Beginning in 2012, the International Year of the Cooperative, two teams of Indiana linemen spent a month electrifying three villages in Guatemala. Lives were changed, both here and there. In 2015, the vision grew into Project Indiana and sustainable change — moving beyond electrifying villages, to making them a better place to live and enhancing… Continue reading.

This spring, the enclosed courtyard at Indiana Electric Cooperatives’ office building, home to Electric Consumer, on the west side of Indianapolis, once again served as the maternity ward for a mallard duck. She flew into the courtyard, which is open to the outside only from above, and bedded down on the mulch beside the small… Continue reading.

May 11, 1935 was a significant day in the history of rural electrification. On that day 80 years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 7037 creating the Rural Electrification Administration. The REA’s function was to lend money and provide engineering services for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in rural areas. The REA… Continue reading.

When 300-some Indiana electric cooperative leaders convened in Indianapolis on Dec. 8-9, their focus was definitely on the future. At the 80th annual meeting of Indiana Electric Cooperatives, attendees were updated on industry issues, including power generation adequacy, rural broadband and future EPA regulations. Youth had key roles throughout the meeting. Indiana’s 2014 Youth Leadership… Continue reading.

Thanks to the cooperation of a Southern Indiana electric co-op and its co-operative power supplier, the Indiana Department of Correction is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars through energy efficiency improvements — some of which were done with the help of inmates. “We try to get to know all of our key accounts,” said Renee… Continue reading.

This Christmas cancellation is caused by no foggy Christmas Eve nor dark of night — but rather is the Santa Claus Post Office’s special “Picture Postmark” to cancel the postage stamps on Christmas mail. The famous small-town post office in Spencer County is the only one in the world with the Santa Claus name and… Continue reading.

Two years into the Great Depression, New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt announced at the 1931 annual gathering of governors his intention to challenge President Herbert Hoover in the 1932 election. He also first outlined what would become his “New Deal” at this meeting which was held here in Indiana at the French Lick Springs… Continue reading.

A man is on his hands and knees combing the grass below the glow of a street light one night when a police officer happens by. “I’ve lost my car keys,” the man tells the officer. After a few minutes of helping in the search, the officer asks, “Where do you think you dropped them?”… Continue reading.

Southwest Airlines could have added $350 million to its bottom line, said Roy Spence, an Austin, Texas-based advertising whiz who came up with his client’s well-known “bags fly free” slogan. But that would have violated Southwest’s fundamental purpose — to make airfares more accessible to travelers. By staying true to its purpose, Southwest actually brought… Continue reading.

by Emma Metz Indiana’s Youth Leadership Council Representative (Note to readers: This is an edited version of the speech Emma Metz presented after being selected to represent Indiana on the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Youth Leadership Council during last June’s Youth Tour.) “Here we mark the price of freedom” are the words etched on… Continue reading.

(Note to readers: This commentary was first published in the September 2011 issue of Electric Consumer.) Where the Ohio River flows along the southern toes of Indiana, the scenic countryside and the small towns make the bright lights of New York City seem a million miles away. Yet, whenever I visit my hometown of Tell City,… Continue reading.

When George William Norris was 10 and had spent a hard day working on his family’s farm in northwest Ohio, his mother called him over to help plant a tree. Both of them were glistening with sweat. “Mother, why do you work so hard?,” he asked. “You won’t even see this tree in fruition.” She… Continue reading.