More than 200 employees and directors, representing 36 of Iowa’s rural electric cooperatives (RECs), traveled to the Iowa State Capitol on Wednesday to advocate for important issues during our annual “REC Day on the Hill” event. ECI REC advocates attend the annual REC day on the Hill to meet with local legislators during a dessert social in the Capitol.

“This annual visit to the Iowa Capitol is an excellent opportunity to personally visit with our elected officials and provide them with a co-op perspective on issues that are important to rural Iowa and rural economic development,” remarked Steve Seidl, Board President of IAEC. 

Advocates educated legislators on the benefits of the cooperative business model, including local ownership, cost-based rates and democratic governance. Legislators also learned about priorities important to Iowa’s electric cooperatives including:

• Ensuring safety and reliability of service through vegetation management
• Supporting cost-effective energy efficiency programs for homes and farms
• Responsible power generation and delivery through fair treatment of all member-owners and utilization of advanced technology

Many electric cooperatives also displayed booths in the rotunda which provided information on topics including energy efficiency programs, rural broadband efforts, investments in technology and rural economic development.