iStock: stevanovicigor President Biden unveiled a $2 trillion infrastructure package “a once-in-a-generation investment in America” on Wednesday that calls for spending $100 billion to deliver affordable and reliable broadband service to all Americans. The package also proposed a $5 billion Rural Partnership Program to support locally led initiatives to create jobs and economic growth in rural America. “It is not a plan that tinkers around the edges,” said Biden during a speech at a carpenters training center near Pittsburgh. It would be “the largest American jobs investment since World War II,” said the president. “These are investments we have to make.” He proposed higher taxes on corporations for 15 years to pay for the infrastructure work, which would be spread over eight years.
MREA re-elects Tim Velde of the Minnesota Valley Cooperative & Light Association to its board. 1:11 pm, Mar. 13, 2021 ×
Tim Velde
According to a news release, Tim Velde, of rural Hanley Falls, was among the incumbents returned to the board at the annual meeting held March 2-3.
Velde represents District 3 on the board. Also re-elected were District 2 Director Barb Welty from Mille Lacs Energy, Aitkin, and District 5 Director Ron Schwartau from Nobles Cooperative Electric, Worthington.
Velde was also re-elected to serve a two-year term on the board of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. That is the national trade association representing nearly 900 local electric cooperatives, which in turn provide power to 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape.
Southside Electric Co-Op president defends ice storm response, million-dollar compensation
Southside Electric Co-Op president defends ice storm response, million-dollar compensation
and last updated 2021-03-12 19:52:38-05
DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. When a February ice storm hit Virginia, tens of thousands of Southside Electric Cooperative (SEC) members lost power. For thousands of members, that outage lasted more than a week.
The CBS 6 Problem Solvers heard from countless frustrated members who were upset with SEC leaders.
They wondered how 81 percent of SEC s members could lose power and be out for so long and asked the Problem Solvers to investigate a number of questions about preventative maintenance, vegetation management, and compensation for board members and the president.
A Legacy of the New Deal, Electric Cooperatives Struggle to Democratize and Make a Green Transition
FDR program to electrify rural America is now beset by expensive coal plants and often-hidebound governing boards, as members clamor for transparency and renewables.
President Roosevelt delivers a speech at the dedication of the U.S. Rural Electrification Project. Credit: Getty Images
Related
Share this article
What began three years ago as a campaign to stop the spraying of weedkiller under power lines near homes in the Appalachian mountains of northeast Tennessee, has become an example of a more democratic process at electric cooperatives across the country.