyed your shoulder months. As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions about your bill or any of our usage tools. Don’t forget to remember the military men and women this Memorial Day who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we have the freedom to call, visit or think about our mothers on their special day. Freedom is neither free nor guaranteed, so don’t take it for granted. Until next time, have a safe month.

What It Takes

1 of the first times I can remember doing taxes was my senior year of high school. My grandparents, Raif and Grace Wilson, asked for help with their income taxes, so I took a seat at their dining room table and got to work.

To tell the truth, I had no idea what I was doing. As a junior, I had taken a bookkeeping and accounting class and earned an A, which was rare for me. So, as far as I knew, I was a tax expert. Later, as a young college student, my step-grandmother, Viletta Mixon Bailey, gave me a proper introduction to accounting and inspired me to major in it.

Let’s face it, when most people think of accountants, they probably picture someone like Bob Cratchit from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Or, worse, you might think of Ebenezer Scrooge. I’ve always said that CPA stands for “cheapest person alive,” and even I have to admit that does sound like Scrooge.

For me, being a CPA led to a career in public accounting and later the electric cooperative world. But one thing I never understood is why the government set April 15 as the tax deadline. It’s a date that already held significance as the day Abraham Lincoln succumbed to his wounds in the early morning hours. Maybe they thought they would honor one of our greatest presidents by making April 15 the day we fund the union he saved.

April is also Lineman Appreciation Month, but I can tell you I don’t need a special occasion to appreciate all the work our linemen do for this cooperative. They get ripped away from their families at some of the worst times to work in horrible conditions.

So, I’d like to offer them a simple thank-you for everything they do for our members. Trust me, they deserve it for a job well done. I hope you’ll do the same if you see one of our linemen working in the field or out at the grocery store. If you have complaints about your service, bring them to me, not our linemen. They’re out there every day working hard to bring you the best service they can.

That’s the goal for all our linemen, and all of us at South Alabama Electric Cooperative (SAEC) want them to be the best, too. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from listening to former Alabama football coach Nick Saban — and it pains me to write former — it’s that everyone wants to be the “Best”, but are they willing to do what it takes to be the “Best.”

As a cooperative, we provide your linemen with the training and equipment they need to be at their best every day. I feel they are the best at what they do. But the thing about being the best is that you can never stop, and the same is true in our personal lives. Building better habits, being disciplined, looking for your weaknesses, and humbling yourself to correct them never ends. Establishing these attributes requires persistence from all our employees, myself included.

You might be thinking that sounds a lot like never being satisfied. But I’m not talking about being content with your life. God gives each of us a special talent to serve him, not ourselves. Whether that talent is being a great lineman, customer service representative, accountant, engineer, board member, or even CEO, we owe it to God to use that talent as best we can. Anything less is cheating God and ourselves.

As your cooperative, we’ve made a promise that we will always work to improve our service to the members. Over the coming year, we plan to share more information and services that will make us a better cooperative for you.

In the meantime, don’t forget to file your income taxes. And maybe spare a moment to think of President Lincoln this tax day and the tremendous leadership that brought our country through terrible times in the Civil War that ended on April 9, 1865, just before Lincoln’s death. Until next month, please be safe.

Is your garden ready for spring? The month of March is the time to hop to it, so it’s a good thing mine is almost ready to plant. The weather is finally warming up after a winter where your cooperative experienced record electric demand due to the cold.

As we all tried to keep warm, I couldn’t help but think of the generation plants I’ve been writing about here for the last few months. The Lowman Energy Center was a big investment for PowerSouth, our generation and transmission cooperative, but it is a wonderful asset, especially when the temperatures drop.

But not everyone is as happy about these kinds of natural gas projects. I was recently reading about a natural gas expansion in the Pacific Northwest that a large coalition of environmental activists is trying to stop. They argue that the project would hurt decarbonization goals and lead to more pollution.

More specifically they say since fossil fuel combustion is the main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, we have to make it our top priority to phase out fossil fuel combustion as quickly as possible. According to them, these next few years are a critical time to act. If we don’t, we won’t be able to escape the worst impacts of climate change.

This is something an “overwhelming consensus of climate scientists” agree on, according to the Fox News story. But back in January, I heard a climate scientist speak who isn’t part of that consensus. Dr. John Christy, from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, told us that all science is numbers. While most of his colleagues say Dr. Christy’s numbers are flawed because his numbers are actual data, he says they show that temperatures were warmer in the ’30s, ’40s and even parts of the ’50s than they are now.

So why are activist groups attacking this natural gas pipeline? After all, the pipeline is already established in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California. It doesn’t pass through sacred land or require tearing down mountains. The expansion adds more capacity to the existing pipeline to serve the demand for natural gas. It’s like turning on a water faucet to increase flow. If these states do get rid of the pipeline, they will only hurt themselves.

The company that owns the pipeline seems just as confused, especially given the winter we have just experienced. They noted the extremely cold temperatures across the country and how many Americans relied on natural gas for heat. Without it, many more might have died.

I sympathize with those owners and what they’re up against. Their pipeline is critical to keeping energy affordable and reliable across the West Coast. But all these activists care about is their mission. They insist on stopping new natural gas capacity and replacing what’s already there with green energy sources, like solar.

But even then, they aren’t happy. Let’s say you build a solar panel array that takes up 1,000 acres, which isn’t even a big one. That solar farm generates green energy, but it’s going to be used off-site, which means it has to be transmitted to the consumer. But with the current regulation process, it’s a challenge to even get the permits to carry that energy to the end user.

It’s enough to make you want to cry, uncle. Instead, I encourage you to use common sense and look at the numbers. And if you’re concerned about carbon levels, maybe tend to your garden. Grow some green vegetables, turnips, okra, squash, or some of your own favorite vegetables. After all, plants use carbon during photosynthesis. Sounds like a pretty good way to help the climate to me. Until next month.

The Romantic Guy

In February, all of us romantic guys turn our thoughts to the loves of our lives and how to show them we care on Valentine’s Day. When my wife and I went on our first date as students at Troy State, we went to a movie at the theater downtown on a Wednesday night because tickets were half off.

The movie we went to see was a surefire romantic classic — “First Blood.” How could I think otherwise? Sylvester Stallone already had 1 romantic classic under his belt with “Rocky.” I still get teary-eyed when I hear Rocky calling for Adrian to come into the ring at the end of the fight. Surely, “First Blood” would follow suit.

Over the past few months, I’ve been discussing some of our generation resources that have come online in the past year, including nuclear, solar, and natural gas, as well as the push for electric vehicles. These topics aren’t romantic like “First Blood,” but they’re important to understanding the electric industry.

This month, I’d like to cover the components that are included in your electric bill and the ways they will be changing.

For the 39 years I’ve been in the electric industry, it has always been capital-intensive when it comes to building electric plants. But in the past few years, those costs have risen even more. Back in 2008, PowerSouth committed to buying 125 megawatts of electric power from the 2 new reactors, Units 3 and 4, at the Vogtle Nuclear Plant in Georgia. In 2013, the expected building cost of those reactors was $14 billion. By 2023, that cost had risen to $34 billion, with work still to be completed on Unit 4.

You might wonder why PowerSouth’s board would stay in this program with costs increasing so much. The reason is that, with baseload power plants across the country closing, carbon-free resources like nuclear will be a super asset in the future. It also offers reliable baseload power, which is key for our members.

Similarly, PowerSouth made the decision several years ago to close the Lowman coal-fired plant and replace it with the Lowman Energy Center, which came online last year.

The new facility cost $540 million but it also increased our demand capacity by 40% — something that could not have been achieved by trying to make the coal-fired plant regulation-compliant. So, while it was a big investment, it made financial sense.

Then there’s the cost of building distribution lines across South Alabama Electric’s territory. We’ve discussed the increased price for those materials, but interest rates and the cost of labor and transportation continue to increase, adding to the overall cost of distributing power to serve our members.

So how does all this relate to your electric bill?

Each of these is an example of what we call a fixed cost, one that has to be paid regardless of how much electricity we sell. You can think of it like buying a new car. The cost of the vehicle is still the same whether you drive it 1 mile or 100,000 miles.

This year, you will start seeing fixed costs appear on your bill as a facility charge. Also, you will start to see your kW demand and demand charge on your monthly bill. Demand is the maximum amount of kW power you need over a monthly period. The other component of your monthly bill will kWh’s you used over the month.

It might sound like I’m priming you for a rate increase, but I’m not. We want to break up these charges on your bill so you have a better understanding of where the rate you’re paying comes from. You won’t see this new structure on your bill this month, but it is coming soon.

I hope these quick explanations of the costs facing the electric industry are helpful. We haven’t seen this type of long-term cost pressure in over 40 years, but I know we can get through this crisis together.

Looking back on that first date, “First Blood” may not have been the romantic story I was hoping for. But it still holds a special place for my wife and me. In fact, we recently watched the final chapter of that series, “Last Blood,” not in a theater but streaming at home. Technology may have changed but our love has not. I hope all of you have a romantic month this February.

As we prepare for 2024, it’s important that we not just look at the ups and downs of the last year but reflect on a lifetime of highs and lows. Whether it was the good days or the bad days, we learn from every step of the journey. I’m reminded of Micah 6:8, which says that God requires 3 things of us: to do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly with him.

It can be hard to keep those in mind every day. But as we start this new year my challenge to you is to accomplish those 3 things in your professional and personal lives even when people might try to pull your focus elsewhere. We’re being told the biggest threat to mankind is climate change. When people say things like this, I also encourage you to explore the subject yourself and not take what someone else says at face value.

1 trend we’re seeing as part of that is the push to go to electric vehicles, or EVs. When I’ve covered this issue in past columns, I’ve said that if it’s a good thing then the American people will support it. If EVs are a bad thing then they won’t. You might ask yourself if EVs are a good thing for an electric utility since we want to sell electricity. They can be if the utility controls when customers are using that electricity.

The key word there is control. Your electric cooperative does not want to control when you use electricity. We would rather set up price signals or rates and allow our members to control their electric usage. As I mentioned earlier, it is good for us to give up control to God. But you can make up your mind whether it’s good to give up control for the government to tell us to drive only EVs. 1 recent paper from the Texas Public Policy Foundation argued that when you factor in the cost of charging equipment and government subsidies, driving an EV costs the equivalent of paying $17 per gallon for a gas-powered vehicle.

I’ve said before that if subsidies are required to promote something it must not be altogether good. But sometimes the government does help provide necessary services, like when your cooperative was founded in 1937. Capitalism would not invest in rural electric systems because the return on that investment was too low, so the government stepped in. However, all the money the cooperative received to build the electric system gets paid back with interest. So I don’t look at that program as a subsidy.

This leads me to some changes our members will see in their electric bill this year. Electric rates have always been broken into a fixed charge that accounts for the cost of building and maintaining the electric system, a demand charge that varies based on the maximum electricity you need at a point in time and a kilowatt hour charge for the amount of electricity you consume over a set period, usually a month.

Looking back over the last year, the inflated cost of electrical equipment has been a financial hindrance to your cooperative. Items like transformers cost 5 times what they did before the pandemic, which puts a greater weight on the fixed cost in your bill.

That’s why we’re exploring a new bill statement that will break out these different charges in a way that is easy for you to read. When you know where each charge comes from, you can have more control over your usage. Moving forward, saving money will be less about simply cutting back on the kilowatt hours you use and more about when you use them.

So, be aware that if you decide to buy an EV and charge it at home, choosing when to charge it will be important. If the electric rates are set up for EVs, then charging it outside of peak hours will have a major impact on making it more affordable to drive. It’s all about keeping our members better informed, which puts the power in your hands.

That power brings me back to what some would say is the biggest threat to mankind. In my mind, it isn’t climate change. The most critical threat to each of us is not knowing who our savior is. If we know that, he can guide us through any challenges we might face. Climate change can’t do that. Until next month, be safe.