What threats lie on the horizon for rural Americas electric power co-ops?
The rural electric infrastructure sustains and develops quality of life in rural America. Available financing at reasonable interest rates for rural infrastructure is a critical issue. In fact, in the beginning in the mid-1930s, securing financing to serve high-cost rural areas was the principal issue. There would not have been an electric power infrastructure in rural America without the investments made by the federal government. Availability of reasonably priced capital into the future of the “infrastructure revolution” is probably the most critical issue we face, with our aging systems and the need to reinvest in these changing times. These last few years have been the “golden age of financing” for electric and telecommunications cooperatives. Cooperatives today have good ratings on Wall Street. Federal credit support necessary to leverage private investments for a rural infrastructure will remain critical into the future. Restructuring of the electric and telecommunications system
