The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) has flown 2,000 member representatives to D.C. to lobby congressional leaders on key issues for the nation’s co-ops, which this year include passage of permitting legislation and meeting rising energy demand.  

“Our desire, as electric co-ops, is to make sure we have smart energy policies that help us meet this challenge, because it’s a good challenge to me,” NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said on a call with reporters kicking off the April 28-30 Legislative Conference. “I mean, growing electric demand is good news for our country. It shows our economy is growing, and that’s what we want.” 

One of NRECA’s key priorities is to get some changes to federal permitting passed, after a bipartisan effort to do so fell short in the last Congress. (See Lame Duck Permitting Push Fails; Manchin Blames House GOP Leaders.) 

“I think there continues to be an understanding across a large segment of Congress, in a bipartisan way, that our permitting process is not functioning in the most efficient way, and so that’s good,” Matheson said. “On the other hand, we all know that [there’s a] small margin in Congress and getting any type of legislation through can be a challenge.” 

One way the Republican majority is considering to get around the narrow margin is “reconciliation,” since it avoids the Senate filibuster, but it can be used only to pass laws related to funding the government (Democrats used it to pass the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022).  

With so many laws implicated in federal permitting, Matheson said the issue ultimately will require a “multifactor effort from a legislative standpoint” to enact all the needed changes. 

NRECA supports some of President Donald Trump’s regulatory rollbacks at EPA because they will keep needed power plants running in a time of demand growth. But the administration’s trade policies are presenting problems for that effort. 

“The supply chain that serves the electricity sector in this country is a global supply chain. That’s a fact,” Matheson said. “And, so, the answer is, to the extent that the supply chain is disrupted or has additional costs associated with it based on tariffs, yes, that is going to have an impact on the electric sector in general, and on electric co-ops in particular.” 

The tariffs have proved to be moving targets, with President Trump often lowering or delaying them, but any disruptions or higher costs for needed equipment ultimately is going to impact the rural consumers NRECA members serve, he added. 

The industry still is dealing with supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, and now any policy uncertainty is exacerbating the issue, said Keith Brooks, general manager of Douglas Electric Cooperative in Roseburg, Ore. 

“We adjusted our inventory practices during COVID,” Brooks said on the press call. “We’re probably carrying twice as much inventory as we had in the past, just to ride out some of these supply chain ups and downs. But, you know, anything that makes the situation worse is a little scary for us.” 

The tariffs have not been in place long enough to have had a major impact on the power industry’s supply chains yet, he added. 

“We continue to be in a wait-and-see mode for any actual dollar impact to our members that will be the result of any tariffs that come through,” said Annalisa Bloodworth, CEO of Oglethorpe Power, a 38-member co-op in Georgia. “We are starting to receive, from vendors across our supply chain, notices and alerts that their expectations are of increased costs and potential disruption.” 

That comes on top of a supply chain that is under much pressure, not only from the supply side, but from the growing demand for power in the U.S. and around the world, Bloodworth added.