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When members think of their local electric cooperative, column, they likely think of power lines, linemen, perhaps the customer service representative they call when they have an outage or a question, and certainly, they think of the power bill they receive each month. Electric co-ops, like YVEC, have a specific mission of providing reliable and affordable power. Behind the scenes is a complex network of businesses and relationships that make our mission achievable.
Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative is 1 of 25 electric co-ops that are members of the Montana Electric Cooperatives Association (MECA). Through MECA, our co-op receives safety training, director and employee education courses, the ability to send our newsletter through the Rural Montana Magazine, and much more. MECA is very involved with the Montana legislature and state government. They keep a keen eye on activities that may have an effect on power rates, regulations, or other business functions. Through MECA, we keep our members informed, our employees safe and well educated, and our directors engaged in the cooperative business model.
In addition to MECA, Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative is 1 of about 900 members of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). NRECA also provides excellent educational opportunities for employees and directors. They watch the national business and political scene closely on behalf of electric cooperatives across the country. NRECA also provides excellent communication and training tools for electric co-ops.
The majority of YVEC’s power supply comes from 1 of the largest electric co-ops in the country. Basin Electric Power Cooperative, based in Bismarck, North Dakota, provides about 85% of our wholesale power. The actual purchases take place through Central Montana Electric Power Cooperative (Central). Central is based out of Great Falls and helps us purchase our power from Basin and the Western Area Power Administration.
CoBank is by far the biggest lender in Rural America, and like YVEC, the cooperative business model is the true cornerstone of their success.
The provider of our software platform is also a cooperative. The National Information Systems Cooperative (NISC) is key to our business. They supply the technology behind our customer service, engineering, accounting, metering data, and more. Our property and liability insurance comes through Federated Insurance Exchange, which is also a cooperative. This keeps our insurance costs-based and affordable.
Additionally, YVEC, as a rapidly growing co-op, does a significant amount of business with 2 cooperative banking entities, the Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) and CoBank. CoBank is a very large Cooperative Bank that provides services to vital industries across rural America. This past year, CoBank provided $167 billion in loans, leases, and export financing to agribusiness and rural power, water, and communication providers in all 50 states. Over the past 10 years, YVEC has done a significant amount of business with CoBank, including a loan buying out $17,000,000 in old Rural Utilities Services debt and saved our co-op over $5,000,000 in interest over the life of that loan. CoBank has indeed been a great supporting co-op business for YVEC.
Back in 2018, I ran for and was successful in becoming elected to the Board of Trustees at CoBank. It’s been an amazing learning experience. CoBank is by far the biggest lender in Rural America, and like YVEC, the cooperative business model is the true cornerstone of their success. This past year, I became the Chairman of the CoBank Board. The first distribution cooperative CEO to hold the position in the history of the bank. It is truly humbling, and I strive to be a servant leader on behalf of the bank.
The network of co-ops that help make YVEC function is extensive and imperative. Without this group of cooperative entities, we couldn’t provide reliable, affordable power in such an efficient manner. I am proud to be able to branch out and serve a more meaningful role with CoBank, 1 of our partners.
Brandon J. Wittman
Chief Executive Officer