Libsyn Directory

011: Box? What Box? How Co-Ops Think Outside Traditional Boundaries

Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators

Release Date: 10/14/2025

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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:...

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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 with cooperative structure, creates unique advantages for innovation.

The cooperative innovation advantage:

Self-governance through member-elected boards rather than regulatory oversight
Non-profit structure allowing investment in community benefit over profit maximization
Ability to move quickly on opportunities without lengthy regulatory approval processes
Willingness to take calculated risks when downside is minimal but upside is transformational

Real-world examples: James shares how Indiana cooperatives transformed the state's connectivity landscape. When state leaders trusted co-ops to bridge the digital divide, 25 out of 38 utilities built fiber networks. But cooperatives didn't stop there...30 organizations connected their networks to create Accord, a regional data superhighway that moved Indiana from 32nd to top 5 nationally in connectivity. This model expanded nationally through Tapestry, now supporting 12 states.

Managing innovation risk: James outlines his approach to risk management: only pursue opportunities where the downside risk is minimal but the upside could be transformational. He shares the story of building a fiber connection to a regional hub that seemed like a modest efficiency gain but opened unexpected doors, including a partnership with Indiana's I-light network that more than paid for the entire project.

The next big opportunity: The episode reveals an emerging opportunity that could reshape rural economic development: distributed data centers. As mega data centers face community opposition due to massive power consumption (200-500 megawatts) and water usage, cooperatives have identified an alternative model. With substations typically running at 50% capacity and fiber already connecting their networks, co-ops can deploy smaller 10-megawatt data centers on 1-3 acres without water consumption or major infrastructure upgrades.

This distributed approach offers multiple benefits: it's less disruptive to communities, utilizes existing capacity, improves co-op load profiles by adding consistent daytime consumption to balance residential peaks, and positions rural America as a competitive player in the AI economy.

Key insight: James argues that for cooperatives serving heavily forested territories with reliability challenges, the greater risk is not innovating. Standing still means accepting poor reliability and high rates, while calculated innovation creates paths to better serve members.

This episode challenges the perception of cooperatives as traditional utilities and reveals them as innovation leaders tackling some of rural America's biggest infrastructure challenges.

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.

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