009: Innovation and Public Entrepreneurship: Building Community Wealth Through Cooperatives (with Keith Taylor - UC Davis)
Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
Release Date: 09/16/2025
019: 400 Letters and a Senate Victory: The Story of How Rural Co-ops Stopped a Regressive Tax (with John Cassady)
Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with John Cassady, CEO of Indiana Electric Cooperatives, to explore how one grassroots advocacy campaign stopped a regressive tax increase that would have blindsided rural communities, and what this fight reveals about defending people who don't know they need a champion. Most people don't spend their days reading legislative proposals or tracking tax code changes. They're working, raising families, trying to make ends meet. But while they're living their lives, decisions are being made at the statehouse that could dramatically...
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018: More Than Trees: How One Forester Saved a Life While Managing Vegetation (with David Formella)
Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with David Formella, utility forester at Southside Electric Cooperative in Virginia, to explore what happens when trees, power lines, and people intersect in unexpected ways. David brings a unique background to utility forestry: a degree in natural resource conservation from Virginia Tech, military service as a Marine, and experience as an EMT. When he arrived at Southside Electric, he discovered that being a utility forester means wearing countless hats, from vegetation management and storm restoration to emergency response and...
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017: The Unlikely AI Pioneer: How Dairyland Power Cooperative Made Artificial Intelligence into a Cooperative Advantage (with Nate Melby)
Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with Nate Melby, VP and Chief Information Officer at Dairyland Power Cooperative, to explore how an electric cooperative became an unlikely pioneer in artificial intelligence, and how that innovation is now spreading across the cooperative movement. When Nate arrived at Dairyland Power, a Generation and Transmission cooperative, he brought an unexpected background: a PhD in Information Systems and experience with deep learning research in academic laboratories. In 2018, while most industries were still experimenting with AI, Dairyland...
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016: Members as Energy Producers: Flathead Electric Cooperative's Net Metering Success Story (with Doug Gilmore)
Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with Doug Gilmore, Power Resources Manager at Flathead Electric Cooperative in Kalispell, Montana, to explore how one cooperative turned a complex challenge into an innovative opportunity. Flathead Electric serves one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. Kalispell was recently voted the fastest-growing micropolitan city in the United States. In just five years, the cooperative added 8,300 meters while facing another challenge: members were asking to install their own solar systems and feed power back to the grid. The easy...
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015: The Nuclear Opportunity: How Wolverine Power Cooperative Seized an Unprecedented Moment (with Zach Anderson)
Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with Zach Anderson, Chief Operating Officer of Wolverine Power Cooperative, to discuss one of the most significant achievements in cooperative energy history: the restart of the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station. When Palisades entered decommissioning status, it seemed like a closed chapter. But Wolverine Power Cooperative and their partner Hoosier Energy saw something different: an unprecedented opportunity to secure carbon-free baseload power that could serve their members for decades. What followed was a bold move that had...
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014: Storytelling as a Bridge: How Hoosier Energy is Connecting the Next Generation to the Cooperative Difference (with Chad Mertz)
Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, hosts Pablo Fuentes and James Tanneberger sit down with Chad Mertz, Vice President of Strategic Communications at Hoosier Energy to explore the challenge facing the entire cooperative movement: communicating with the next generation. Chad dives into the creative solution that's changing how communities understand the difference co-ops make. Hoosier Energy is a Generation and Transmission cooperative, one of 45 G&T co-ops across the country that provide the backbone of power supply and transmission for member cooperatives like South Central...
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013: The Brotherhood Above: The Indiana Lineman Rodeo with Tommy Nance of Ninestar Connect and IEC
Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, host Pablo Fuentes heads to the Hendricks County Fairgrounds to speak with Tommy Nance, VP of Operations at NineStar Connect, about the fourth annual Indiana Lineman Rodeo, an event born from a simple vision that has become a beacon for community for linemen across the state. Five years ago, during the height of COVID, Tommy and fellow cooperative leaders asked themselves an important question: what if Indiana's electric cooperatives created their own space where linemen could safely showcase their skills, network with peers, and let their families...
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012: 10,000 Pounds of Ice: How Great Lakes Energy Survived an Unprecedented Ice Storm (with Shaun Lamp)
Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
In this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, host Pablo Fuentes sits down with Shaun Lamp, President and CEO of Great Lakes Energy, to hear firsthand accounts of how crews and community members responded to one of Michigan's most devastating natural disasters in recent memory. When a once-in-a-century ice storm struck in March 2025, Great Lakes Energy's 14,000-mile system faced unprecedented challenges. With up to three inches of ice coating their infrastructure (six times more than design specifications), lineworkers didn't just restore power, they became first...
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011: Box? What Box? How Co-Ops Think Outside Traditional Boundaries
Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
In this forward-thinking episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, hosts Pablo Fuentes (CEO of Bloom Spatial) and James Tanneberger (CEO of South Central Indiana REMC) explore what makes electric cooperatives uniquely positioned to innovate and push boundaries that investor-owned utilities often cannot. James explains how his perception of electric cooperatives completely changed when he entered the industry eight years ago. Rather than the "sleepy organizations" he imagined, he discovered dynamic institutions driven by a single mission: improve the lives of our members. This mission, combined...
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010: The Hooded Llama Award: Tales from Vegetation Management Heroes
Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
In this special roundtable episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, we sit down with five co-op vegetation management leaders at the Trees and Utilities Show in Knoxville, Tennessee. Each person shared a story about the heroic actions and the community impact of their vegetation management team. Featured Guests: Anthony Lindfors - Matanuska Electric Association (Alaska) Cindy Musick - Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (Virginia) Kevin Perkins - CORE Electric Cooperative (Colorado) Amanda Opp - Flathead Electric Cooperative (Montana) Jeff Wissing - Holy Cross Energy (Colorado) Stories Shared:...
info_outlineIn this episode of The Co-Op Heroes podcast, host Pablo Fuentes sits down with Keith Taylor, Professor of Economic Development at UC Davis and self-described "People's Professor," to explore how electric cooperatives are leading innovation in rural America.
Keith shares the remarkable story of Anza Electric Cooperative in Southern California, which defied industry experts who claimed rural broadband deployment was impossible at reasonable costs. While incumbent telcos insisted it would cost $300,000 per mile to lay fiber, Anza accomplished the same task for just $30,000 per mile, a 90% cost reduction that has inspired cooperatives and community choice aggregators across the country.
Key Insights Discussed:
- How Anza Electric overcame infrastructure challenges by combining microgrid development with fiber deployment
- The concept of "public entrepreneurship" and why cooperatives fill gaps left by government and private enterprise
- Why cooperatives consistently deliver better local economic impact than investor-owned utilities
- The role of cooperatives as "classrooms and incubators of democracy"
- Emerging opportunities in distributed data centers and digital public infrastructure
Academic Perspective: Drawing from his book "Governing the Wind Energy Commons" and extensive fieldwork, Keith explains how cooperatives create community wealth, overcome political divisions, and provide stability in essential services. He discusses his research comparing cooperative-owned versus investor-owned wind farms.
Future Vision: The conversation explores Keith's work developing the Institute for Cooperative and Civic Innovation at UC Davis, which aims to foster international collaboration and help cooperatives compete in an increasingly concentrated economy. From platform cooperatives to employee stock ownership plans, Keith outlines how the cooperative model can address modern economic challenges.
This episode offers both inspiration from successful cooperative innovation and academic analysis of why the cooperative business model remains relevant in today's economy. Essential listening for anyone interested in rural development, cooperative theory, or community-driven solutions to economic challenges.
Contact Keith Taylor at keitaylor@ucdavis.edu or learn more about his work at UC Davis's Institute for Cooperative and Civic Innovation.
Keith's book "Governing the Wind Energy Commons" can be found at https://wvupressonline.com/node/782
Other contacts and resources from this episode:
Kevin Short, General Manager, Anza Electric Cooperative - kevins@anzaelectric.org
Shawn Trento, Telecommunications Manager, Anza Electric Cooperative - shawnt@anzaelectric.org
Jessica Nelson, General Manager of Golden State Power Cooperative - goldenstatepowercooperative@gmail.com
Gina Schaefer, Ace Hardware, https://ginaschaefer.com/
The Co-Op Heroes podcast brings you real stories from electric utility operators: the people who work around the clock to keep our communities powered.