Co-op Business Model

The role of an electric cooperative board extends far beyond making decisions in a meeting room. Discover the steps directors take to ensure the long-term success of co-ops.

Growing up on a farm in northwest Iowa near Fonda, I learned early on what “REC” stood for – rural electric cooperative. It was the power to light the farrowing house, a security light to illuminate the farm and power to keep the oven on for Mom’s pies.

On Feb. 10, 1937, northern Iowa farmers joined together to incorporate the generation cooperative Federated REA. Days later, a $222,000 loan laid the groundwork for Iowa’s Reeve Power Plant south of Hampton.

At the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives (IAEC), the start of a new year also means the start of a new legislative session as we advocate for our member cooperatives and the member-consumers they serve. Protecting electric service territory is our top legislative priority this session.

In December, the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives held its 2024 Annual Meeting in West Des Moines, with the theme of “Powering Lives, Empowering Communities.” Outgoing Board President Kenny VandenBerg reflects on key accomplishments during his six years of service to the association.

Iowa's 2025 Legislative Session will begin on Jan. 13, 
and IAEC electric cooperatives will prioritize efforts to ensure Iowa’s law regarding defined service areas is not undermined. Learn why this law has been so crucial to our mission to serve co-op member-consumers.

Across the nation, 64 generation and transmission (G&T) cooperatives provide access to wholesale (at-cost) power at a better price than each of their member co-ops could obtain on their own. In Iowa, electric co-ops are members of various G&T cooperatives, which generate electricity at multiple sites using a diverse mix of fuels such as coal, natural gas, wind, solar, hydro and landfill gas.

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of the southeastern U.S., Iowa’s electric cooperatives answered the call for assistance, demonstrating the true spirit of the co-op principle of Cooperation Among Cooperatives.

Many of us are a generation or two removed from living without electricity. However, 14 linemen from Iowa and Minnesota electric co-ops were able to experience the fulfillment of powering a brighter future for the rural village of Las Peñas, Guatemala, in June.

On July 26, Leslie Kaufman began her new role as the executive vice president and general manager (EVP/GM) of the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives (IAEC), the statewide trade association serving Iowa’s electric cooperatives.