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The Rural Missouri NEWS Service
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October 2008 Co-ops Hang Together Benjamin Franklin put it eloquently during those trying times when America’s forefathers were struggling for freedom and independence. He understood how risky and perilous trying to overthrow an established ruling order would be. Therefore, he offered these words of caution for his associates. “We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” Franklin understood the value of “hanging together” and cooperating. It was the value he saw when he organized the first cooperative in the country, the Philadelphia Contributorship for the Insurance of Homes from Loss of Fire. Today, more than 39 million Americans enjoy the same values as members of electric cooperatives. Electric cooperatives were established to provide electricity to people living in rural communities. The idea of providing federal assistance to accomplish rural electrification took shape when President Roosevelt took office in 1933 and began his New Deal programs. After President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in 1935, electric cooperatives began to spread across the country. A year later, the passage of the REA Act marked the first steps in a public-private partnership. Currently, there are more than 900 electric cooperatives supplying power from fishing villages in Alaska to dairy farms in Vermont and the suburbs and exurbs in between. Electric cooperatives are different from other forms of business, and members of cooperatives notice this difference. Cooperatives put members first because the members are the owners. Co-ops are locally owned and operated and are committed to providing safe, reliable power at the lowest possible cost. This October, your electric cooperative is joining all types of cooperatives across the country to celebrate National Cooperative Month. Cooperatives are about neighbors helping neighbors. “Hanging together”— that’s the cooperative difference. Cooperatives: Committed to Community Cooperative businesses generate hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in income for their communities while also supporting local causes ranging from education to the environment, according to a series of case studies compiled to help mark October as National Co-op Month. The case studies, put together by the National Co-op Month Planning Committee, show that co-ops take a back seat to no other sector when it comes to making economic and charitable contributions to their communities. Nearly 3,000 farmer cooperatives, for example, account for as many as 300,000 jobs nationwide and a total payroll of more than $8 billion. Some 270 local, consumer-owned telecommunications cooperatives employ an average of 47 people each and generate more than $2 billion in revenues annually. In Minnesota alone, cooperatives of all types generate more than $10 billion in economic activity annually. In New York, credit unions alone generate $4 billion annually. But that’s not all co-ops do. They also have a strong commitment to the communities. Every day, in every sector, co-ops support local causes ranging from education to the environment. They also invest in new community businesses. Cooperatives around the country have demonstrated similar community commitment. For example:
It is no coincidence that co-ops show a
special loyalty to their communities. As member-controlled enterprises, co-ops are run largely by the people who live and work in the
communities they serve. That gives them a different perspective from businesses owned by distant investors. Cooperatives serve 120 million members, or four in 10 Americans. They operate in virtually every industry and range in size from small storefronts to Fortune 500 companies. Landscaping for Energy Efficiency Here are five good reasons to landscape for energy efficiency from the U.S. Department of Energy:
Give yourself a winter break: warm up with windbreaks A cold, windy day will rob your home of more heat than on an equally cold but still day. If you live in a windy area, well-planned plantings can significantly reduce your winter heating bills. Windbreaks have made sense for years to farmers and ranchers of the Great Plains. They can for you, too. Here are some tips on warming up with a windbreak:
Individual trees and shrubs planted close to your house also can reduce wind currents that otherwise would chill outside surfaces. Plantings, such as closely planted evergreens that at maturity are 1 foot from the foundation, create a “dead air” space that slows the escape of heat from a building.
Shade, Glorious Shade! Shaded parks and woodlands are cooler than non-shady areas by as much as 9 degrees, and temperatures under a tree can be as much as 25 degrees cooler than above a blacktop. According to the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, a tree in full leaf can block 70 to 90 percent of solar radiation. Every home deserves a tree! To cool your house in the late afternoon hours of July and August when we use our maximum air conditioning in Missouri, follow these tips from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and other sources:
Plant a tree and save on energy use
A few strategically placed trees and shrubs can save up to 25 percent of home energy consumption year round, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and up to 50 percent reduction in an un-shaded home’s air conditioning costs. Those are good reasons to take stock of your landscape this fall and get a few trees and shrubs in the ground for a head start next spring. DOE says a well-designed landscape provides enough energy savings to return your investment in less than eight years. If you have a green thumb, design a landscaping plan yourself. If not, consult with the University of Missouri Extension Master Gardeners (locate in your area at http://mg.missouri.edu/areamg.htm), a landscape architect or a local landscaping service or garden center. Of course, when planting, choose sites away from power lines both overhead and underground. Contact your electric cooperative for specific planting guidance. Plan Your Energy-Efficient Landscape Missouri’s temperate climate zone calls for energy-efficient landscaping strategies that:
Your home may be more sunny, shady, windy, calm, rainy, moist or dry than other homes in your area because of characteristics of the site. For example, your home may be less windy if it is set under the brow of a hill. These unique characteristics will dictate which plants thrive in your landscape. To get the most energy efficiency out of your landscape, develop a plan that considers your climate zone and site characteristics:
To get started, download Energy Efficient Landscaping, a Kansas State University’s Cooperative Extension Service guide, at www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/hort2/c627.pdf. Or consult a landscape architect, other professional landscaper or a master gardener (locate the latter at http://mg.missouri.edu/areamg.htm). Energy
Efficiency Tip of the Month If everyone who bought a new clothes washer in 2008 chose an Energy Star model, it would save 1.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, 60 million Btus of natural gas and 69 billion gallons of water. The electricity saved alone would power every house in Washington, D.C. for eight months. Ownership Would you trust a business more is you owned it? Cooperative businesses are owned by more than 154.7 million Americans, including:
Maybe that's why we're more trusted than businesses owned by Wall Street Investors. Cooperatives. Owned by Our Members, Committed to Our Communities.
I plead guilty to that. I spent 23 years as a licensed architect working for the federal government helping provide affordable housing to low- and moderate-income families. During that period, I came to realize that the monthly electricity bill was a big part of the cost of a home. The electricity bill came every month, just like the mortgage payment, and if we were to make homes affordable, we would have to do something about energy usage. That became especially evident during the oil embargo of the 1970s. I guess you could say it was then that my energy passion was born. Even our national office in Washington, D.C., began promoting energy efficiency. I was privileged to help write regulations for the entire U.S. to assure that the housing units being financed used less energy than before. We got deeply involved in the financing of solar water heating systems. That experience taught me that reliable systems were not as easy to obtain as the marketing material indicated. One such building’s roof contained 220 solar panels. It was a total failure in less than 10 years. Live and learn. As I had the opportunity to teach in more places around the country, I became better known and in more demand. And it became quite clear to me that I couldn’t help the world if I had to stay behind a desk in a federal building. I had a great career in the government, but it was time to move on. As I prepared my resignation papers, I had to answer the question, “reason for leaving.” I wrote, “To teach the world how to build a truly energy-efficient house.” I thought to myself as I wrote those words, “World, watch out, here I come.” I just knew that people would jump all over energy efficiency when they learned the truth. Was I ever wrong. In fact, most fought against it. I would spend many hours teaching a family about energy efficiency. I would show them that energy efficiency would actually make them money every month. They would shake their heads “yesî” and smile and I was so happy. Later, I would ask if they implemented those things in their new house. More often than not, they shook their head “no.” I would actually lie awake at night worrying about that family. You cannot imagine how many times that I was told that the builders said, “You don’t really need to do all these things.” Well, time has proven that they did need to do all these things exactly as I said. Thankfully many did heed the advice and they are still bragging about their houses (and saving money every month). If you listen to my radio show, you have likely heard these folks call in and share their remarkable stories. I had to quit worrying about those who did not heed the advice or I would have keeled over as a young man. I simply wrote my life’s priorities, in order. Those are my religious convictions, my wife, our children and now our grandchildren. And then comes my passion for teaching about energy efficiency. I must confess to you that on some days, the grandchildren move up on the list. I think that all of you would agree that the subject of energy efficiency is at an all-time high. The Electric Cooperatives of Missouri have long promoted energy efficiency efforts and are taking it to a new level this year. The purpose of all my efforts is to teach all of you how you can improve the energy efficiency of your house. We are going to lead you to water, so get ready to drink. Doug Rye can be heard on KGOZ and KAAN locally. Every Saturday morning Doug Rye hosts a live call-in show on several area radio stations. He can be heard from 9-10 a.m. on KGOZ, 101.7, Gallatin, and on KAAN, 95.5,Bethany. |
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Deciduous trees that shade in summer but lose their leaves in the fall also allow the sun’s rays to warm your house in winter. Dense evergreens however, should not be planted on the south because they can block the winter sun.
You may not think your yard has much to do with your electric bill, but it does. Whether you live in town, the country or a suburb, in a mobile home or a brick two-story, your monthly energy bill is affected by how much shade you have in summer and how much wind protection you have in winter.
Maximize the warming effects of the
sun in winter
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink it.” That's an old saying that well fits my occupation. And speaking of occupations, I’m often asked how I make a living. My response is that I teach folks how to have lower utility bills and a more comfortable house. If my wife is with me, she often says to the person asking the question, “it is not only his occupation but it is his passion.”