America s rural electric cooperative utilities are more reliant on coal than is the U.S. electricity industry at large. The resource makes up 39 percent of the generation mix for the 800-plus members of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, according to data released in June, compared to about 23 percent for all electricity generated nationwide.
And unlike their large investor-owned utility counterparts, co-ops, which deliver about 12 percent of all U.S. electricity, don’t often have the political sway or capital to direct a push toward more renewables.
As large utilities increasingly set out carbon emissions targets, Guzman Energy, a Colorado-based power provider, is working to ensure co-ops many of which receive power from larger, coal-reliant generation and transmission co-ops don’t get left behind.